Hodgson...

Is a name that crops up a lot on my family tree  some I have a blood relationship with, others  my ancestors married in to.  One I have been following lately is of a Rachael Hodgson born in Hudson, Quebec, Canada.    Rachael married Tyson Longrigg one of my 1st cousins 4 times removed in Montreal, Canada in 1850.  Tyson was born 24 June 1827 in Appleby, Westmorland, England

Records show he may have been related to the Hodgson's through a cousin. His Mothers maiden name was Hodgson.

Tyson was the son of Joseph Longrigg and Mary Hodgson  who were Landlords of The Kings Arms in Bongate Appleby.   Tyson became a  Doctor.  After getting married to Rachael they moved to New York City where they had two sons.  Not much more is known after that on this family. I suspect the sons died without having any issue.

I have recently learned quite a lot about Rachael.  Her parents were among the first Cumberland, England immigrants to settle in Vaudriel, Quebec, Canada.   John  came with his wife Rachel Wilson and their eldest daughter Jane to clear and farm a plot of land in Cote St. Charles in 1820.

  A cluster of houses on the Main road sprang up around the Hodgson Family who operated a Saw Mill and came to be known locally as the "English Villages".

John  Hodgson and Rachel Wilson had eight children born to them.

(Found this on ancestry.com along with several more pages of notes on this family).

  Rachael's brother Joseph born in 1821 married an Elizabeth Awde they had eight children.

  Their eldest daughter Jane married John Serson Melvin and they had ten children.  I was fortunate enough to find a picture of this family on a descendents family tree on ancestry.com and use this with her permission.

 

This is their eldest daughter Mary Elizabeth Melvin

Picture of her with her husband John Larmour and her children probably taken about 1900.

Life would have been very hard for the early pioneers of Canada.

After clearing the land their first home would no doubt have been a Log Cabin built without mechanical equipment and their own hands.