An Irish-born settler of Hungerford Township, Hastings County, Ontario
Prudence Mary Morton was born in Ireland about 1811. In both the 1861 and 1871 censuses she was recorded as Irish-born and a member of the Church of England. Her reported ages in those returns place her birth in the second decade of the nineteenth century.¹ ²
A baptism for Mary Morton, daughter of James Morton and Margaret Johnston, was recorded on 6 April 1809 in the Church of Ireland parish of Clones, County Monaghan.³ This is the only parish register entry presently identified for a woman of that name and age in the locality associated with the Doonan family.
She married James Doonan in Ireland, and by the early 1830s they were living in Canada West, where their children were born. The recorded birthplaces of the children show the family moving through the Bay of Quinte region — from Prince Edward County to Belleville and then to Hungerford Township in Hastings County — where they established their permanent home.
A farm household in Hungerford Township
In 1861 Prudence appeared in the census in Hungerford Township in the household of her husband, James Doonan, a farmer. Both were recorded as born in Ireland and as adherents of the Church of England. Their children, all born in Canada, were living with them on the farm.¹
Ten years later, in 1871, the household had entered a later stage of life. Only one son remained at home. Prudence, then fifty-seven years old, was again recorded as Irish-born and Church of England, and the census noted that she could not write.²
The home farm: Lot 8, Concession 1
Land registry records identify the family property as the north half of Lot 8 in the First Concession of Hungerford Township, Hastings County.⁴ This was the farm on which Prudence spent her later life.
On 13 August 1873 James Doonan made his will. In it he devised the farm to his son Edward, together with the livestock and farm implements, but required that Edward provide for the support of his mother during her lifetime. Prudence was to have the room she then occupied in the house and was to be maintained “winter and summer.” She also received a cow and two sheep for her own use.⁵
James Doonan died on 19 September 1873 in Hungerford Township.⁶
Widowhood and legal protection
Prudence survived her husband and was living as his widow on 1 November 1875, when she appeared in a mortgage and a related agreement with her son Edward concerning the farm. In the mortgage she was explicitly described as:
“Prudence Doonan, widow of James Doonan … and mother of the above-named Edward Doonan.”⁷
Because she held a life interest in the land under the terms of her husband’s will, her consent was required when the property was mortgaged. The agreement made the same day set out how her support would be secured:
- if the farm were sold during her lifetime, she was to receive $200
- if she chose to live elsewhere, Edward was to pay her $20 per year in place of her maintenance on the farm⁸
She signed the document by mark, consistent with the earlier census notation that she could not write.² ⁸
These records provide a detailed account of the arrangements for her old age and show that her right to support was formally protected against the land itself.
Last record
Prudence’s last known appearance is in the agreement of 1 November 1875.⁸ No later record has been found.
Her life can be traced with certainty from her Irish origins to more than four decades on the same farm in Hastings County, where she lived first as the wife of a settler farmer and later as a widow whose maintenance was guaranteed by the provisions of her husband’s will.
Sources
- 1861 Census of Canada, Canada West, Hastings County, Hungerford Township, household of James Doonan; Library and Archives Canada.
- 1871 Census of Canada, Ontario, Hastings East, Hungerford Township, household of James Doonan; Library and Archives Canada.
- Church of Ireland parish register, Clones, County Monaghan, baptism of Mary Morton, 6 April 1809; Family History Library microfilm 897416.
- Hastings County Land Registry Office (Ontario), Abstract Index to Deeds, Hungerford Township, Lot 8, Concession 1.
- Hastings County Land Registry Office (Ontario), Will of James Doonan, dated 13 August 1873, registered 27 September 1873.
- Ontario death registration, James Doonan, 19 September 1873, Hungerford Township, Hastings County.
- Hastings County Land Registry Office (Ontario), Mortgage from Edward Doonan and Prudence Doonan to John Taylor, registered 1 November 1875.
- Hastings County Land Registry Office (Ontario), Agreement between Edward Doonan and Prudence Doonan respecting her life interest under the will of James Doonan, registered 2 November 1875.