Taking Up the Canada's 150th Genealogy Challenge

Yesterday was Canada Day, and a very special Canada Day at that – the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the creation of the Dominion of Canada from the former British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada (comprising Quebec and Ontario). Patricia Greber of the My Genealogy Life blog celebrated with a Canada's 150th Genealogy Challenge, asking bloggers to "List all your ancestors that were living in Canada in 1867, the dates they arrived (can be approximate) and where they first settled."

So, albeit a day late, I'm going to answer this challenge for the three-quarters of my maternal lines that are Canadian. (My paternal lines are solidly English, Scots, and German.) My maternal grandmother's father descended from French-Canadian stock who first arrived in Quebec in the late 17th century, while my maternal grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Prince Edward Island; his PEI forbears came from Scotland (Outer Hebrides) and Ireland.¹

All except my 3x great-grandfather Michael Murphy were born in Quebec or Prince Edward Island, so for them there are no "arrival dates" or locations "where first settled". Instead I have listed their probable locations in 1867. (Michael Murphy arrived from Ireland ca 1820 and first settled in Georgetown, PEI.)

Ancestor	Relationship	Probable residence in 1867
*Louis Rabideau (1850-aft 1913)	2x great-grandfather	Saint-Paul-de-Chester, PQ
*Celina Cloutier (ca 1850-1881)	2x great-grandmother	unknown
Louis Robidas (1832-1921)	3x great-grandfather	Saint-Paul-de-Chester, PQ
Marie Deshaies-St. Cyr (1829-1895)	3x great-grandmother	Saint-Paul-de-Chester, PQ
Divine Louise Girardeau( 1790-1875)	4x great-grandmother	prob Stoke or St. Camille, PQ
**Jean-Baptiste Deshaies-St. Cyr (1806-unk)	4x great-grandfather	possibly Nicolet, PQ
**Victoire Lemire (1811-unk)	4x great-grandmother	possibly Nicolet, PQ
Dominic Murphy (1854-1914)	great-grandfather	Georgetown, PEI
Rose Ann McIntyre (1862-1937)	great-grandmother	Lot 19, PEI
William Murphy (1830-1909)	2x great-grandfather	Georgetown, PEI
Flora Ann McDonald (1832-1911)	2x great-grandmother	Georgetown, PEI
Neil McIntyre (1814-aft 1881)	2x great-grandfather	Lot 19, PEI
Mary Ann McLellan (1817-1896)	2x great-grandmother	Lot 19, PEI
**Michael Murphy (ca 1800-aft 1861)	3x great-grandfather	Lot 41, PEI
**Magdelen Morison (ca 1800-aft 1861)	3x great-grandmother	Lot 41, PEI

* Louis and Celina married in 1869, probably in New Hampshire, but I believe they were still in Quebec in 1867.
** These ancestors may well have been alive in 1867, but so far I haven't located any death records for them.

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SOURCES

1. PEI didn't actually join the Dominion until 1873, but since it is informally known as the "Cradle of Confederation" for hosting the 1864 Charlottetown Conference where the initial steps toward Confederation were taken, I'm going to stretch the bounds of the challenge a bit to include my PEI lines.