William Suggitt (abt. 1824 - abt. 1899)

Born about Sep 1824 in Huggate, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Jane (Allman) Suggitt — married about 1856 in Canada West

Descendants

Died about Sep 1899 at about age 75 in Sommerville, Victoria, Ontario, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mark Suggitt [send private message]

Biography

William Suggitt was born in Huggate, Yorkshire, England.

William Suggitt migrated from England to Canada.

Yorkshire early years

William was born in May 1824, in the village of Huggate, in Yorkshire East Riding, England. He was baptized in Huggate the following September. He was the sixth of eleven children born to William Suggit and Harriet Allison.

William's father William Suggit was born in the village of Wetwang, about 5 miles northeast of Huggate, and his parents Thomas Suggate and Ann Shotton came to Wetwang from 20 miles north in the Pickering area of North Yorkshire (about 1786); agricultural labourers moving with opportunity as the Enclosure Movement tightened its grip on land ownership. Wetwang parish baptism records for William (Sr.), b. 1788, name a North Yorkshire grandparent as John Sugget, born about 1715; the reference repeats for William Sr.'s two sisters Rebecca and Rachel, also born in Wetwang.

When William was six years old, about 1830, the family moved three miles south from Huggate to the village of Warter, and this is where his younger three brothers would be born.

The 1841 Census of England shows William (17) back in Huggate as a servant working for Richard and Mary Rounding at "the Mill House" ... this was a large estate with over 30 people in four households; the census is specific about occupations like "ag labourer" or "shepherd" and William is listed as a "male servant".

Away to Canada

In 1851, William (26) and younger brother Richard (19) left for Canada (per Richard's 1901 Canada Census return). The brothers appear in the 1851 Census of England (taken March 30) living with their parents in Warter. Their brother Thomas married July 7 of 1851 so this suggests William and Richard might have left after the wedding. The Atlantic trip alone is 6-8 weeks, plus 2-3 weeks from Quebec City to Oshawa, and add 1-2 weeks to cover overland travel to port and quarantine at Quebec — in all a 9-13 week journey. If they left in early April they arrived in early to late June, but if they left second week in July they arrived no earlier than mid September, and as late as third week in October.

Nothing is known about what port they departed from or the ship they boarded in their journey to Canada. Some things can be intuited, for example, that the nearest port, Hull, was an intake port from northern Europe, and that Atlantic crossings were from larger ports such as Liverpool or Southampton; in terms of proximity Liverpool is closest and by this reason the likeliest. The ship would most likely be a freight hauler, a three-masted barque/bark or similar, carrying about 200 passengers in steerage to Canada, with limited first class passenger capacity, and the hold loaded with freight on return to UK...often lumber.

From foundry to farm and family

The family book states the brothers worked at a foundry at Oshawa. Records show sometime before 1855 the brothers had moved north to Reach County, near Port Perry. Richard met his future wife Mary Wilkinson there; Mary's family had recently arrived from Montreal (Laprairie) — there is a marriage record suggesting the Wilkinson's also came from Yorkshire. By 1857 both brothers were in Victoria County, Mariposa Township with their young families.

William married Jane Allman in 1856 and they settled at Prince Albert, near Port Perry, establishing their first farmstead and their first child Harriet was born there. Crop failure forced them to abandon the effort after the first year and they resettled in Mariposa Township near brother Richard and family. Their second child was born in Mariposa (1859). The 1861 Agricultural census shows William farming at concession 2, lot 19, about one mile north of Valencia in Mariposa Township.

Six children were born in Mariposa Township, from 1859-1869, with the eighth and last born 1873 in Ops Township near Lindsay — the 1871 census shows the family in Ops. In around 1876 William and Jane bought land 25 miles north at Baddow, settling on Lot 4, 3rd Concession, Somerville Township.

The later years

There is a family story regarding a rift between the brothers. Richard thought William made a mistake buying land so far north into the bush; the family book recounts it was several years before they spoke again, and it was Richard who ventured north to see William. In fact the land around Baddow was poorly suited, but the family had persisted and developed the land into a successful operation.

William died in 1899, and Jane died in 1896. Several of their children and grandchildren are buried at Fenelon Falls cemetery.

None of William and Richard's siblings emigrated.

Research Notes

• FamilySearch profile: 97T4-T7S William Sugget
• Ancestry: https://www.ancestry.ca/family-tree/person/tree/5632735/person/-1264673502/facts
• Whatwaswhere map: Huggate, East Riding Yorshire
• More notes on arrival year on brother Richard's profile
• locate Jane Allman's family

William timeline...

1824 born in Huggate, Yorkshire

1830 family moves to Warter, Yorkshire (6)

1841 census, working as servant at The Mill House in Huggate, Yorkshire (16)

1851 census, spring, living with parents in Warter, Yorkshire

1851 July or later, arrive Canada (27)

1851-1854/5? work in Oshawa foundry

1856 autumn, William marries Jane Alman (32)

1857 Harriet born in Port Perry

1859 Annie born in Mariposa

1860 Thomas born in Mariposa

1861 census family is in Mariposa

1863 John born in Mariposa

1865 William born in Mariposa

1868 Gregory born in Mariposa

1869 Janey born in Mariposa or Ops

1871 census, family living in Ops

1873 Richard born in Ops

1876 family moves to Somerville (52)

1881 census family is in Somerville

1891 census family is in Somerville

1899 William passes away (75)

Note: the 1974 Suggitt family book incorrectly says they came in 1844, and that Richard was the older brother. The author of this book was a granddaughter of William and was presenting what she and her broader family could remember, and recognises this uncertainty in the book's introduction. Vital records have corrected these dates to those cited above.

William and Jane married in autumn 1856, likely in Port Perry; this dating contingent on the birth of their first child Harriet, born May 1857 in Port Perry. William's brother Richard and wife Mary had married the previous year and started their family April 1856 in Mariposa.

The young family had moved to Mariposa township by June 1859 where their second child was born, as would their next additions... Thomas 1860, John 1863, William 1864, and Gregory 1868. Their next child Janey was born in 1869 but unclear if the family was in Mariposa or Ops; the 1871 census indicates they lived in Ops, and the family book says they farmed near Lindsay, and their youngest child Richard was born there in 1873. The family moved north to Baddow sometime in the 1880s where the family farm is sited today (land records might confirm or narrow the date).

It would appear the Suggitt boys and their families farmed close together in Mariposa from about 1856 to 1868, William and Jane's eight kids growing up with Richard and Mary's seven kids.

comparing cousin's ages and birth order...

Richard's . . . . . . . William's

children . . . . . . . . children

Will 1856 . . . . . . . Harriet 1857

John 1858 . . . . . . Annie 1859

Hannah 1859 . . . Thomas 1860

George 1862 . . . . John 1863

Richard 1864 . . . .Will 1865

Annie 1867 . . . . . Gregory 1868

Tom 1870 . . . . . . Janey 1869

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard 1873

Sources

• Suggitt Family Book - Descendants of William Suggitt and Richard Suggitt of East Riding Yorkshire, by Gladys Suggitt, ed. Edith Watson, published 1972; 60 pages.
• Baddow settlement - Roses and Thorns, a goodly heritage; the early days of Baddow and area, by Suggitt, Gladys M; 1972, Published by Colour reproductions, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada; 294 pages; (borrow at Archive.org);
• 1824 baptism - England Births and Christenings, 1538-197, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NB47-QBC : 19 September 2020), William Suggit, 2 Sep 1824.
• 1824 Baptism: "Yorkshire Baptisms"
  Archive: Borthwick Institute for Archives; Reference: P R HUG / 4; Page: 22
  FindMyPast Image - FindMyPast Transcription (accessed 2 March 2023)
  William Sugget baptism on 2 Sep 1824, son of William & Harriett, in Huggate, Yorkshire (East Riding), England.
• 1841 census of England - database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQPK-S6V : 23 May 2019), William Suggate in household of Holiday Matthews, Huggate, Yorkshire East Riding, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
• 1841 Census of England - Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England; Class: HO107; Piece: 1220; Book: 3; Civil Parish: Warter; County: Yorkshire; Enumeration District: 16; Folio: 7; Page: 10; Line: 21; GSU roll: 464220;
• 1851 Census of England - Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England; County: York East Riding, District: Pocklington (17), Village: Warter; house 35, piece 2357, folio 389, page 14;
• 1861 Census of Canada - LAC microfilm C-999 to C-1007, C-1010 to C-1093, C-1095 to C-1108, C-1232 to C-1331, M-1165 to M-1166, M-1168 to M-1171, M-556, M-874 to M-878, M-880 to M-886, M-896 to M-900. Library and Archives Canada: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1861/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=1184467;
• 1861 Canada Agricultural Census - district two, township Mariposa, County Victoria, Canada West; roll C-1076-1077, page 39, line 26; William Luggite, concession 2, lot 19, 100 acres, ...; Library & Archives Canada: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1861/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=2051473;
• 1871 Census of Canada - Ontario, district: Victoria South (52), sub-district: Ops (B), division 1; Roll: C-9980; Page: 1; Family No: 2; Library and Archives Canada, https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=1609673 ;
• 1899 death - Canada, Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDF1-GPN : 2 March 2021), William Suggett, 08 Jan 1899; citing Somerville, Victoria, Ontario, yr 1899 cn 25717, Registrar General. Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,854,392.