Hannah Wilkinson
(Owens, McVean, Dodd)
I first learned of Hannah from our cousin, Barry, whose family tree listed her as Hannah Owens. It was exciting to see that there was a lot of information on the internet about Hannah and her family, but some of the source documentation was missing. Being the sticklers for detail and proper source documentation that we are, Bev and I wanted to find those documents. That’s when the trouble began. What we found was that Hannah was not born Hannah Owens – she was in fact born Hannah Wilkinson.
Now it's not a thing to be taken lightly to upset the apple cart when it comes to other people’s family trees but it is of the utmost importance to ensure that we are following the right family lines. Having made this discovery, Bev and I had to make sure that we had documented proof that Hannah was the daughter of John Wilkinson and the step-daughter of Owen Owens. To view this documentation, click here.
Hannah was born on September 20, 1816 0r 1817 in Yorkshire, England and baptized on April 5, 1818 at the Parish Church of Bradford, England.* She was the only child of Charlotte Lindley and John Wilkinson. Charlotte, John, and Hannah Wilkinson reportedly emigrated from England to Quebec, Canada sometime around 1819. John Wilkinson died prior to February, 1828, as evidenced by Charlotte's marriage to Owen Owens on February 12, 1828. Charlotte is listed as the wife of the late John Wilkinson. Hannah would have been between 11 and 12 years old when her mother remarried.
There is no doubt that Hannah grew fond of Owen and he of her and theirs was a father/daughter relationship. When Hannah married Dougald McVean on September 1, 1847, Owen was one of the witnesses. He also was a witness to the baptism of Hannah and Dougald's daughter, Mary Jane. It would seem that Owen adopted Hannah as one of his own children, if not formally, then in his heart. This then explains the mistaken maiden name.
Hannah and Dougald McVean had two daughters, Maria, born on October 22, 1842 and Mary Jane, born on February 9, 1847. Interestingly, there is some confusion as to the father's names on the baptismal records of these girls. Maria's father's name is listed as Donald McVean and the father of Mary Jane McVean is listed as Dougald McVean. Dougald McVean died in April of 1847, just months after the birth of the couple's second child.
Hannah next married Adam Dodd on December 3, 1848. They had three children: Charlotte A. Dodd, David Adam Dodd our great-grandfather, and Robert Owen Dodd. The family resided in Hawkesbury,Ontario and later in Vankleek Hill, Ontario. Hannah died on August 6, 1902. Her obituary appeared in the Vankleek Hill Review on August 8, 1902. This and an accompanying article in the Review are in part responsible for the confusion regarding Hannah's father.
Obituary from The Review, Vankleek Hill
August 8, 1902
Transcribed by Barry Peers at the Vankleek Hill Library October 3, 2010
Mrs. Dodd, wife of Mr. David Adam Dodd of Vankleek Hill, passed away at the advanced age of 87 years. The deceased lady was the mother of Mr. David Dodd, farmer for McCuaig & Robertson at "Burnbrae Farm". The deceased lady was a sister of Senator Owens, of Montebello. The funeral took place at Vankleek Hill cemetery on Thursday afternoon. The services were conducted by Rev. E. A. Anderson.
The fact that the obituary refers to Hannah as the sister of Senator Owens, does not in itself cause any alarm, however the accompanying article which has several errors has been instrumental in obscuring the Wilkinson name in Hannah's history.
Article from Vankleek Hill Review
Hannah Owens was born in Denbigh, Wales, England, September 20, 1816, and died August 6, 1902. She was the daughter of Owen Owens from Denbigh, Wales. Owen arrived in Canada about 1819.
Hannah was first married to a Mr. McVean. A fter his death she married Adam Dodd at the the Holy Trinity Church in Hawkesbury, Ontario, December 3, 1848. They had one son, David Adam Dodd, born April 28, 1861.
Hannah was also the sister of Senator William Owens. William was a businessman, a mayor, and in 1881, was elected deputy of Argenteuil in the Quebec Legislative Assembly. After the death of J.C. Abbott, William Owens became a Senator in Ottawa, replacing Abbott. William Owens was also the president of the Ottawa River Navigation in 1895.
In 1887, as a businessman, he bought 33,120 Acres from the estate of Louis Joseph Papineau and Napoleon Bourassa, for $16,000.00. In 1888, Wm. Owens bought all the land from the Papineau/Bourassa estate except for the two islands on the Papineau Lake, for $55,000.00.
In 1904, Wm. Owens sold all the land to William Haskell, an American, for $200,000.00. Later on, the land was sold to J. Sloat Fassett, a New York Senator, who then sold it to S.J. Sanniforth, a Canadian from Lachute, Que. Note: during all the above transactions, Louis-Joseph Papineau's manor and chapel were excluded from the sales. They are now a museum located next to the Chateau Montebello.
The Chateau was built on the land owned by all those mentioned above. At the beginning the Chateau Montebello was known as the Log Chateau. Later on it became a private members club known as the Seignerie and then the Chateau Montebello. The construction of the Chateau began in 1930.
The article above is rife with errors. First Hannah was not born in Denbigh, Wales, but in England. Next, Hannah and Adam had two sons: David and Robert and a daughter, Charlotte. I think it strange that there is no mention of David's siblings. One wonders if the newspaper reporter even talked to the family before submitting this write-up considering the mistakes. If the “facts” came from the family then the omission of David's siblings is very curious. Also curious is why the reporter chose to concentrate the bulk of the article on Senator William Owens, Hannah's “brother”. Remember that this article was about Hannah's death.
Maria McVean & Mary Jane Mcvean
Maria and Mary JaneMcVean were the daughters of Hannah Wilkinson and Dougald McVean. However, their baptism records present a bit of a problem. Maria's father is listed as Donald McVean and one of the witnesses is Dougald McVean. This seems odd as at the time of Maria's birth Hannah was married to Dougald McVean. Mary Jane's father is listed as Dougald McVean, however her marriage certificate states that her father was Donald McVean. To complicate matters further, the marriage certificate of Hannah Wilkinson and Dougald McVean is witnessed by a Donald McVean.
I believe that there are two reasonable explanation for these discrepancies:
* The 1901 Census of Canada lists her birthday as September 20, 1816, while the Owens' Bible gives it as September 20, 1817. It is common to see errors in both of these types of records.
Now it's not a thing to be taken lightly to upset the apple cart when it comes to other people’s family trees but it is of the utmost importance to ensure that we are following the right family lines. Having made this discovery, Bev and I had to make sure that we had documented proof that Hannah was the daughter of John Wilkinson and the step-daughter of Owen Owens. To view this documentation, click here.
Hannah was born on September 20, 1816 0r 1817 in Yorkshire, England and baptized on April 5, 1818 at the Parish Church of Bradford, England.* She was the only child of Charlotte Lindley and John Wilkinson. Charlotte, John, and Hannah Wilkinson reportedly emigrated from England to Quebec, Canada sometime around 1819. John Wilkinson died prior to February, 1828, as evidenced by Charlotte's marriage to Owen Owens on February 12, 1828. Charlotte is listed as the wife of the late John Wilkinson. Hannah would have been between 11 and 12 years old when her mother remarried.
There is no doubt that Hannah grew fond of Owen and he of her and theirs was a father/daughter relationship. When Hannah married Dougald McVean on September 1, 1847, Owen was one of the witnesses. He also was a witness to the baptism of Hannah and Dougald's daughter, Mary Jane. It would seem that Owen adopted Hannah as one of his own children, if not formally, then in his heart. This then explains the mistaken maiden name.
Hannah and Dougald McVean had two daughters, Maria, born on October 22, 1842 and Mary Jane, born on February 9, 1847. Interestingly, there is some confusion as to the father's names on the baptismal records of these girls. Maria's father's name is listed as Donald McVean and the father of Mary Jane McVean is listed as Dougald McVean. Dougald McVean died in April of 1847, just months after the birth of the couple's second child.
Hannah next married Adam Dodd on December 3, 1848. They had three children: Charlotte A. Dodd, David Adam Dodd our great-grandfather, and Robert Owen Dodd. The family resided in Hawkesbury,Ontario and later in Vankleek Hill, Ontario. Hannah died on August 6, 1902. Her obituary appeared in the Vankleek Hill Review on August 8, 1902. This and an accompanying article in the Review are in part responsible for the confusion regarding Hannah's father.
Obituary from The Review, Vankleek Hill
August 8, 1902
Transcribed by Barry Peers at the Vankleek Hill Library October 3, 2010
Mrs. Dodd, wife of Mr. David Adam Dodd of Vankleek Hill, passed away at the advanced age of 87 years. The deceased lady was the mother of Mr. David Dodd, farmer for McCuaig & Robertson at "Burnbrae Farm". The deceased lady was a sister of Senator Owens, of Montebello. The funeral took place at Vankleek Hill cemetery on Thursday afternoon. The services were conducted by Rev. E. A. Anderson.
The fact that the obituary refers to Hannah as the sister of Senator Owens, does not in itself cause any alarm, however the accompanying article which has several errors has been instrumental in obscuring the Wilkinson name in Hannah's history.
Article from Vankleek Hill Review
Hannah Owens was born in Denbigh, Wales, England, September 20, 1816, and died August 6, 1902. She was the daughter of Owen Owens from Denbigh, Wales. Owen arrived in Canada about 1819.
Hannah was first married to a Mr. McVean. A fter his death she married Adam Dodd at the the Holy Trinity Church in Hawkesbury, Ontario, December 3, 1848. They had one son, David Adam Dodd, born April 28, 1861.
Hannah was also the sister of Senator William Owens. William was a businessman, a mayor, and in 1881, was elected deputy of Argenteuil in the Quebec Legislative Assembly. After the death of J.C. Abbott, William Owens became a Senator in Ottawa, replacing Abbott. William Owens was also the president of the Ottawa River Navigation in 1895.
In 1887, as a businessman, he bought 33,120 Acres from the estate of Louis Joseph Papineau and Napoleon Bourassa, for $16,000.00. In 1888, Wm. Owens bought all the land from the Papineau/Bourassa estate except for the two islands on the Papineau Lake, for $55,000.00.
In 1904, Wm. Owens sold all the land to William Haskell, an American, for $200,000.00. Later on, the land was sold to J. Sloat Fassett, a New York Senator, who then sold it to S.J. Sanniforth, a Canadian from Lachute, Que. Note: during all the above transactions, Louis-Joseph Papineau's manor and chapel were excluded from the sales. They are now a museum located next to the Chateau Montebello.
The Chateau was built on the land owned by all those mentioned above. At the beginning the Chateau Montebello was known as the Log Chateau. Later on it became a private members club known as the Seignerie and then the Chateau Montebello. The construction of the Chateau began in 1930.
The article above is rife with errors. First Hannah was not born in Denbigh, Wales, but in England. Next, Hannah and Adam had two sons: David and Robert and a daughter, Charlotte. I think it strange that there is no mention of David's siblings. One wonders if the newspaper reporter even talked to the family before submitting this write-up considering the mistakes. If the “facts” came from the family then the omission of David's siblings is very curious. Also curious is why the reporter chose to concentrate the bulk of the article on Senator William Owens, Hannah's “brother”. Remember that this article was about Hannah's death.
Maria McVean & Mary Jane Mcvean
Maria and Mary JaneMcVean were the daughters of Hannah Wilkinson and Dougald McVean. However, their baptism records present a bit of a problem. Maria's father is listed as Donald McVean and one of the witnesses is Dougald McVean. This seems odd as at the time of Maria's birth Hannah was married to Dougald McVean. Mary Jane's father is listed as Dougald McVean, however her marriage certificate states that her father was Donald McVean. To complicate matters further, the marriage certificate of Hannah Wilkinson and Dougald McVean is witnessed by a Donald McVean.
I believe that there are two reasonable explanation for these discrepancies:
- The names Dougald and Donald may have been interchangeable. This is still common practice in names such as William and Bill, Robert, Bob or Rob etc If this is the case then perhaps both father and son were named Dougald McVean. To avoid confusion on the marriage certificate (or so they may have thought), Dougald senior signed as Donald. This may also explain why some records give Dougald's name as Donald and others as Dougald. Just as someone named Gerald may sign some documents as Gerald and others as Jerry.
- The second scenario is that both father and son were named Dougald Donald McVean and as is the case with so many of our ancestors, they switched from their first to middle name seemingly on a whim, whenever they felt like it.
* The 1901 Census of Canada lists her birthday as September 20, 1816, while the Owens' Bible gives it as September 20, 1817. It is common to see errors in both of these types of records.