Elizabeth Husband
ID # 7232, (1819-1897)
| Father | John Husband (1782-1864) |
| Mother | Alicia Napier (1795-1873) |
| Birth | Elizabeth Husband was born in 1819 at Ireland. |
| Marriage | She married Duncan McTavish. |
| Death | She died on 1 June 1897 at Huron Township, Bruce Co.. |
| Note | It's difficult to find a record directly linking Eliza Husband McTavish to the family of John Husband and Alicia Napier, but Henry Husband in his diary directly identifies her as his sister and tells that she married Duncan McTavish when she was very young. (Not so young, really, for the times. She was almost certainly 19 or 20.) Henry refers to her as Eliza, but census information and her gravestone show her name as Elizabeth. By the time Henry started his diary, Elizabeth and Duncan were deceased. Most of Henry's siblings were Methodist, but, per census information, the McTavish family was Presbyterian. Henry's diary also tells that Eliza (Elizabeth) was born in Ireland and, apparently, the eldest child of John and Alicia. Confirmation of her Irish birth is to be found in the 1861 and 1871 censuses. Duncan and Elizabeth are to be found in Huron Township of Bruce County as of the 1861 and 1871 censuses. They were both deceased by the time of the 1881 census. Just when they removed to Bruce County, has yet to be sorted out, but the 1851 census is no help for substantial portions have not survived. This includes the census for Nassagaweya Township in Halton County for which no portion has survived. The children's marriages are of little help. The recording clerks - perhaps including the reporting clergy - showed their places of birth simply as Canada. At least some of their death registrations are a different matter, however. The death registrations tell us:- John, b. approx 1840, in Nassagaweya James, b. approx 1845, in Halton County Catherine, b. approx 1848 'near Guelph'. (Near Guelph isn't quite the description one might use for describing Nassagaweya, but...it really isn't far from Guelph.) George, b. approx 1850, shows born Nassagaweya. Peter, b. approx 1853, shows his place of birth as Huron Township on his marriage registration. Margaret, b. approx 1855 in Huron Twp. Hence, it's difficult to escape the conclusion that Duncan and Elizabeth spent the early years of their marriage in Nassagaweya Township - until sometime after 1850. Death registrations have not been found for Duncan and Elizabeth McTavish. A gravestone in Ripley-Huron Cemetery in Bruce County records their names and dates as: Duncan 1794 - 1879 Elizabeth 1818-1878 These dates are found in a transcription of Ripley-Huron Cemetery as provided by the Bruce & Grey branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, which, by the way, is available online for free. Note that also to be found is a transcription of Lochalsh-McKenzie Cemetery. This latter records a stone as follows: McTavish, Duncan, June 24, 1870, 85 yrs, 5 mos/Native of Argyleshire, Scotland. Per the introduction, the Lochalsh Cemetery was recorded by a Mrs. Wm. Arnold, date unknown, and then typed and digitized in 2010. Mrs. Arnold did not find a stone for Betsy McTavish, 1857-1863, but, interestingly, CanGenWeb has a photograph of Betsy McTavish's gravestone at Lochalsh, which must have been unearthed in recent years. Duncan and Elizabeth's years of birth as shown on the Ripley Cemetery stone roughly agree with their ages in the 1861 and 1871 censuses. We must believe that the Lochalsh stone for Duncan was, by the time it was transcribed, worn and difficult to read. The Ripley stone is so clearly incised that we must believe 1879 to be his correct year of death, in all probability, a death date of June 24, 1879. Which brings me to Find-a-Grave. Annette on Find-a-Grave has done excellent work on the Husband gravestones. And this includes the McTavish stones in Ripley with photos that are her own. She has with the photograph of Duncan's stone a write up as to just where he and Elizabeth are buried. This is Annette's story to tell, not mine. It's easily found on Find-a-Grave. It's evident that she was in contact with family members and the tale is an interesting one and no doubt accurate. Your researcher considers a discussion of the conflicting cemetery transcriptions fair game, but not a story that someone else has been at pains to put together. A final comment about the death registrations for Bruce County during the 1877-1880 era: Ancestry shows the death registrations for Bruce County as they appear on the microfilm reels provided by the Archives of Ontario. Yes, these registrations are indexed, but it is also possible to scan through the reels for their designated years. We do not presently know if Duncan and Elizabeth died in Huron Township of Bruce County, but probably they did. These Bruce County reels have been examined and we may note that each of the four years, 1877 thru 1880, have registrations as filed in Huron Township. The registering clerk's handwriting is emminently clear and the names of Duncan and Elizabeth do not appear. If they died elsewhere, the indexing does not indicate it. Over the years your researcher has noticed that a county's registrations often have interpolations from other counties. This was no doubt a filing problem from times long gone. It is startling, however, to note how many registrations for Ottawa and other Carleton County municipalities wound up with the Bruce County death registrations. Dozens! An update. The gravestone in Ripley-Huron cemetery is errored so far as the date of Eliza's death is concerned. A descendant was gracious enough to point out the error and to refer to the death registration in1897. Her residence at time of death was lot 17 on the 2nd concession of Huron Township. The Township Papers files as well as abstract information as found on the Onland.ca website confirms that this property dd indeed belong to Duncan McTavish. Death reg. 005231-97 Huron Twp., Bruce Co. Eliza McTavish died June 1st, 1897. Age 77 yrs. Residence lot 17, concession 2. Widow. Born Ireland. Presbyterian. Physician Dr. D. A. MacCrimmon. Informant James McTavish. |
Children of Elizabeth Husband and Duncan McTavish |
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| Last Edited | 1 Dec 2020 |