Eleanor Burns

Sure information for the marriage of William Stringer and Eleanor/Ellen Burns has not been found, but there is a record that is probable.

See Vital Records of Upper Canada/Canada West, Volume 1, Part 4, Niagara District, 1820-1869, compiled by Dan Walker and Fawne Stratford-Devai, Global Heritage Press, 2000 & 2013, page 102. This particular record appears under Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Chippawa, Register A, Marriages, 1820-1835. The entry of interest reads as follows:

William Stringer to Helen Burns, both of Crowland, 19 Mar 1822, by banns.

If this is indeed William and Eleanor and the no doubt handwritten entries have been transcribed correctly, then since daughter Deborah was not born until 1829 it seems likely that there were children born prior to Deborah.

That this particular William and Helen were indeed married in 1822 receives further support which is to be found in OGS publication C011. This was published by the Niagara Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society under the title Holy Trinity Church Register A 1820-1837, Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, Niagara Falls, Stamford Township, Welland County. An associated map makes it clear that the location was at Chippawa. The village is on both sides of Chippawa Creek which places it in part in Stamford Township and in part in Willoughby Township. The transcription for this effort was performed by Donna Campbell and this shows the same date information. The one piece of information to be added is that the marriage was performed by William Leeming of Chippawa.

That the Stringers were married in an Anglican church does not necessarily mean that at the time they were Anglicans. The Anglican and Roman Catholic churches were the official churches of the day and marriages were legally required for at least a time to be held in these churches. (There were circumstances that allowed for marriages to be performed by justices of the peace.) No Stringer baptisms are listed in the record as presented in the OGS publication and while hardly a solid inference, this would seem to at least mitigate against the couple being Anglican.

As an added note, these same pages record the marriages of John Stringer and Euphemia Dawdy, both of Pelham, in Stamford on 11 March, 1823, by Rev. Leeming, and Aaron Stringer and Mary Hunt, abodes not given, who were married in Pelham on March 15, 1831, again by Rev. Leeming. It is possible that John and Aaron were William Stringer's brothers, but evidence supporting this has yet to be found.