Uncle Peg’s Chronicles
September 25, 2025
“I Hope He’s Still One of your Favourites, Paula ”
“These
were their settlements. And they kept good family records.”[i]
Don’t
forget to look for the title which is embedded in the chronicle.
FAMILY ALBUM
Maude Marion English, wife of H. Fenwick Holmes
Born July 12, 1855, died April 25, 1907.
God be with you till we meet again.
AND I QUOTE (replies from the last newsletter)
Imagine
my surprise when I saw the McCoy photo pop up in the Chronicle. That photo
was taken at a miniature golf course on Cape Cod. It has become a family
tradition for any of us to take a photo with the rabbit whenever we are on the
Outer Cape. Byron
Holmes.
See
the last chronicle for the photo.
I had a
bit of a genealogy vacation when I went up to Guelph to see my grandchildren,
Winston and Eleanor, and then came back to almost overwhelm. I am back, with
still lots to do, genealogy and otherwise.
1924
to 1928
Those are the
years that our Holmes ancestors spent renewing relationships that had somehow
fallen by the wayside but with organization, letter writing, and challenging
travel – by hook or by crook – they managed to come together again. They
reacquainted and rediscovered their family ties. And then, one by one, they
died, and many of those ties died with them.
2024 to 2028
I went on my vacation to see my
grandchildren and their parents in Guelph, Ontario, and to take tea with my
cousin on Dad’s side, Nancy, at the Boathouse, which is becoming a tradition.
I took a different genealogy project
with me, just for a break. I made a copy of my Howard Fenwick Holmes chapter of
“A Homestead on the Old Post Road.” I had located some new information some
time ago, and just recently did some digging through old newspapers. I
reconnected with Jim Retson, who you won’t recall, but he and I chatted back
when I was writing our family history.
You know that when the family lore is
passed down, it often comes with biases, stretches, omissions, and poor
memories. I heard from both my mother, who heard the stories from her
great-grandfather, Charles R Holmes, and Jim, who wrote brief bios of early Rat
Portage residents. Both of them told me that H Fenwick was an alcoholic and was
probably estranged from his wife. https://www.retson.ca/holmeshowardfenwick1857.pdf
I notified him that I was reviewing my
chapter about Fenwick, and that I had new information that shows that Fenwick
probably didn’t abandon his wife. He removed his comment about Fenwick being an
alcoholic, and added a newspaper clipping I sent him. And that was the end of
that conversation thread.
I set out to discover more about
Fenwick’s alleged drinking problem and Fenwick and Maud’s alleged separation.
Was he really as bad an individual as I was led to believe? I described my
hypothesis in our NBGS Facebook group, stating that I was ashamed of this
subjective rather than objective chapter of my book. Although I am embarrassed
about it, I realize that I have learned quite a lot in the eleven years since I
completed it. I am rewriting the chapter, which I will send to you as a pdf
document when I complete it, if I can find my list of people who purchased it.
I also plan to review the entire book in time, and it will make up the chapter
“Westmorland” in CCC (“A Colossal Collection of Cousins).
Uncle Peg went to Guelph, Ontario, to
visit her grandchildren, Winston (age 4) and Eleanor (almost age 2), and their
parents. I had a great time, and I was about tuckered out. I introduced Winston
to Uncle Billy’s fiddle. Eleanor had a great time waving the bow as a baton. We
all still have our eyeballs, luckily.
Winston,
left, with his bow and Uncle Billy’s fiddle. Eleanor, right, with her books, on
Aunt Helen’s rocker.
FAMILY HISTORY LESSON
This is a copy and paste of something I
wrote in the New Brunswick Genealogy Society Facebook group, and this is what I
worked on while I was away.
Day
7 of my vacation. I am making family history with two littles. Housecleaning. A
bit of cooking. I don't have access to MS Word so this is for me, and for you
if you are interested. It's a bit of a how to as well as my copy and paste what
I need when I get home.
Two
New Brunswick families:
Howard
Fenwick Holmes, youngest son of Daniel Holmes and Charlotte Hoyt of
Petitcodiac, Westmorland County, NB. 1857 - 1917.
Maud
(sometimes with an e) Marion English, his wife, daughter of Charles H English
and Elizabeth Wetmore of Woodstock, Carleton, New Brunswick. 1855 - 1907.
They
married in 1878 and went to what would soon be Rat Portage, Ontario. The name
“Rat Portage” would eventually change to Kenora. There was a little battle
between Ontario and Manitoba as to which province the town would belong to, and
it became part of Ontario.
It
will be a revision of my 2014 book about the Holmes family, specifically, my
great-great uncle, Howard Fenwick Holmes and his wife, Maud M English.
Christening record says Charles Fenwick Holmes. Marriage record, Howard
Frederick Holmes. Records and newspaper accounts may say Howard, Fenwick, or
HF. I have learned a lot since 2014, which is a good thing for genealogists to
do: learn. Step by step. Don't ever stop. Don't continually rely on the same
old resources. That is my September (back to school) advice.
I
once thought I had a pretty good HF chapter. I remember chatting with Paula
Holmes about it. I hope he’s still one of your favourites, Paula. And then, I
learned about deeds. Recently, I found a deed that changed everything. For
Fenwick, I had taken literally the family lore (told to me by my mother, who
heard it from the family bard, my great-great grandfather, as well as a Rat
Portage historian) that he was an alcoholic and that he abandoned his wife.
Both told me the same thing, and neither had heard it from each other.
Let's
start with the alcoholic story. Where did that come from? Great-Grandpa may
have known him as a drinker; I don't know. But, otherwise, my mother would not
known of it. We (me and the historian) used one record to state this fact. In
1913, he tried to cross the border into the US in an inebriated state, and was
turned back into Canada. He was able to cross later. Rather silly of him, but
proof that he was an alcoholic - not quite. Going by the family lore, I might
state that perhaps he had a drinking problem. We'll see. The historian deleted
the fact from his character sketch. Fenwick and his new bride, Maud, went to
Rat Portage, now known as Kenora, in 1878. It was a wilderness turning into a
town at that time, and it was a hard-drinking town. I read that in a paper.
I’ll need to find it to source it.
Hypothesis:
He was estranged from his wife. This was more important to me, and I made it my
hypothesis to prove or disprove during my vacation. I told the historian before
I went, that I had more information, and I would like to have it corrected if
it was not true. I especially want to figure it out and correct my 2014 book. I
sent him a newspaper article which mentions them together, but early on in
their marriage. He inserted it into his article, but has left his statement
that they were probably separated, with the reasoning that there was no further
information about them after the 1901 census. This has changed; I have found
more information. However, he is no longer responding to my emails, except to
use my information in his article. (It’s a newspaper article so he is free to
do that.)
What
have I found so far? Well, when his wife was very ill with heart disease, he
brought her back to New Brunswick. I knew that she died here, and where she is
buried. Her obituary stated that she was his wife. Can't get much later than
that. What I found was that a short while before she died, Fenwick purchased
his brother's house for $1, on a half-acre lot in Petitcodiac; the deed said
that he was of Cardwell (parish), not Rat Portage, Ontario. He sold it about a
month after she died. As she died in nearby Portage Vale, did she die at his
sister's home? That is what I figure - although I have no proof. It's just
that, she (the sister) was the kind of person who would take her to her heart
and arms, and nurse her to the end. She's buried in the little Anglican
cemetery right down the road from her house. That was my first find, before my
vacation.
I
did a bit of googling before I came and copied the articles onto paper for
further reference. I have added to the list, mostly from newspaper articles. I
googled using every name I could think of: HF, Howard, Fenwick, Maud English,
Maud Holmes, Mrs. HF, etc.
I
am appalled at my 2014 chapter and the derogatory tone I used in regard to
Fenwick. I realize that I took my mother's opinions (and thus, my
great-grandfather’s, who knew him and could be correct), and made them my own.
I realize that I was subjective, not objective. I also realize that I used what
I could find in 2014 - but there was a lot of resources I had not learned to
look for back then. All I can do is correct my mistakes - but there are over
100 people who have a copy of my book.
Here's
what have I found to be almost ready to change my mind. To prove my hypothesis
that Fenwick didn't leave his wife, with the possible exception of leaving her
in the capable hands of his sister for her last few weeks, someone more
adequate for the palliative care she needed. He was not far away.
A
story or article should be more anecdotal for the reader, but a timeline is a
necessity for the writer.
Before
1878 HF lived in Andover, New Brunswick, and worked for the railroad. Maud
lived in Woodstock, New Brunswick.
1877
Construction of the CPR begins in the area of Rat Portage, then in Manitoba.
1878
Rat Portage lots surveyed by the Hudson's Bay Company.
1878
Early in year, Maud was the soloist at a Temperance Meeting in Woodstock, New
Brunswick. Howard Fenwick Holmes married Maud Marion English in Woodstock later
that year. HF worked for the railroad. They went to the Rat Portage area after
the wedding.
1881
Census of the district from Winnipeg River to the Western Boundary of the CPR.
HF was astation agent.
1881
The Sultana vein of gold was located.
1882
The western line of the CPR was completed. Rat Portage was legally incorporated
in Manitoba.
1882
HF and Maud lived in the town of Rat Portage. HF served as town counsellor for
two years.
1883
The eastern line from Port Arthur aka Thunder Bay was completed.
1883
HF, and others, sent copies of Rat Portage newspapers home to New Brunswick.
Hence, I have found little clues to my hypothesis republished in the Carleton
Sentinel.
1883
HF Holmes was elected Reeve of Rat Portage. The Carleton Sentinel called him
"our young friend."
1884
The border dispute between Manitoba and Ontario was settled in favour of
Ontario.
1886
The first ocean to ocean train came through Rat Portage.
1886
Maud's brother had come to Rat Portage from New Brunswick to work for the
railroad. He was struck by an engine and died the next day. His sister, Mrs.
Holmes, was with him when he died.
1890
HF and Maud went to Winnipeg, quite a distance, actually, to attend a reunion
of New Brunswickers who attended Christ Church. Gives quite a list of people
from NB.
1891
HF and Maud lived in Rat Portage. He was a hardware merchant.
1892
HF and Maud visited Woodstock, New Brunswick. They attended the wedding of her
cousin. (That relationship took some research.)
1893
HF was elected Reeve of Rat Portage. He was asked to run for mayor but
declined.
1894
They lived on Water Street. This was located in McDonald's Rat Portage
Directory which I can't find online. I received an email from the local
historical society which said he had his own hardware business.
1897
HF sold the hardware business and went to work as an agent for the Hamilton
Powder Company.
1900
HF sold the "Bad Mine." Mentions in the article that his wife was
formerly Miss Maud English of Woodstock, daughter of Mr. Charles English."
The Dispatch “borrowed” the article from The Rat Portage Miner. It is not
known, according to AI, which mine the Bad Mine refers to, perhaps the Mikado
or the Sultana. More work needed.
1901
They lived in Rat Portage and HF was a contractor.
1905
The name Rat Portage was changed to Kenora.
1905
August 16: "Mrs. Fenwick Holmes, of Port Arthur, Ontario, is visiting in
town, the guest of Mr. and Mrs. English." Mr. Charles English was her
father, Mrs English, her step-mother. Port Arthur was later called Thunder Bay.
Maud was visiting her home town, Woodstock, NB.
This
is the only reference I found of them in Port Arthur or Thunder Bay.
1905
September 20: "Andover. Mr. Fenwick Holmes who was station agent here
about twenty-five years ago was in town last week renewing acquaintances."
Surely
they were together, but they weren't mentioned together - but the reports were
a little bit apart and from two different places. Both in The Dispatch.
1906
Maud's father, Mr. Charles English, died in Woodstock. His death notice states
that his daughter was married to Mr. H. Holmes, "mayor of Rat Portage,
Ont." I find no proof of his being mayor in 1906.
1907
Fenwick, of Cardwell parish, NB, purchased his brother James’ home in the town
of Petitcodiac.
1907
Maud died in Portage Vale, New Brunswick. Her death notice calls her the wife
of H. Fenwick Holmes.
1907
Fenwick, of Petitcodiac, sold his home in Petitcodiac. (I assume he left, but
not sure when.)
Although
there are several lapses of time between some years, I see nothing yet to
positively indicate that they were estranged. So, Mum and Mr. Historian, I
believe that I for one will remove that statement. Good thing about having a
computer is - you can change things quite easily. But still, you can't retrieve
what is out there.
What
would entice people to go west to Rat Portage/Kenora in the early days?
Adventure
and travel.
Work
with the railroad.
Gold
mining.
Hockey.
(The
Rat Portage Thistles won the Stanley Cup in Kenora in 1907.)
The Dispatch: 1900-02-21 - Page 08
https://newspapers.lib.unb.ca/serials/119/issues/19011/pages/142320?highlight=%22Rat%20Portage%22
For
you cartographers:
Map of the provinces and territories of
Canada as they were between 1881 and 1886. On July 1 1881, Manitoba greatly
expanded, using land from the North-West Territories and the District of
Keewatin, but a large portion becomes disputed with Ontario. In 1886, the
southwestern borders of the District of Keewatin were altered a little, giving
a little land to the North-West Territories. Made by User:Golbez.
This ends
week thirty-nine of our centennial virtual celebration of 1925 – 2025.
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