Our earliest ancestors on record to come to
Ontario
were the Burt family in 1877. George
Edward Burt and his wife Frances came from London, England
with son Edward John, daughter Bessie Lina and eldest daughter Annie
Eliza
along with Annie's husband George Gerrans and her infant son Burt
(later
known as George Edward Burt-Gerrans). They are all listed in the
1881 census at Howard Township, Kent County in the electoral district
of
Bothwell (a large district including several townships of Lambton and
Kent
Counties). George Edward was a druggist, son Edward is listed as farmer
(later to be general store owner and accountant) and George Gerrans is
listed as a labourer (later to be merchant, grocer and bookkeeper).
Youngest son Auguste
Frank Barrow Burt came to
Canada
in 1882 and his migrations are documented below. George and
Frances
Burt later moved back to England and were followed by daughter Bessie
Lina
but Edward's and Annie's families remained in Ontario.
A.F.B. Burt's career in the Anglican church in Ontario was as follows (Clicking on a link calls up a historical county map from 1885):
1) London,
London Township, Middlesex County - Although Crockford's Clerical
Directory
stated he studied at Wycliffe Divinity College in Toronto, we know from
letters and Diocese records that he studied at Huron College in London,
Ontario 1883 to 1885.
2) Princeton,
Blenheim Township, Oxford County - After being ordained a Deacon he
was Incumbent of St. Paul's Anglican Church in 1885-6.
3) Alvinston,
Brooke Township, Lambton County - By the time of his marriage in
June
1886 he was Incumbent at Alvinston in 1886-7. He married Matilda
Sutherland in Hamilton, Wentworth County and brought her to live in
Alvinston.
He was ordained a Priest in the Diocese of Huron in Trinity Church at
St.
Thomas, Yarmouth Township, Elgin County on Sunday Nov. 6, 1886.
4) Ridgetown,
Howard Township, Kent County - He was Incumbent of Church of the
Advent
in Ridgetown as well as St. George's in Selton from 1887-90.
Their
two children were born in Ridgetown.
5) Durham,
Glenelg Township, Grey County - He was Incumbent of Trinity
Anglican
Church in Durham from Jan. 1891 to Mar '93 and also held services in a
school in Egremont Township 6 miles south of Durham. They then moved to
Shediac
Cape, New Brunswick.
Later, various forebears settled in Toronto, Ontario.
1) Ontario GenWeb Project. http://www.geneofun.on.ca/ongenweb/
2) Ontario Locator. A great site for locating
Ontario
place names past and present. http://www.geneofun.on.ca/ontariolocator/index.html
Site maintained by Norman Franke. Last modified May 19, 2005