No. 2
The Croftons of Brandon, Manitoba,
and their cousinship with the British Royal Family

By John Blythe Dobson

[Note: This is the archival version. A corrected and updated version of this article is also available.]

In our recent perusal of a 1911 Crofton genealogy, we found mention of two siblings of this name who settled at Brandon, evidently in the late 19^th century.⁽¹⁾ While a check of the LDS website (www.familysearch.org) turned up further nothing on the Canadian branch of the family, the RootsWeb website took us to Linzi Meryl’s Linzi’s Family, at http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=:2306353, which extended the line two generations forward, supplying the names of four children and four grandchildren of one of the settlers, although with scant detail of the persons’ places of residence.⁽²⁾ Thus, while it is not clear whether this family has living members in Manitoba, the possibility that there are still descendants living somewhere in Western Canada seems strong enough to warrant discussion here of some of their interesting connections.

Two points touched on in the 1911 genealogy immediately intrigued us. One is the puzzling discussion of Ernest Augustus Crofton (living 1832), who was probably a great-grand-uncle of the Henry Crofton who appears under generation 11 in the pedigree below. It is stated: “He claimed to be entitled to the Mount Temple estates [in co. Sligo], through his mother [Frances Harwood, of unstated parentage], who was by a line of female descent a descendant of Capt. Lawrence Hyde (brother of Lord Clarendon), whose elder daughter married, secondly, Mr. Temple, of Mount Temple. From this is may be inferred that Ernest Augustus was [claiming to be his father] Philip’s eldest son. The claim was quite absurd.” It is unclear whether the writer meant that the absurdity lay (a) merely in the claim of Ernest Augustus to have been his father’s eldest son; (b) more seriously, in the claim that his mother was a representative of the Temples; or (c) still more seriously, in the claim that his mother was descended from the Hydes in any manner.⁽³⁾ The “Lord Clarendon” referred to was probably the 1^st Lord, but with the materials at our disposal we have been unable to verify any of the other connections suggested. In any case it is difficult to see how a descendant of his sibling can have had any claim to the Mount Temple estates, which have regularly descended to the heirs of the first Earl of Clarendon to the present day. But it would certainly be interesting to see how far the claim of Hyde descent could be rehabilitated, as it would almost certainly furnish a royal line for the Croftons.

The second point of interest is the appearance of the name Ussher, the alliance with which figures in the Crofton pedigree in a part from which the Croftons of Brandon can certainly claim descent, and which forms the basis of the lineage presented below. The Usshers were one of the most distinguished Anglo-Irish families of the 16^th and 17^th centuries, figuring substantially in the ancestry of H.M. the late Queen Mother, born Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,⁽⁴⁾ and perhaps including the famous chronologer, James Ussher (1581-1656), Archbishop of Armaugh.⁽⁵⁾ The degree of the relationship is slightly closer than that which the late Queen Mother shares with many Americans through the Elizabeth ancestors of Great Migration immigrants.

1. Arland Ussher, Mayor of Dublin in 1496-71, living 1471, the first known ancestor of this family. He m. Anne Berford, whose parentage Paget was likewise unable to trace.
2. Christopher Ussher, Mayor of Dublin in 1518 and 1524, d. 30 Jan. 1526. He m. Anne/Alison FitzWilliam(s), daughter of Thomas FitzWilliam(s) alias Merrion.
3. John Ussher, Mayor of Dublin, d. 1 May 1600. He m. Alison Newman, d. 1601, daughter of William Newman, Mayor of Dublin.
4. William Ussher, of Donnybrook, co. Dublin, Clerk of the Council, b. ca. 1588, knighted 1603, will dated 28 Dec. 1657. He m. Isabella Loftus, d. 11 Nov. 1597, daughter of Sir Adam Loftus (1533?-1605), Archbishop of Armaugh and afterwards of Dublin, Lord Keeper, Lord Chancellor, and Lord Justice of Ireland,⁽⁶⁾ by his wife Jane, daughter of Adam Purdon, of Lurgan Race, co. Louth. (The Archbishop and his wife were ancestors of H.M. the late Queen Mother through two different lines.⁽⁷⁾ They were also ancestors of the Viscounts, later Marquesses, of Ely.)
5. Arthur Ussher, of Donnybrook, Dublin, b. say 1605, d. 2 March 1628 by drowning, in the River Dodder.⁽⁸⁾ He m. Judith Newcomen, d. 1652, eldest daughter of Sir Robert Newcomen, 1^st Baronet,⁽⁹⁾ of Moystown, Kings County, by his wife Catherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Molyneux, Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland.⁽¹⁰⁾ Surprisingly, her ancestry, for all its considerable distinction, does not include any traceable royal lines. However, through their son Sir William Ussher of Portrane, she and her husband were direct ancestors of H.M. the late Queen Mother.⁽¹¹⁾
6. Beverley Ussher, of Kilmeadon, co. Waterford, b. say 1644, d. 1683. He m. (1) Joan, daughter of Sir Percy Smith. He m. (2) by 1683, Grace Osborn, daughter of Richard Osborne, of Ballyntaylor, co. Waterford, by his wife Elizabeth ——.
7. Arthur Ussher, of Cappagh, Camphire, co. Waterford, b. 1683, d. 1768. He m. Lucy Taylor, daughter of Berkeley Taylor, of Askeaton, co. Limerick.
8. John Ussher, of Cappagh, co. Waterford, Ireland, b. ca. 1743, d. 8 March 1789. He m. possibly 8 June 1761,⁽¹²⁾ Elizabeth Musgrave, daughter of Christopher Musgrave, of Ballyin, co. Waterford, Ireland.⁽¹³⁾
9. Arthur Ussher, of Camphire, b. 30 March 1764 at Cappagh, co. Waterford, Ireland. He m. probably in Dec. 1787 at Limerick,⁽¹⁴⁾ Margaret Hewetson, daughter of The Rev. John Hewetson, J.P., of Suir View, Ireland.⁽¹⁵⁾
10. Sarah Ussher, b. say 1800. She m. by 1824, Richard A. Pearson, of the 1^st Dragoon Guards, and 87^th Regiment, or Royal Irish Fusiliers, d. 1866, said to have been a son of James and Sarah (Sparrow) Pearson.⁽¹⁶⁾ He served in the Peninsular War.
11. Hannah Mina Pearson, b. 1824, d. 1886, her parents’ only child. She m. 17 Feb. 1848, Henry Crofton, b. 12 May 1818 at Aughnacloy, co. Tyrone, d. 6 Oct. 1861 at Dublin, son of William Edward Crofton, Captain in the 50^th and 91^st Regiments, by his wife Alicia, daughter of William Moore, of “The Bawn,” Auchnacloy, co. Tyrone. Two of their children came to Manitoba:
    1. Mary Hermine Crofton, b. 10 Nov. 1857, living 1900. She m. —— Mercer,⁽¹⁷⁾ of Brandon. Manitoba birth registrations through 1901 do not list any child of such a couple, whatever the name of the father.
    2. Charles Moore Crofton, of Brandon, b. 30 or 31 Jan. 1861, d. 10 April 1953 at Vancouver, British Columbia.⁽¹⁸⁾ He is not found in the LDS index to the 1881 Canadian census, and so was presumably not yet in the country at that time. He m. 18 Nov. 1885 at Brandon,⁽¹⁹⁾ Elizabeth Hodson (called Hudson in the marriage record, but Hodson in the birth records of their two children Arthur and Lucy), b. 26 Oct. 1865 (according to the 1901 census), living 1901. They were enumerated at Doly, near Brandon in the 1901 census.⁽²⁰⁾ Issue:
       1. Arthur Crofton, b. 13 March 1886 in the R.M. of Daly.⁽²¹⁾
       2. Richard Crofton, b. 14 Nov. 1888 (according to the 1901 census). He m. 1 Jan. 1918 at Brandon,⁽²²⁾ Grace Constance Lillith Plows, and according to Linzi Meryl had: Evelyn Crofton; Eileen Crofton (who m. Frank A. Schultz); Francis Gordon Crofton; Vernon Crofton.
       3. Lucy Crofton, b. 18 Oct. 1890 in the R.M. of Daly.⁽²³⁾ She m. 25 Sept. 1908 at Brandon,⁽²⁴⁾ Joel Smith. We do not know if there was issue of this marriage.
       4. (according to Linzi Meryl) Dorothy Crofton, b. say 1892, d. 1940; m. William ——. Was this daughter missed in the 1901 census?

N O T E S

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Miscellanea Manitobiana, no. 2
URL = cybrary.uwinnipeg.ca/people/Dobson/Manitobiana/archive/002.html
Published by John Blythe Dobson, 23-10 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 1X2, Canada
j.dobson@uwinnipeg.ca
This page created 4 October 2003
©2003