History

Welcome to where the good stuff is! At least I think it is the good stuff. This is where you will find how the Halls family left Devon, what kind of people they were, where they lived, what they did, stories donated by various family members, and links to biographies and histories stored on these pages.

To start, this is the story of the descendants of John Halls and Mary Nelson, approximately born in 1747 and 1751 respectively. They appear to have married in Meeth, Devon, on July 20, 1777¹. Sadly I don't know much else beyond that.

As far as I have been able to determine their children were Sarah, John, Mary, William, Philip, Benjamin, and Joseph.

According to the records that I have Joseph was a shoemaker. John and William were both masons. I don't know what Philip did. I believe he was a mason, too.

In the early 1800's the family appears to have converted from Anglicanism to Bible Christianity. There is family rumour that this may have contributed to the emigration of most of the family in the late 1840's, due to prejudice against the Bible Christians. Aside from this this the Halls family from Merton seems to have been reasonably well off. According to one source, they owned Halls Cottage (the family home in Merton), and had the right to vote. Census records and jobs/businesses they had in both England and Canada indicate that they were skilled craftsmen, usually listed as masons, builders, or contractors for their occupations.

Generation 1 - Sarah, John, Mary, William, Philip, Benjamin, and Joseph

Philip married Jane (Jenny) Smith about 1810, and they had eight children. Philip (1811 - 1866), William (1813 - 1893), Mary (1816 - ?), Thomas (1818 - 1891), Samuel (1821 - 1906), Charlotte (1824 - 1892), John (1827 - 1901), and James (1831 - 1901). As of the 1841 the family lived in Merton, Devon, England in Halls Cottage. In Dec 1846 both Philip and Jenny died. As far as I know the family remained in Merton until sometime in 1847. By mid 1851 the family had emigrated to Canada with the exceptions of William, Mary, and Charlotte who remained in England.

John (1778 - ??) married Mary (1786 - ??), date unknown. They had three children Thomas (1815 - 1877), Grace (1816 - ??), and Mary Jane (1833 - ??)

Joseph is even more of a mystery than Wilmot. My only reference to him is from a document made for a Halls Family Reunion some 30 years ago, and it has no references to other genealogical sources.

William (1791 - 1842) married Sarah (1786 - ??), date unknown. They had two children, Nancy (1821 - 1908) and Elizabeth (1821 - 1890). Sarah appears to have been still alive at the time of the 1851 Census of England, aged 87. She was living with Nancy and her husband Thomas Stacey.

Generation 2 - Philip's Children

Philip's children appear to have been quite successful, whether they stayed in England or came to Canada. Philip Jr was a lay preacher in the St Thomas, Ontario area according to one source I have read. William stayed in England, and became the owner of a building firm based in Dolton, Devon. Thomas was the owner of a successful building firm in the Lambeth, Ontario area. James became a magistrate and councillor in the Usborne township, Huron county, Ontario. John was a successful farmer and builder who lived not far from his brothers Samuel and James in Usborne township. Samuel was a successful builder in Usborne township.

Philip Jr (1811 - 1866) and his wife Sarah (nee Pollard) settled in Canada West (Ontario), Middlesex County, apparently in Mosa Twp, at least as far as I can determine from the Census of 1852. They were married in 1837 in Exeter, Devon, England. Philip and Sarah had two children, Samuel Pollard (1838 - 1900), and John Philip (1849 - 1934). Sarah did not live long in her new country as she died in 1852. Her gravestone can be found in the cemetery of Trinity Anglican church in Lambeth, just southwest of London, Ontario. After Sarah died Philip remarried to Catherine S. Borbridge (1821 -1879) in August of 1855 in St Thomas, Ontario. As far as I can tell Philip is buried in an unmarked grave (paid for by his brother-in-law Henry Borbridge apparently) in the St. Thomas cemetery, St. Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario.

William was born in 1813 and died in 1891. He married Mary Smith (1809 - 1894) (nee Bulleid) in 1847. He moved to Dolton between the 1841 and 1851 censuses. William was stepfather to the two Smith boys, Henry and Thomas. He also had two children with Mary, Samuel (1849 - 1904) and Mary S. (1851 - before 1861). He became a successful builder with a firm employing at least eight men. Both William and Mary are buried in the churchyard in Dolton, Devon, England.

Mary married John Heard on Apr 3, 1842. I have not been able to reliably trace this family.

Charlotte married Thomas Martin (1820 - 1888?) on May 8, 1851. They had at least 4 children, Mary Jane, John, Lydia, and William James.

Thomas (1818 - 1891) had three wives, Betsey (Elizabeth) Heard (1817 - 1855), Ann Mitchell (1825 - 1864) (nee Thomas), and Maria Sewell (1826 - 1889). He married Betsey Heard in May 1843, Ann Mitchell in 1858, and Maria Sewell in 1868. His children with Betsey were William (1844 - 1915), Thomas (1845 - 1846) who was born and died in England, and Louisa (1846 - 1916). His children with Ann Mitchell were Thomas Thomas (1860 - 1892), Mary May (1862 1863), and Harry M (1864). He had no children with Maria Sewell. Thomas and his wives are all buried in the churchyard of Trinity Anglican Church in Lambeth, Middlesex county, Ontario, Canada.

John married Annie Kettlewell (1832 - 1897), probably in Canada, though England is possible even though I have not found any records of John Halls marrying any Ann/Anne/Annie. They had eight children Thomas (1863 - 1910), John (1863 - 1952), Mary (1866 - 1901), William (1867 - 1953), Philip T. (1868 - 1950), Albert (1870 - 1896), Charlotte (1872 - 1900?), and Annie (1874 - 1962). John and his wife Annie are both buried in the churchyard of the Elimville United Church in Elimville, Huron county, Ontario, Canada.

John was a successful farmer and builder, and is listed in the Atlas of Huron County from 1879.

James married Mary Ann Andrew (1834 - 1906) on Dec 9, 1861 in Usborne twp, Huron County, Ontario, Canada. They had seven children, Mary Jane (1862 - 1945), Philip T. (1864 - 1902), George (1866 - 1870), Ellen Elizabeth (1870 - 1957), Frank Ernest (1872 - 1950), Charlotte Ann (1873 - 1933), and Lillian Louisa (1877 - 1947). James and Mary Ann are both buried in the churchyard of the Elimville United Church in Elimville, Huron county, Ontario, Canada.

James was extremely succesful in Canada. The Atlas of Huron County from 1879 lists James as a farmer, builder and magistrate. He was a member of the Usborne township council for approximately 20 years, and was one of the directors of the Usborne & Hibbert Mutual Fire Insurance Co.

Samuel married Margaret Godbolt (1815 - ??) sometime between 1842 and 1848. They had eight children James (1849 - 1918), Mary Jane (1851 - 1882), Sarah Margaret (1852 - 1901), Charlotte (1854 - ??), Ellen (1857 - 1889), Samuel (1859 - 1930), John T. (1860 - 1904), and William (1863 - ??).

Samuel's story is the most interesting, and the most mysterious. He was the last of the brothers to die, in 1906. He emigrated to Canada in 1842. He spent part of the American Civil War as an observer for the British government. He was a builder and farmer too, but is not mentioned in the Atlas of Huron County from 1879. He had no will that I can find, possibly because he had none. When he died he was living in the House of Refuge near Clinton in Tuckersmith township, so perhaps he had disposed of his personal effects and property before he moved into it. Most of the brothers are mentioned in the local paper (Huron Expositor) fairly frequently, but I have only found one mention of Samuel.

Lines

I will now focus on providing history by the line as opposed to by generation. This will provide highlights of individuals based on information that I have discovered. I will order it by the age of Philip senior's children.

Philip's Line

Philip had two children. The older was Samuel Pollard, and the younger was John Philip.

In 1851 at the age of 13 Samuel Pollard Halls, his mother Sarah, and his younger brother John emigrated to Canada. From what I can tell his father Philip went ahead to Canada to prepare for the rest of the family. The record at this time is spotty. Samuel, John and Sarah appear in the 1851 census of England, but Philip does not. They appear together as a family in the 1852 census of Canada, living in Mosa twp, Middlesex County, Canada West (Ontario). For some reason there is a Sarah Halls, of the correct age, but listed as being in Westminster twp, Middlesex County, with her brother-in-law, Thomas. Sadly the family was not reunited for long. Sarah died in 1852, shortly after the census. She is buried in the graveyard of Trinity Anglican Church, in Lambeth, Ontario (just southwest of London).

Samuel next appears in the records in the 1861 census of Canada in Usborne twp, Huron County. He is sharing a residence with his uncle, also Samuel Halls. It was probably about this time that people began to refer to Samuel Pollard as SP. Eventually the nickname became so common, and Samuel Pollard so well known in the area, that his name on his death record is just SP Halls.

Sometime between 1861 and 1864 SP married Charlotte Borbridge (1837 - 1910), who was the sister of Catherine Borbridge, who was his father's wife. In January of 1865 the first of SP's and Charlotte's three children were born. Those children were George William (1865-1872), Edward Albert (1866-1872), and Philip Henry (1872). Sadly all three of his children died in late August and early September of 1872 from dysentery. The forms recording their deaths show one of the saddest things I have seen. SP was the clerk of Usborne twp at the time his children died, so in the death records for his children he lists himself as the informant, and signs as the township clerk recording the deaths. All three children are buried in the churchyard of the Elimville United Church in Elimville, Huron county, Ontario, Canada.

At some point SP developed an interest in education and teaching, In 1862 he attended the Toronto Normal School (what would later be the Ontario Teachers College). In the 1871 census of Canada he is listed as a school teacher. In 1886 he received a BA from the University of Toronto, and in 1890, he received his MA. He was the Science Master of the Goderich High School from 1876 to 1892, and Assistant Master from at least 1877. From 1895 he was the Principal of the Goderich Public and Model Schools. He was very involved in the setting up of the school system in Huron and Muskoka. He is listed as being a speaker at a conference (what we might now call workshops) for training teachers in August of 1877 in Parry Sound.

Samuel Pollard Halls died on June 27, 1900, in Goderich. He was so well known in the area that his death record does not give his full name, he is just listed as SP Halls. He is buried in Maitland Cemetery, Goderich, Ontario, with his wife Charlotte, who died on April 7, 1910.

Philip's other son, John Philip, stayed in the St Thomas, Ontario area until a few years after the death of his father. Sometime between 1866 an 1871 he moved to Illinois. In 1879 there is a mention of him in his step-mother's will stating that he is living in Wilmington, Illinois, but by the time of the 1880 US Census he had moved to Beloit, Rock county, Wisconsin, where he stayed until his death. On Dec 27, 1871 he married Emma Jane Hunter (1853 - 1915) in Yarmouth, Elgin county, Ontario. John Philip and Emma had seven children, Cora Bell, Emerson Jay, Orlo Ardell, Garfield Arthur, Ethel M, John Eddy, and Philip Samuel. John Philip is listed at various points as being a harness maker, a grocer, and finally, president of Halls Glove Co. of Beloit, Wisconsin.

William's Line

William stayed in England, and married Mary Field Bulleid (1809 - 1894), widow of Thomas Smith, on Aug 17, 1847. They had two children Samuel Halls (1849 - 1904) and Mary Jane Halls (1851 - ??). William moved to Dolton at some point and began to run a building company, William Halls and Son. His company is referred to in the 1878 White's History, Gazeteer and Directory of Devonshire.

His son Samuel took over the company on the death of his father, at least the name changed from William Halls and Son to Samuel Halls and Son about that time. I have found a few references to Samuel besides the Devonshire directories of that time period. There is one where he is listed as one of the draughtsman for a church renovation.

Samuel married Emma Tanton in 1879. They had 5 children that I have been able to find, 4 girls and 1 boy. They were Edith Jane (1880 - ??), Ellen Mary (1883 - 1887), Agnes Mabel (1887 - 1910), Emma Tanton(1889 - 1891), Gertrude Tanton (1892 - ??), and William James (1881 - ??).

The last reference I can find of Edith Jane is the 1911 Census of England, living in Tamworth, Staffordshire. The 1901 census had her living in the same location, and listed her occupation as School Governess. The most recent reference I was able to find to Gertrude was in the 1911 Census of England, where she is listed as living in the Torrington district of Devon.

I had the extreme good fortune of finding virtually all of William James military records online. At the time of his enlistment in 1915 he gave his address as 9 Friars Walk in Exeter, though his enlistment location was given as Dukes Rd, Euston, London. He was in the 1/28th Battalion of the London Regiment (Artists Rifles). He spent from his enlistment until April of 1916 in England, presumably in training, and then was in France between April of 1916 and February of 1919. He was wounded twice from what I can tell, once by gas. Both injuries appear to have been sustained in 1918. After the war he settled in London, giving his address in 1919 as 29 Sinclair Rd, Kensington, W14. The last reference I have been able to find of William is on an incoming passenger list from Sierra Leone to Liverpool.

Samuel died in 1904, and is buried in the churchyard of St Edmund's, Dolton. Emma died in 1918. Her probate indicates she was living at 63 Well St. in Torrington at the time of her death, and I believe she was buried in one of the graveyards in Torrington.

James' Line

After James died his children who were still in the area stayed until the death of his wife, Mary Ann, in 1906. After she died most of his children moved to Winnipeg, with the exception of Philip who had died in 1902. However even Philip's wife and child moved to Winnipeg after the death of Mary Ann.

Frank Halls, was a co-founder of the construction firm Carter-Halls-Aldinger, which built many major buildings across western Canada. Their most well known work (I think) is the rebuilding after fires of both the Banff Springs Hotel and Chateau Lake Louise in the 1920's. The firm still exists today under the name Commonwealth Construction.

Ellen Elizabeth Halls married Peter Gardiner. Their son William Cecil Gardiner immigrated to the United States in the 1930’s. He attended Princeton, and became a chemist of some note. Ellen died in 1957 and Peter died in 1948. Both are buried in Woodland Cemetery, London, Ontario.

Philip T. Halls married Agnes Wood. He died in 1902 in Huron county. Agnes moved with their son James Reginald Halls to Winnipeg. She died there on May 29, 1930. James Reginald was a soldier in WW1. He married a woman named Mary Marcellus from Thunder Bay. He died in Vancouver in 1947. They appear to have had one child who died while still young.

Mary Jane Halls married James Matheson on Aug 21, 1909. She died in Winnipeg on Aug 8, 1945. Her obituary from the Winnipeg Free Press reads:

MRS. JAMES MATHESON

Mrs. Mary Jane (Jennie) Matheson, 83, of suite 2 Lucerne apartments, died, Wednesday morning, at the Misericordia hospital. She was predeceased by her husband, James Matheson. Born at Exeter, Ont, Mrs. Matheson came to Winnipeg in 1912. She was a member of Fort Rouge United church. Survivors include two sisters, Mrs. P. Gardiner, of London, Ont., and Miss Lillian Halls, of Winnipeg; and one brother, Frank E. Halls, of Winnipeg. The funeral service will be held Friday, at 2.45 p.m., at Gardiner's. Rev. G. F. Dyker will officiate and burial will be in Elmwood cemetery.

I do not know when her husband died, or where he is buried, but I suspect in the United States.