William McBride
ID # 8037, (1837-1906)
| Father | Robert McBride (1812-1872) |
| Mother | Sophia Dale (1815-1895) |
| Birth | William McBride was born on 2 November 1837 at Belfast, Ireland. |
| Marriage | He married Jane Aiken, daughter of James Aiken and Eliza (--?--). William McBride appears with his wife's family, the Aikens, in the 1861 census in Toronto. They have no children with them. Son, William Jr., was born in 1862. Jane's family were Church of England - Anglicans. Anglican clergy were not obliged to return records of marriages to local registrars as of the District era, but it was required by the time county era registrations came into force - around 1857 or 1858. It does seem likely that William and Jane were married in the county era, perhaps two or three years well into the county marriage registration era, but no record of their marriage has been found. All sorts of index and image registrations have been examined, but no marriage registration for William and Jane has been found. The short story will likely be that a church record is to be found, but was not submitted to the registrar. It may yet turn up. |
| Death | He died on 26 June 1906 at Galt, Waterloo Co., Ontario, at age 68. |
| Burial | He was buried at Sec. 3, Mountview Cemetery, Galt.. |
| Note | To the family researcher, the evidence that William McBride, born in 1837 in Ireland, and who finished up in Galt in 1906, was the son of Robert McBride and Sophia Dale might seem a bit thin. The initial tipoff was that his mother was Sophia and he named a daughter Sophia. Certainly, to this point, a marriage registration, such as might have named the parents of the couple, has not been found. The argument is strengthened, however, when it was noticed that William and Jane's son Robert had the middle name of James. This information is provided in his death registration. The informant in Robert James McBride's death was Sophie McBride Robertson. It seems reasonable to conclude that Robert James was named after both of his grandfathers. This reasoning might still appear lightly supported, but, looking over the other possibilities it is quite difficult to escape the conclusion that Robert McBride and Sophia Dale were William's parents. William McBride appears with his wife's family as of the 1861 census in St. John's Ward, Toronto. Some of the entries (places of birth) are a mess, but it is reasonably possible to interpret William's place of birth as being Belfast. And from this 1861 census page we may make some deductions as to his wife's family. See notes for Jane. Death reg. 029622-06 Galt, Waterloo Co. William McBride died June 26, 1906, age 69. Residence Albert Street. Gentleman. Married. Presbyterian. Physician and informant Dr. A. Hawk. Best information, William was not married as of the time of his death, but rather widowed. See notes for wife Jane. Beyond that, Death registrations from this era were one-liners and quite frequently poorly informative. The 1901 census at Galt shows a date of birth for William, Nov. 2, but the year is unreadable. His gravestone at Mountview Cemetery, however, shows a birth year of 1837. This works well with the 1851 census as enumerated in Quebec City wherein William is located with his parents and is shown as age 15. That census was not begun until January 4, 1852, and the age question was: What is your age as of your next birthday. Since we know that William was not born until November of his birth year, this would in fact agree with birth year of 1837. Needless to say, this information was not always answered spot on, but it does seem to work for William's year of birth. The 1881 census show William in Galt with his mother-in-law, Eliza Aiken, and four children. This census shows him as a safe maker. And in terms of his trade we may find some useful information in previous City of Toronto directories. (These are available for download in digital format from the Toronto library.) The 1874 Toronto directory shows two William McBrides. One is with Morris, Harris & McBride, but they are barristers. The other shows William McBride residing at 223 Berkeley and working with John Taylor & Co. and this firm is shown as safe makers. The 1875, '76, and '77 directories show William at the same residence and still working for John Taylor & Co. The 1878 directory shows a Thomas McBride residing at 223 Berkeley and he is shown as a safe maker. This does not tell us by which firm Thomas is emplolyed, but John Taylor & Company would be a safe bet (no pun intended.) It could also be that the enumerator got William's first name wrong. The 1879 directory does have a William McBride at 79 Terauley, but it does not tell us where he is employed. Whatever the situation with the directory listings, by 1881 we may be sure that William McBride is relocated to Galt and family history has it that he was employed by Goldie & McCulloch. Their manufactory included a foundry and they made safes. Here, for William McBride Sr., one more comment: Familysearch has a microfilm reel that they identify as 008485589. This records wills as they appear in the copy book of the surrogate court clerk for Waterloo County. It includes a copy of William's will. William died in 1906 and the will, a rather general document, was written in 1901. He made his daughter Sophia his executrix, and she was instructed to 'keep and maintain' her grandmother, Mrs.Eliza Aiken, for as long as she lived. Eliza died in 1903, so this aspect of the will did not come into practical force. William's wife was Jane Aiken. She died in 1872. Jane's parents appear in this tree. Eliza's maiden name has not been found. |
Children of William McBride and Jane Aiken |
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| Last Edited | 3 May 2022 |