GILBERT to Canada circa 1840

[JACK GEE]

Hi all.
My GGGrand father George Gilbert went to Canada circa 1840.
He was domiciled as Farm Labourer and moved around the Bristol area in Gloucestershire and Somerset.
My search to find clues on his trip have been fruitless.
So i seek someone who has played in the field of British/Canadian migration to help me.
PS> He returned to Shirehampton England because in was too cold [family legend].
He and his children then went to Australia circa 1858 to begin a new chapter.
To add to the story i am a very closed match by DNA to an UNKNOWN Gilbert in Canada.

cheers
Jack Gee

[*Sandra*]

There are no comprehensive lists of immigrants arriving in Canada prior to 1865. Until that year, shipping companies were not required by the government to keep their passenger manifests.
You didn't say how old your George Gilbert was or where he might have gone in Canada ?

No results here - https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/immigration-records/immigrants-before-1865/Pages/search.aspx

Sandra

[Milliepede]

He returned to Shirehampton England because in was too cold [

Have you got him on the 1851 census in England?

[JACK GEE]

Hello Sandra and Millipede,
George Thomas Gilbert was born in Shirehampton in 1806.
First wife Elizabeth Gilbert [nee Ford] was born 1811 and their two children Emily b.1838] and William[b.1839] . Somewhere between 1842 and 1844 is his estimated sojourn to Canada. He is back in Shirehampton in the 1851 census with new wife Elizabeth Gilbert [nee Cox] and two new children.

cheers
Jack Gee

[Milliepede]

So do you believe he had a child in Canada you are related to? 

I see the 1851 children were born in England.

[JACK GEE]

Hello Millipede,
 i am part of a DNA group that has a Very Very close match to a Canadian match. This information has only just come to light. George Gilbert known kids were all born in Gloucestershire or Somerset. It is possible that he fathered a child whilst in Canada. I have been unsuccessful previously in my search - the new lead has pushed me to have another crack at it - thus my plee. Apart from the family legend that he went to Canada and returned because of the cold - anything else is speculative.
George Gilbert was known as an agricultural Labourer and possibly itinerant, as illustrated by the birth pattern of his kids. So looking at the movement of workers from Gloucstershire and/or Somerset to Canada. Maybe a ships crew as Shirehampton is near Bristol harbour or maybe an immigration group from Gloucestershire and Somerset.

cheers
Jack Gee

[Milliepede]

So when did his first wife die?  Was she not in Canada with him and the older children 

Or you think he went on his own and left them behind, if so are they on the 1841 census in England without him.  Sorry for my confusion. 

[JACK GEE]

Milliepede, your not the only one confused. Sadly i don't have access to the 1841 Shirehampton Census and i have never seen a copy. In the 1851 Census the Son William is with his Uncle. I would suggest  that he went to Canada between wives.

Cheers
Jack Gee

[JACK GEE]

Hello Troops, just an update. I found a George Gilbert in the 1842 East Canada cenus in La Malbaie, Saguenay,Quebec. No guarabtee that it is the previously mentioned George Gilbert. But a possibility. All clues to seek further information welcome.

Cheers
Jack Gee