Crew

  • Alexander Escar Pennell
    Alexander Pennell, b. 1892, son of George Matthew Pennell (Gramma Smith’s brother) and Charlotte Edmunds.  This Alex served 4 years in WW1 as a gunner.  He was severely wounded twice and sent to England where he met his future wife, Dorothy Rhodes, a nurse.  Alex worked as a Game Warden in Gravenhurst.  He had one child, Gabriel Pennell.  Alexander’s brother was Herb Pennell, who also served in WW1. Alexander Pennell’s brother, Richard William Pennell married Carrie Sullivan (Melvin’s sister). He was a Fireman. Their children were Walter Pennell and Austin Pennell. Then Richard… Read more: Alexander Escar Pennell
  • History of Rutherglen
    Squatters in Bonfield in the register of “Free Grants” under “The Free Grants + Homestead Act” Dated November 22, 1882 Richard Pennell (SR) (lot-26)(Conc 8&9) took claim 200 acres with 16 cleared, length of occupation 2 years, value at $400 Richard Pennell (JR) (lot-25)(Con-9) took claim 100 acres with 8 acres cleared, length occupation 2 years, valued at $200 The Railroad came through Rutherglen in fall 1879, Bonfield – January 1, 1879. First train to arrive in North Bay August 1882… I believe it would be safe to say the Pennells worked their… Read more: History of Rutherglen
  • James Hone
    Throughout my childhood, I had no idea I was related to the Hones, much the same as I was totally naive to the fact I was related to Alice McLaren and her family. Yet I knew I was related to Alice’s sisters out west because I didn’t clue in that they were all siblings. Stupid. Alice and Kenny McLaren were always at all the family functions and I always wondered why. HOWEVER, the Hones were never at family functions. I guess once relatives get too many times removed, they stop being invited or… Read more: James Hone
  • John Job Crew Bradfield
    J. J. C. Bradfield is by far our family history’s “claim to fame”. Its unfortunate that he is not known by the Canadian Crew descendants unless they read any family genealogy about the Australian immigration in the mid to late 1800s. I’m not going into the history and stories surrounding J. J. C. Bradfield here because you can simply Google his name or buy or borrow a book about him from the library. I’ll only summarize: John Job Crew Bradfield was the engineer behind the building the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the engineer… Read more: John Job Crew Bradfield
  • Susan Sheppard
    It has been very difficult to pin down the ancestry of Susan Sheppard. Any documents that I can find that I believe to be associated with Susan, is signed with an X, and this is the same for William Crew her husband. So if neither of them could read or write, I’m not sure who determined the spelling of Sheppard as there are documents that could be related where the spelling is Shepherd. I believe this is Susan and William’s marriage record of July 6, 1817. Going back further than this has been… Read more: Susan Sheppard
  • William Albert Keech, M. D.
    Bill Keech was born June 5, 1920 in North Bay, Ontario. He was the son of Lester William Keech (WW1) and grandson of Jane McNamara. After he graduated from North Bay Collegiate, he married Iola Grace Berry, December 2, 1939, who became a Registered Nurse. He enlisted in the R.C.A.F. and received the rank of Flt. Lieut. during World War II. On April 27, 1942, Bill was shot down over Belgium and taken prisoner, spending three years in Stalag Luft-3, near Sagan. He participated in the operation of “The Great Escape”. The tunnel… Read more: William Albert Keech, M. D.
  • Jane McNamara (Keech)
    Jane was born in Ottawa September 1, 1875 and was the daughter of Elizabeth Pennell and James McNamara. Jane was a hairdresser. She died May 5, 1961 in Haileybury, Ontario. Jane married William John Keech, son of Edwin James Keech and Elizabeth Forsey, all of England, on April 22, 1896, in Ewen, Michigan. William was a Butcher. The Keech’s arrived in Quebec City July 1, 1883. The Captain (Molson) had a farm at Sherbrooke and hired William, who stayed with the Molson family for two years. Then he moved to the U.S., meeting… Read more: Jane McNamara (Keech)
  • Eliza “Liza” Jane Pennell (James)
    Liza was born September 8, 1872, in Horton Twp., Ontario, the first child of Richard and Rachel Pennell to be born in Canada. She married John “Jack” James, the brother of William C. James who married her sister Mary Ann. Liza lived in a small house right across the road from our farm in Rutherglen. Even though I never knew her, “Aunt Liza” was very much a part of my life and I explored her abandoned home many times. Liza died March 6, 1955 in a sanatorium in Gravenhurst, Ontario from tuberculosis. She… Read more: Eliza “Liza” Jane Pennell (James)
  • Mary Ann Pennell (James)
    Mary was born January 19, 1868 in Greenwich, England. She immigrated with her family on the S. S. Niger from Liverpool to Quebec City when she was only 3. She married William C. James of Rutherglen, who was the brother of John “Jack” James who married her sister Eliza. Mary died October 3, 1955 in North Bay, Ontario. The family gossip is that Mary and William “adopted” a daughter Mary. Mrs. McNeilly felt that Mary was overworking the adopted daughter, so took her from Mary and William to the United States. I have… Read more: Mary Ann Pennell (James)
  • Frances Ann Pennell (Smith)
    Frances was born May 15, 1865 in Land’s End, England, and would have celebrated her 6th birthday of the S. S. Niger when they immigrated from Liverpool, England to Quebec City. She married Reuben James Smith (not related to my Smiths), on October 22, 1882 in Renfew, Ontario. Reuben was the son of William and Catherine Smith. Reuben and Frances lived in Rutherglen for a short time in the house across the Trunk Road from the maple tree hill once owned by Richard and Rachel Pennell. Some may remember it as Carl and… Read more: Frances Ann Pennell (Smith)
  • George Matthew Pennell, Sr.
    Born April 27, 1858, Lewisham Place, Kent, England, George immigrated with his family on the S. S. Niger on May 11, 1871. George married Charlotte Edmunds and lived in Rutherglen, Ontario. He died August 31, 1930 and is buried at St. Margaret’s Anglican Cemetery in Rutherglen. When Richard Pennell, James Hone and the Crew sisters made their way to Rutherglen, they brought their “children”, but Richard Jr. and George would have been in their 20’s, ready to have their own farms. George Pennell’s descendants are many and integral to the fabric of Rutherglen,… Read more: George Matthew Pennell, Sr.
  • Richard “Dick” William Job Pennell
    Born June 26, 1855 in Greenwich, England, Richard was the 2nd oldest child of Richard and Rachel Pennell. Richard immigrated on the S. S. Niger with his family from Liverpool to Quebec City May 11, 1871. He married Margaret “Mag” McLaren in 1879. According to the 1891 Census, Richard Jr. lived at the property next to (across the road from) Richard Sr. In 1901, Richard Jr. was in Langford, Manitoba; 1916 and 1921 Marquette, Manitoba; Edna Ollivier remembers her Uncle Dick cutting all the cherry trees down on the maple hill on the… Read more: Richard “Dick” William Job Pennell
  • Elizabeth Pennell (McNamara)
    Elizabeth was the oldest child of Richard and Rachel Pennell, born May 29, 1853, in Greenwich, England. She immigrated with her family to Canada on the S. S. Niger May 1871, and celebrated her 18th birthday on the ship and remembered having cake. Fourteen months later, Elizabeth married James McNamara, son of John (of England) and Jane (of Lanark Co., Ontario) McNamara, on July 17, 1872. James was a Chef/Hotel Manager. Elizabeth was confirmed on March 10, 1886 in Renfrew with her son James and her daughter Jane. She was short and stout,… Read more: Elizabeth Pennell (McNamara)
  • Richard Pennell & Rachel Crew
    Rachel wanted to return to England after the Pennells and the Hones brickmaking business in Carlton Place failed. But, undeterred, Richard tried again by applying for a land grant in Bonfield Township at Rutherglen where they obtained crown land in approximately 1879. Richard loaded his family (now 6 children) into a sleigh and made his way in the middle of winter to his 200 acres. The original log house stood on the property until 1990, when it was dismantled by Jourgen Mohr who was planning to rebuild it in another location as a… Read more: Richard Pennell & Rachel Crew
  • Pennells, Crews & Hones – Canada
    As I posted in a Crew History, Tales and Truths, Bethnal Green was not a great place to live and everyone had a brickyard. Competition likely made eking out a living extremely difficult. Mortality rates were high and life expectancy rates were low. Rachel had lost a baby in 1863 and Eliza lost her last two babies in 1868 and 1870. Life expectancy was low. Of 1,632 deaths in 1839, 1,258 (77 per cent) were of ‘mechanics, servants, and labourers’, who had an expectancy of 16 years, 273 of tradesmen, with an expectancy… Read more: Pennells, Crews & Hones – Canada
  • Crew History, Tales & Truths
    As with the Pennells, it has been a challenge to get any solid proof of heritage. However, when the Crews immigrated to Canada, they brought with them tales that, regardless of how much work and research is done, cannot be verified in any way. The original source of these stories seems to be from Effie Scott who was the granddaughter of Eliza Hone. Tale #1: Marie deFawcett It has been verified that Rachel’s father, William Henry Crew was a successful brickmaker in London, England. His sons, Richard and William (the younger), as well… Read more: Crew History, Tales & Truths
  • Bradfield
  • Pennell, Crew, Bradfield – Australia
    This is a letter sent to Myrtle Connolly (nee Keech), daughter of Jane Keech (nee McNamara), granddaughter of Elizabeth McNamara (nee Pennell) by William Pennell of Brisbane, Australia, April 1, 1973. Brisbane–Queensland, Australia Until near the end of 1859, the State now known as Queensland was part of New South Wales. When Charles and his wife Susan Pennell arrived in Moreton Bay in the little sailing ship “Glentanner”, it was N.S.W. they came to and not Queensland which did not then exist. The Glentanner anchored in Moreton Bay and the passengers were taken… Read more: Pennell, Crew, Bradfield – Australia
  • Pennell, Crew, Bradfield, Hone
    When I began researching my family history in the 1980’s, the Pennell and Crew lineage were the first surnames where information was readily available. My Aunt Edna (Ollivier nee Smith) had been gathering information about her maternal heritage for years, before personal computers, printers and photocopiers and the internet, when researching involved a pen and a family group sheet. I visited her several times where she shared copies documents and letters, memories and family gossip. Those visits were great. However, she only shared what was “respectable” and kept silent on anything that would… Read more: Pennell, Crew, Bradfield, Hone
  • Alice Maria Pennell
    It seems strange to say that I don’t have a lot of information about my Grandmother Smith. There were certainly lots of people in my life who knew her well. Most of what I know came from my mother who did not get along with her and didn’t have many good memories of her. Alice was born April 5, 1876 in Horton Twp., Ontario. She married Adoniram Warner Smith April 13, 1904 in Rutherglen. She became a large woman as her children were born, but developed diabetes in her later years and lost… Read more: Alice Maria Pennell

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