The Irish Sons who went to Canada

[cessna152towser]

During my recent visit to Northern Ireland, my 90 year old relative handed on to me this photo of my great grandparents William & Eliza Mewhort with their five sons and daughter, taken about 1895 to 1900.
William Mewhort was a descendant of a Dutch or Brandenburg soldier who had come to Ireland to support Prince William of Orange in the Williamite campaign in 1688 to 1691. He and his wife moved to Scotland - census records show they lived in Renfrew by 1881. He died in 1913 and is buried in Arkleston Cemetery, Renfrew. My grandfather, John, leftmost in the back row remained in Scotland, while his four brothers all emigrated to Canada. Bill never married, but Tom, Dan and James between them produced 19 children, so my mother had many Canadian cousins, who in turn produced many more children and grandchildren.
Perhaps the best known to Canadian x-markers will be Dan's oldest son, Daniel, born 1907, co-author of the school textbooks, Mathematics for Canadians, by Mewhort and Godbold. When he retired in 1972 he was Associate Director of Education to the Toronto Board of Education. He died of cancer, aged 82, on 6th July, 1989.

[Splash_4]

Wow Alex, that photo is a treasure trove for your family tree and definitely a keepsake for future generations!

[McMurdo]

What a wonderful piece of Family History. I will keep an eye out for the Mewhorts

[CelticRanger66]

Nice Photo! I love seeking out and collecting family treasures such as that !!!

[Tattoo Bradley]

I too so love old photos. You can almost see the emotion in there eyes. Great find Alex. You will cherish it; no doubt.

[Phil]

What an interesting story. I suppose many of us have relatives who went to the New World. These are some of mine -

The man second from the left was W A Dunlap, an uncle of my grandmother who emigrated from Northern Ireland in the 1880's and who was a prominent mortician in Philadelphia and also, I believe, a member of the US Senate and a leading light in the Orange Order of America. Another brother decided not to go and as a 12 year old stayed behind in Greenock while the rest of his family left for America. He made a living first with a handcart, then horse and cart and finished up owning a bus company - Dunlop's buses.

[Big Paul]

Very cool pics!

I just love old photo's!

[cessna152towser]

Excellent stuff, Phil and a very sharp picture.
Dunlop's buses were just a few years before my time, though there is a very good illustrated history of Dunlops included in The Western Story, written by Neil MacDonald, and published in hardback during the 1980's, as Dunlop's ultimately joined Western Scottish Motor Transport.

[gangreenfootball]

great pictures

[Phil]

Excellent stuff, Phil and a very sharp picture.
Dunlop's buses were just a few years before my time, though there is a very good illustrated history of Dunlops included in The Western Story, written by Neil MacDonald, and published in hardback during the 1980's, as Dunlop's ultimately joined Western Scottish Motor Transport.

Before my time too, I only remember Western. MacBraynes still had buses in my younger days though. Thanks for the pointer about The Western Story, I must have a look for it. There was a sad ending to the Dunlop buses story. Everything was left to his only daughter and she met a man who ran off with all the cash. Not the first time it has happened and I'm sure won't be the last.