#48 MY IRISH ROOTS--Part 1

 

                                        NETTERFIELD FAMILY--IRISH ROOTS—PART 1 

 

The Netterfields are my Irish ancestors.  The family lived in County Cavan around Ballyconnell and they emigrated to Canada in 1847. More research needs to be done on the family line in Ireland.

Ballyconnell is a market town in County Cavan situated near the border of Northern Ireland and was founded during the reign of King James I. Settlers from northern England and the Scottish Lowlands were “planted” in northern Ireland on confiscated-Catholic lands as a way to control, anglicize and “civilize” the Gaelic Catholics.  This Ulster Plantation was to be English-speaking, Protestant and loyal to the King. For safety reasons, the government wanted settlers to live together in villages on each estate and not be scattered here and there. The new English landlords founded villages on their lands. The Earl of Annesley was the most significant landowner in the Ballyconnell area; his estate was over 10,000 acres.  

 The new settlers brought with them better farming methods and the beginnings of a thriving flax and linen industry. It is quite likely that the Netterfields were amongst the thousands of Scots/English who moved to Ulster in the early 1600s.  

The Netterfields were considered Ballyconnell gentry (not shopkeepers). According to Griffith’s Valuation 1857, the Netterfields were landowners of 5 townlands (properties which could range from a few to several hundred acres); the Netterfield townlands included Derryginney, Ballyconnell, Doon, Gortoorlan, Mullaghduff. In 1846, Moses Netterfield (a brother) was the commissioner in Ballyconnell for taking affidavits, was high constable of the barony of Tullyhaw and clerk of the petty sessions. His brother Richard was a barony cess (tax) collector. Family folklore is of a“ grand estate with its avenue of great trees, a dim recollection of a sawmill, of tenants coming, cap in hand to pay the rent.” Nonetheless, there seemed to be a conviction among Ballyconnell folk that the Netterfields were a wild, hard-drinking, reckless clan. It was “across the rounded hills and steep slopes that the country folk told [how] the Netterfields had lathered their fine horses and rode like the devil to no where.” “There is a story of Moses Netterfield of Karn House-- how he would get his [servant] boy astride his donkey and have the little fellow climb up the grand staircase and trot down the opposite one to the delight of the guests.”

Glendoon, the Netterfield house in Ballyconnell

 

THOMAS: Thomas Netterfield is my 3 times great grandfather.  One of nine children of Moses Netterfield (abt 1790-abt 1831) and Elizabeth Montgomery (abt 1786-1886), Thomas was born December 11, 1811 in Belturbet, Co.Cavan. He attended the prestigious Royal School in Cavan; this was one of a number of "free schools" created by King James I in 1608 to provide an education to the sons of local merchants and farmers during the Plantation of Ulster. 

Crest of Royal School, Cavan: The griffin (both lion & eagle) is a royal symbol. the rising sun holds the date 1611. The sun rises above the drumlins, a reference to the landscape of County Cavan. The Latin phrase "Ad Vitam Paramus" means "We are prepared for life."

On holiday from his studies, Thomas fell in love with the daughter of his father’s land steward, a maid in his parents' home. He married Elizabeth “Bessie” Brown (1811-1893); he was 19 and she 16. It is believed that the marriage was considered beneath the family’s position. At any rate, Bessie proved a thrifty young wife for it is told that, before the family's migration to Canada, she had managed to save the passage fare only to have her husband squander it on the horses and cock fighting; the trip was delayed until she, again, had enough to pay for the family’s passage.

FAMINE: The Great Famine of 1845-51 has the grim distinction of being the most costly natural disaster of modern times. Some 80% of the Irish population lived on the land under a land system where most was owned by Plantation landlords; vast numbers of the cottier class lived on potato gardens, often subdivided amongst their sons. By the 1840s, close on 40% of the Irish were totally dependent on the potato and it was the major food source for the rest. Between 1845 and 1849, the potato crop failed in three seasons of four; the result was starvation and the spread of road-disease—dysentery, typhus and cholera. One million Irish died of hunger and disease and two million more emigrated on the coffin-ships to America. South west Ulster was the hardest hit during the Irish Famine; in Cavan 42% of the population died.

 

Monument to Irish Famine, Toronto, Ont

EMIGRATION: How much the Netterfields suffered due to the Famine is unknown but in 1847, Thomas Netterfield and his wife Bessie decided to leave the uncertainty of Ireland and emigrate to Canada where they might acquire land and better opportunities for their family. Leaving with them were 5 children-- William, Thomas, James, John, and baby Elizabeth. (Elizabeth died at sea.) Daughters Mary Anne and Margaret remained in Ireland and joined the family later. Thomas' sister, Grizella, may have emigrated with them. 

Perhaps before their departure, their Netterfield siblings hosted an “American wake.” It was a wake in every sense of the word, because  respects were being paid to those they would never see again. The family would provide food, drink and tobacco for the neighbours. When dawn came, the wake would be over and brothers and sisters and friends (this was referred to as a convoy) might accompany the emigrants part of the way, sometimes several town lengths. 

The Netterfields first had to get from Cavan to Liverpool where most of the America-bound ships were berthed. About 20 vessels sailed every day from Ireland to Liverpool with the same general cargo—the country’s prime produce and on the same vessel, the unwanted “surplus" human beings. "Like some species of animal whose value was far below that of cattle, pigs and sheep, the Irish were being ferried [from Ireland] --standing room only--on the upper deck, where they were subjected to dreadful exposure during the thirty to thirty-six hour crossing to Liverpool.” Having made it safely to Liverpool, the emigrants could not immediately board their ships for America. For most, there was a wait of weeks—weeks in which their little bit of money was exhausted in paying exorbitant rates at substandard rooming houses.

SAILING: The Netterfields sailed from Liverpool to Canada aboard the Lord Ashburton, a 3-masted sailing barque. This particular voyage of the Lord Ashburton in mid-September was one of the worst crossings in 1847. The sea voyage to Quebec took 47 days. On board were 489 steerage passengers and 2 cabin passengers. The Quebec Mercury reported that the Lord Ashburton arrived at Grosse Isle on Saturday, October 30,1847 in a deplorable state and that the passengers were in as sickly and wretched condition as any that had been seen during the past season. One hundred and seven passengers, (more than a quarter of the emigrants)  including Baby Elizabeth Netterfield, had died during the crossing; another 60 were ill with typhus or dysentery; half of the passengers were either ill or convalescent when they arrived at Grosse Isle. An offensive odour filled the ship’s hold.

Many of the passengers aboard the Lord Ashburton (not the Netterfields) had been tenants on Lord Palmerston's estate in County Sligo; his agents had already shipped a thousand people to Canada with promises of clothes and 2 to 5 pounds a family upon their arrival in Quebec. When they arrived they were described as being in a state of “fearful destitution". The last cargo of human beings received in Canada from Lord Palmerstons' estate came aboard the Lord Ashburton. Of these emigrants "87 were almost in a state of nudity; the food provided on board the ship was of the worst description; the ship was excessively overcrowded; no sufficient vigilance was exercised in this respect by the agents at the outports; the whole mortality had been upwards of 25% of the number embarked.”

Because of the cold weather and because the quarantine buildings at Grosse Isle were not winterized, the passengers were not taken ashore but instead were transferred (sick and healthy together) to a steamer to be taken directly to Montreal. Fresh meat and bread were distributed to the passengers so they would have food for the one-day trip to Montreal; at Montreal, there was a hospital that could take in sick people during the winter months.

Back at Grosse Isle, the Lord Ashburton was cleaned; the berths and everything used by the sick emigrants was thrown overboard and the ship was washed and disinfected. The Quebec Gazette was sharply critical of the British government’s laxity in allowing a ship to leave for Canada so late in the season and with so many emigrants crammed into it; “such carelessness was a disgrace to the imperial government, caused unspeakable suffering, and had ruinous consequences for the colony.”

a coffin ship

 

FARMING IN CANADA WEST: The Netterfields took up land near Portland, Leeds County. Three more children were born—a second Elizabeth to take the place of the little one buried at sea, Charlotte and Grizella. Then the entire family—now numbering 17 (including my great-great-grandfather William**, his wife, Huldah and my great grandmother Addie)—decided to move west to Turnberry Township, Huron County, when the Crown offered rich timberland for settlement. The trip was made by horse-drawn conveyance and the 300 miles must have been an arduous one. All Thomas' and Bessie's children settled on nearby farms in Turnberry Township; all married except John who remained with his parents all their lives.

Thomas and Bessie lived beyond their 60^th wedding anniversary. One of their grandchildren (Emma Netterfield Cooper) wrote “I do not recall Thomas birth date; perhaps it was because they both seemed so old all the time. I do remember that he [Thomas] was considered an excellent mathematician. He often used to discuss academic studies with us and I remember that one of the questions he used to ask was “How old is the moon?” and was pleased when we had a little rhyme he had taught us in connection with the moon’s age. He liked to tell us about a teacher of his who used to make figures in the ashes of the fireplace at school to teach him arithmetic.” Of Thomas and Bessie, Emma said, “I think I stood in awe of them. As I recall, Grandmother Bessie seemed to me rather austere, not the kind to “make much” over children. Grandfather Thomas never seemed as stiff as she was. I always recall his hands, well shaped and with long fingers.”

Bessie died in Turnberry Township on January 1, 1896, about age 82. Thomas passed on April 23, 1896 about age 85.

 THOMAS NETTERFIELD

b. Dec 18 1811 in Belturbet, County Cavan, Ireland                                                                                    m. Elizabeth “Bessie” Brown (1814-1893) abt 1830 in County Cavan                                                        d. April 23 1896 in Lower Wingham, Huron County, Ontario                                                      my 3^rd great grandfather (Homuth-Netterfield line)

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        WILLIAM NETTERFIELD 

My great grandfather, William Netterfield, was the eldest of the ten Netterfield siblings.  He was one of the hired hands working the Chipman farm in Leeds County when he fell in love with Huldah, the Chipmans' "adopted" daughter. But the Chipmans had another suitor in mind for Huldah and when told of her plan to marry William, they were angry, told her that she was not adopted and thus could expect no dowry from them. Huldah's daughter later wrote, "It must have been disappointing, but they were young, their love and a span of horses was all they had, and of course courage, and mother had learned much about home making but of course without the well provided pantry and cellar."

 Huldah, aged 17, and William, aged 21, married about 1853/4.  Before they left for Wingham, Huldah took her oldest daughter, to visit the Chipmans. Perhaps she hoped that “Uncle” Harry who had liked Huldah, would give a goose or hens or such; but there were no gifts. Despite this shunning, Huldah’s youngest daughter “felt sure that Mother had a wonderful life and good training with the Chipmans and I felt sure that her and Father’s life together—privations or not—was the richer for her early experience." 

Huldah and William

.”

In 1864, William and Huldah had 3 children when the extended Netterfield clan (about 17 of them) decided to move westerly across the province from Leeds County to Wingham, in Huron County where timberland had been thrown open by the Crown. The 300 mile journey across the unsettled colony must have been very difficult..

The Netterfields were among the first settlers in Turnberry Township. They acquired land in Lower Wingham, an area described as a frog-pond and stagnated while Upper Wingham became the more dynamic, commercial centre. In 1874, William received the patent for Crown land: his farm was next to his father's. William cleared his land and built a barn and red brick house. William was a “good farmer, proud of his land and tended it well.  He had a great love for trees, especially shade trees and had a fine row of maples, poplars and flowering trees between the fence and main road. From a rise near the house, one could see the bend of the Maitland River.” Here they raised their seven children. One twin daughter died from dysentery at one year old.                                                                                                                      William Netterfield home 

                                                                     (later  the home of author Alice Munro, winner of  2013                                                                             Nobel Prize  for Literature--described as master of the                                                                             contemporary short story)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       William was a congregant of St. Paul's Anglican Church, was  "staunch" Conservative, was a member of the Wingham Orange Lodge for over fifty years and was known as an "industrious, upright citizen".                                                          

William suffered from cancer for many months before he passed on March 29, 1903, aged 71. He is buried in the Wingham cemetery. On his gravestone is the  interesting epitaph "It is finished." Huldah died in North Dakota in 1918, aged 82, from Spanish flu so is buried in Westhope and not alongside William.  

 WILLIAM NETTERFIELD                                                                                                                         

       b. Feb 13, 1833 in Ballyconnell, Co.Cavan, Ireland                                                                                                                      m. Huldah Pierson (1836-1918)  abt 1854 in Leeds County, Ont                                                                                                   d. Mar 29, 1904 in Turnberry Twp, Huron Co.                                                                                                                        my great-great grandfather (Netterfield/Homuth line)                                                                                                                        

                                                        Post script :The fate of the Lord Ashburton

Ten years after the Netterfield’s horrid voyage to Canada, the Lord Ashburton was forever lost off the coast of New Brunswick.

1857 wreck of the Lord Ashburton ..J. Heard

In a hill-top cemetery, over-looking the fishing community of North Head, New Brunswick, stands a monument to 21 strangers. Though the crew was never known by the islanders the story of their tragedy is permanently etched in the island's heritage. One of the most devastating marine tragedies of the area, the wreck of the Lord Ashburton has been immortalized in paintings and writing. The stone is testament to the oft unforgiving nature of the sea.

In 1857, The Lord Ashburton left Toulon, France destined for Saint John, but the winds were so strong upon approaching the Bay of Fundy that it was forced to avoid attempting a landing. She was buffeted about for days during which time it came in sight of Grand Manan, and even Partridge Island before, at night and in the midst of a snowstorm on January 18, 1857, it struck the rocks off Eel Brook on Grand Manan. The masts were soon lost and ship was clearly breaking up. The crew gathered on deck and were either washed into the sea or jumped for their lives. A few men clung desperately to pieces of shattered hull and struggled to shore. The best estimate of the number of people on board was 29.

 

Several of the men made it to the beach alive, but most of them froze in the cold. News travels quickly on an island. Villagers arrived from afar to offer whatever help necessary. What awaited them was a ghastly scene. There could be no mystery about what had taken place that night. Here lay the partially submerged ship with gaping hole and tattered sails. Clothing hung off crags and rocks. Boxes floated on the waves. Pieces of the once graceful ship littered the beach. As for the bodies of the captain, his three mates and 17 crewmen, all were present.

One of the few survivors was James Lawson, a Dane, who managed to make it up the rock face and to take refuge in a barn at Long’s Eddy. The others were found in the morning, some still sitting in the posture in which they had died. Stories vary, and according to one account Lawson remained on the beach overnight and only made it up over the rocks in the morning. It sounds a little fantastic that anyone could survive overnight, soaked to the skin, in a snowstorm in January. In any case, he was found in the barn and taken in by a local family. He and six others ended up in the Marine Hospital in Saint John in February. Both of Lawson’s feet and possibly a leg were amputated and he remained in the hospital for five years. 

 

The kind people of the island buried the victims at the North Head Cemetery. A wooden plaque was erected. In 1910, a permanent monument was constructed,  a half holiday declared in the community, a memorial service held. At the service was one of the survivors, James Lawson. In an ironic ending to the tragedy, this Danish native had returned to Grand Manan, married an island woman, started a successful shoemaking business and remained a well-loved member of the community until his death in 1918, aged 84.

Moss now covers the old stone monument, but it stands as a reminder of the Lord Ashburton tragedy. An unspoken memorial to all--.islanders or strangers, who lost their lives to fickle seas.

"In Memory of 21 Seamen drowned on Northern Head of Grand Manan Jan,. 19, 1857

...to the ship Lord Ashburton"