David Thorburn
ID # 6493, (1790-1862)
| Baptism | David Thorburn was baptized in 1790 at Roxburghshire, Scotland. |
| Marriage | He married Isabel Thomson on 29 June 1823. Our source for the marriage date of David Thorburn and Isabella Thomson is The Niagara Papers, Volume 2, The Niagara Gleaner, January 1823 - July 1825, compiled by W. Craig Burtch, Global Heritage Press, 2012, page 4 of this paper's transcriptions, and quoting from the Saturday, May 3, 1823, edition. This tells that on Tuesday, the 29th of the previous month, David Thorburn of Wainfleet wed 'Isable' Thomson of Stamford. They were wed by the Rev. Mr. Wright. |
| Death | He died on 24 November 1862 at Queenston, Niagara Township, Lincoln Co.. |
| Burial | He was buried on 27 November 1862 at Stamford Presbyterian Cemetery, Stamford Twp.. |
| Note | The Niagara branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society provides a publication (#4662), Stamford Presbyterian Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Stamford Township, Welland County. This publication was published in 2005, though it does not state when the transcription of the gravestones was done. The cemetery is now apparently under the purvue of the City of Niagara Falls and their cemetery website carries photographs of some Thorburn gravestones, including that of David and Isabella. David's death in 1862 was prior to the days that a death registration was required. The date of David's death, however, as well as the birth and death dates for Isabella, are initially take from the cemetery's transcription. Gravestones for Thomsons in this cemetery are to be found in the transcription and, probably, they are Isabella's family. Direct evidence for this has yet to be found. An obituary for David Thorburn appeared in the Toronto Globe, the 29 November, 1862, edition (a Saturday). It states that his funeral took place the previous Thursday, the 27th, and that he was buried in the family buring ground at Stamford. It tells that he came to Canada from Roxburghshire in Scotland in 1817 and followed mercantile pursuits. The initial list of the children of David and Isabel is taken from the 1851 census in Niagara Township, Lincoln County. David Thorburn's obituary indicates that fulfilled different offices during some years of public service. This included representing Lincoln County in the Provincial Legislature. Another office in which he served was that of Commissioner of the Peace. For a fuller story of this, see Vital Records of Upper Canada/Canada West, Vol. 1, Part 3, Niagara District, 1816-1866, Walker & Stratford-Devai, Global Heritage Press, 2013, page 161. This tells that there was legislation instructing the clerks to record births and marriages. The recording of marriages was already years in progress, but not so births. Few clerks recorded births. David Thorburn did, however. The several pages that follow page 161 record a list of these births. This covers the years of 1848 to 1854, during the last years of the Niagara District as it was then to period when it was known as the United Counties of Lincoln and Welland. From the list, it is obvious that the returns of birth were made by clergy. They evidently recorded the dates of birth at the time of baptism. We are left to wonder how many clergy across Canada West did indeed return dates of birth to recording clerks who then never entered them in registers. The preamble to the list of of births makes it evident that the survival of David Thorburn's register of births was by good fortune. |
Children of David Thorburn and Isabel Thomson |
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| Last Edited | 23 Sep 2018 |