Paul Family History(The following is a compilation by Harald Wolf from many sources; most of the John Paul material was received from his great granddaughter Maureen Patricia Watt Shields when we first connected in July 2002) Last (limited) updated Nov 12, 2015 The Paul's are just one of the many families in our family history - genetically of no greater interest that any other. However, partly due to the large families and to fortuitous connections, a number of stories can be told, tracing the family members through history.
One researcher (Isabel Jessie Watt Turner) determined that the Paul family came to the British isles from France during the Huguenot persecution (around 1685?). One brother settled in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England; another went to Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland; and the third went to Aberdeen, Scotland.
The first James Paul we know of and wife Margaret Sterling are the parents of the John at the top of the tree above, born 1700 in Glasgow. His grandson, James, born c. 1795, and his wife, Margaret McClure, had four children; the oldest, another James, is the family head who led to all the descendants discussed below. There were five children, that I know of, in James Paul and Lydia Purdie's family, all born in Ayr, Ayrshire:
Lewis McCann has one other brother listed, Henry Crawford Paul, but we haven't been able to verify this. Also, we are not sure if there were actually two Sara's; it is possible that the earlier one died at or soon after birth and that the name was re-used, or that this is a mistake. Of these children, the most is know about William and John, both of whom have lots of descendants in Canada. Some believe that James actually was first to come to Manitoba, but no trace has been found. But the adventures started back in Scotland: William"William Gunning Campbell Paul" is a rather unusual name in a family and an era when names tended to be far simpler. I'm sure there is a story behind it, but we have yet to find it. But the Internet is a great tool for digging things up, and I've discovered there was a "William Gunning Campbell" - a barrister and deputy-lieutenant for Ayrshire, and who would have been about the same age as WGCP's grandparents - maybe they chose to honour this man for his fame or for his friendship. Another possibility is a greater stretch: a fairytale couple, albeit about a hundred years before "Willie" was born - he, John Campbell, fifth Duke of Argyll (1723-1806) - she, Elizabeth Gunning, widow of the sixth Duke of Hamilton, a celebrated beauty, subject of painters and poets, as well as controversy about how she used her beauty to marry into nobility. Now, this fairytale took place in and near Campbeltown, Kintyre, Argyllshire, across the bay from Ayr, and where the family moved sometime between 1864 (birth of their last child, who died in infancy) and 1871(1871 census). It is here that Willie became a successful draper and married Margaret Turner Montgomery, and to have his even dozen kids. Willie owned a drapery store in Campbeltown and apparently did many good deeds, including helping "the drunks", and became known as the "Spurgeon of the North".
But times were tough in that part of Scotland at the turn of the century. It seems older brother James had made his way to Canada, and Willie's family decided to follow (as did younger brother John, as we'll see below) but, sadly, two weeks before the boat was to sail, Willie died of a massive stoke!
[His obituary is still around .... a small book written many years later by
an anonymous relative; the scan is too large to post here, but available on
request.] I would suspect that assets would have been rearranged in preparation for leaving, so the widowed Margaret probably had little choice but to follow through on the plans - so off she went to Manitoba with her 12 kids in tow! The whole town came out to bid farewell (played: Will ye no come back again)." The family travelled on the S.S. Corinthian, owned by the Montreal Allen family, leaving Glasgow on 02 July 1904 and arriving in Montreal on 13 July. Then on by train to Winnipeg, where they stayed with John's family for something like three weeks, before other arrangements could be made. John helped the older boys get jobs.
MontgomeryI have acquired a history of this Montgomery lineage, complete with a lot of tenuous connections. It seems these Montgomeries established a stronghold in Ayrshire and spread out from there. The first I have in Kintyre is John, born 1701 in Campbeltown, whose descendents settled around Southend:
JohnWilliam's younger brother John had a fascinating early life as well .... John Paul was born in Ayr, on June 28,1857. He was apprenticed as a tailor and cutter and, at the age of 21, he boarded the steamship "Para" of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company to take up a 3-year position in Georgetown, Demerara, British Guiana to ply his trade. In 1881 he married Alice Eliza Anne Cook, the descendent of both Dutch and British plantation owners, and their first four children were born in British Guiana. During the 10 or 11 years he lived in British Guiana he went back to Scotland only once, taking his wife Eliza and first three children (Winnie, Allie, and Belle) with him. The trip back was an attempt to clear up “the Liver Complaint” (now known as cirrhosis of the liver, often caused by alcohol abuse or hepatitis, which is rather common in the tropics). He went back after about a year because his business partner in BG was not doing too well. Another child, and first son, John C. F. was born in Demerara before ill health forced John Paul's return to Scotland, probably in 1888 or 1889. The family lived for a while in Glasgow, but his health didn’t start to improve until he moved out into the country near Stirling, and worked in the open air, raising goats and vegetables. His daughter Sara was born there. Once his health improved he again took up his trade and spent two years near Londonderry in Ireland. After this he moved his family briefly to Barnsley in Yorkshire, where a son Clifford was born. The next move was to Sheffield, where 4-month old Clifford died. Here John Paul went into partnership with a friend and opened a tailor shop at Shalesmoor. His son Thomas was born here. The family lived in Sheffield for 10 years. John’s health continued to be poor and in 1903 he and his eldest son John came out to Canada to Greswold, near Winnipeg, Manitoba. They didn’t find work there, so they moved to Winnipeg where his wife and the rest of the family joined them in March 1904. [Later, daughter "Allie" (Alice Vivian) wrote: Shortly after we had arrived in Winnipeg, my Father’s brother and family from Campbeltown, Scotland, arranged to come to Canada . It was a big undertaking as there were 12 children, 6 boys and 6 girls. Tragically the night before they were to sail, my Uncle died in his sleep. My Father cabled the family to come by the next boat - my Aunt and 12 children, aged from 3 years to 24 years old. For three weeks the family stayed with us - 21 persons altogether, quite a houseful. Eventually they were able to get a house for the family. My father had spoken for positions for the elder ones in the family before they arrived, so they settled in Winnipeg for some years before different ones of the family got married and moved to other parts of Canada.] In 1905 John and family moved farther west to Alberta. John Paul died on June 16, 1923 (read his obituary); his wife died in Edmonton on Oct. 22, 1926 - they are both buried in Fort Saskatchewan.
More to come . . .
Notes
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Twenty two years later, one of Margaret's nieces, Elizabeth MacCallum, came
for a one-year visit, and ended up marrying her first cousin Archie. Their
only child was Peter Paul, who supplied me with the Montgomery genealogy in 1990 in
Ottawa. Interestingly, Peter and wife Winifred, now live in Glasgow.
John even attempted
homesteading, but his land was purchased back by the government to become part
of 