COMPLETED 1861 Census Darlington Township

[puzzlnut]

Thanks to everyone who helped with this.  I think I've found out just about everything I can with the Fields and am amazed at how much I was able to get with your assistance.  Thanks so much!

*******

Can someone help me wrap my head around what Durham County was around the time of the 1861 Census?

I'm attempting to find my GGgrandmother, Harriet (Field) Bullen.  She might have been in the Bowmanville area during that census.  Her husband, Jonathan Bullen, had gone to Victoria, B.C. (1860) and she followed him with their 2 daughters, Eliza Jane and Sarah, a few years later.  She was born Harriet Field in 1831 to Jeremiah Field and Harriet Howlett, London, England (christened 1833 at St. James, Clerkenwell, London, England)  Harriet Howlett was Jeremiah's second wife, the first being Hannah Westley.

I've never found record of Harriet (Field) Bullen or her 2 daughters in Ontario, in spite of the fact I know they were there - somewhere in the Bowmanville area.

I think I've finally located her father in the 1861 census in Darlington Township as a farmer.  His wife (Eliza) is not Harriet's mother but I think it's him because in the 1871 census there are Howletts living with him and it seems like too much of a coincidence.

I've paged through the Darlington Township 1861 census pages without success, but what I don't know is - what does this township encompass?

A family Bible shows Harriet Field, Darlington, 10 April 1849 as the possessor, so obviously the family emigrated prior to the 1851 census, although I've never found any sign of them.  There should have at least been Jeremiah (b. 1799), Harriet (b. 1831) and Eliza (b. 1833).  Eliza married William Doidge in 1860 (Oshawa)

The other thing I'm trying to understand is, did Jeremiah move around or did place names just change?  1861 - Darlington Township.  1871 Pickering.  1881  York.

I live in British Columbia (near where Jonathan Bullen and Harriet Field settled) so am not that familiar with the area. 

Big thanks to whoever can help.

[RunKitty]

Hi there,

Perhaps I can help a bit.  Darlington Twp was certainly in old Durham County.  If you look here, you can see the historic townships of Durham county - and their major towns. 
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durham_County,_Ontario
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canon/research-area-durham.html

Pickering would be in old Ontario County:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onontari/
As you can see, it was between Durham County and York County.

York County encompased Toronto and the surrounding areas. 

I find the County Atlas Project to be a great source for historical maps (as well as locating ancestors)
 http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/CountyAtlas/search.htm
Just go to the maps button and type in the county you want.  This is a fabulous resource.

It is certainly possible that your family moved around between these areas - mine did
RK

[puzzlnut]

Thanks so much for your information, RunKitty.  It has helped and I will certainly check the links out.

[puzzlnut]

Hunting around for other maps of the area, I stumbled upon this:
http://olddurhamcounty.webs.com/darlingtonmap1861.htm

A closer inspection showed names on land plots.  It's fuzzy, unfortunately, and I haven't found my Fields yet, but I'm going to compare with some of the names on the 1861 census to see if I can narrow down the area.  What I don't know is do the names on this map mean the people who owned the land or who were farming it?

[vbain]

http://www.islandnet.com/ocfa/search.php
Ontario Cemetery Finding aid.
Enter Surname
Enter Durham in county box. and name of cemetery (Pine Grove Albert)

Names will appear. Note the ID number. Then you can contact the library  (Oshawa)in that area to see if you can get transcription of the stones. You might also contact the Durham Genweb, or Oshawa library might be useful.

[RunKitty]

Hi there,

Just a couple of notes about how a lot of Ontario farm land is divided (sort of like latitude and longitude):

Running east to west are parallel, numbered Concession roads.  These numbers go up as you go north.  They are often expressed as Roman Numerals.     

Then the land is further divided into Lots.  So, if you have an "address" of Concession VI, Lot 9.  It is sort of like "Bingo" - count up to find the concession road (often shown on the side of the map as a roman numeral), then count over to find your lot number, and there you have it.   Lots can be further divided into halfs or quarters, so you might have the north east quarter, or the west half or something. 

If you have an "address" from the 1861 census (or if you can find the agricultural schedule to the census), you could get the co-ordinates from there.   

I would suggest that you pull up the Darlington Township map from the Digital Atlas project site that I sent to you.  If you have a laptop, turn your computer sideways because Lake Ontario should be to the SOUTH in this map.  Somebody thought it would be a good idea to put the map on its side!!  You can blow the map up as needed  - to see the concession roads/lots and get an idea for locations.  The Concessions are numbered on the edge of the map and the lots are shown as tiny numbers on the north side of the map (opposite from the lake).   If you can get your bearings on a more easily readable map , this may help you to make sense of the "fuzzy" 1861 one. 

I see on the site where you found the 1861 map - there are some references to books about the history of the area.  It might be worth seeing if you can get these through interlibrary loan. 

RK

** added - the link to the Darlington TWP map on the Digital County Atlas site:
http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/SearchMapframes.php

OOPS - it didn't go straight there.  Just select Darlington from the drop down list of Townships. 

[puzzlnut]

Thanks for all your suggestions, RunKitty.  By checking the maps, I found the Ontario County map (made, I guess, in the 1880's) and found T. Field who I believe to be Thomas Field, Jeremiah's son.  They show up on the 1871 census in the Pickering area.  Thanks for your help.

[RunKitty]

Hi,

I see that there are some early census records for Darlington Twp. 
http://www.ontariogenealogy.com/Durham/census.html

You know that your ancestors arrived sometime between 1831 and 1849, so they should appear on one of these censuses.   

Since these are very early records, the geographical name of the area is different.  You are now in Newcastle District, but "Darlington Township" is still called the same name. 

Here are the microfilm numbers from the Ontario Archives.  You ought to be able to get these through interlibrary loan.  Just scroll down to Darlington Township.   
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0c4j/
 :)RK

[RunKitty]

This is interesting-
I went to the Pickering Ajax Digital Archives site and searched for Jeremiah Field.  I found this about his twin daughters in the Sparks family history -
http://www.pada.ca/search/results/?txt_a=jeremiah+field

I am not sure what the other find shows.  He must be in there somewhere. 

Are you interested in other memebers of the Field family in Ontario, or were you looking specifically for Jeremiah and Harriet in the censuses/maps?  If you want to find out more, there are lots of links on the Canada Resources Board under "Ontario" that will help with research, now that you know the counties and townships to look for. 

If you need help finding out anything about other members of this family, please let us know!! 
RK