GEORGE and BRIDGET CHRISSLEY (also spelled Chrisley, Christley, Crisley, Crislay) emigrated to Canada from Ireland circa 1838, with their children (so far).  Bridget's  maiden surname was McCann or McGannon.  As of the writing of this blog (March 25, 2016), neither myself nor my sister, Valerie, have been able to trace birth records for any of these Chrissleys in Ireland.  The Roman Catholic records were released in the summer of 2015 but so far we have come up empty-handed for information on them in Ireland.  

They emigrated to Canada from County Cork in Ireland, according to Faye Gibson and Ray Valleau Gibson, who were told this by their mother Ruby Chrissley, who would have been told this by her father, Tom Chrissley.  Searches so far in the Catholic registers for County Cork have come up empty.  Tom was a son of George and Bridget's oldest child, Patrick.

Based on daughter Jane being listed as born in Ireland around 1837 and daughter Biddy as born in Canada West around 1839 (see Census information below), we have surmised that the family emigrated around 1838.  We have no information on the ship on which they would have traveled, but imagine traveling for weeks on the open sea with several children over 170 years ago.

A possible reason for emigrating from Ireland:  "The prata [potato] seemed a blessing when it was introduced [to Ireland] in the 17th century.  With milk and butter, it made a nourishing diet.  A family of six could feed itself for a year on 1-1/2 acres.  Population grew an estimated 172 percent in 60 years, and by 1841 more than eight million people struggled to find work or land enough to live on.  Hundreds of thousands sailed for the sweatshops of England or the slums of Boston or New York City." [or, presumably, Canada, where there was land aplenty.]

Quote is from p. 573 of National Geographic artilce called "Irish Ways Live on in Dingle" by Bryan Hodgson, April 1976.  Vol. 149, No. 4



George was born around 1796 in Ireland and died in 1874.  He is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery, Kingston, Ontario; section P; reference:KG-036-91-0 (OCFA).  Bridget was born in 1808 in Ireland and died in 1877.  She is also buried at St. Mary's Cemetery, Kingston, Ontario; section P; reference:KG-036-91-0 (OCFA).

George and Bridget had ten (10) children of whom we are aware and I am descended from one of those children, their first-born, a son named Patrick who was born between February 1826 and February 1830.

Other children:

James - born February 1831, Ireland
Edward - born between 1833 and 1836, Ireland
Ann (Nancy) - born circa 1836, Ireland
Jane - born March 18, 1837, Ireland
Biddy - born circa 1839, Canada West
Catharine - born circa 1843, Canada West
John - born circa 1844, Canada West
William James - born circa 1845 or 1847, Canada West
John - born circa 1855, Canada West

George was listed as a "labourer" in the 1851 (1852) and 1861 census.  The name is spelled as Christly in the 1851 census and there are 7 children listed as living with them.  A few rows above, Patrick Christly is listed as a "servant," as is Edward.  The only child missing is one of the sons named John.

At the time of the 1851 census, George is listed as 53, Bridget 46, Patrick 24, Edward 19, James 21, Ann 16, Jane 14, Biddy 13, Catharine 9, John 8, William 6.  If the first son named John passed away, and the second son named John was born circa 1855, this means that Bridget was about 50 years old when she had this son.

At the time of the 1861 census, the family surname is listed as Crisley.  George is listed as 60, Bridget 50, William 14, Jane 22, Catharine 18, Nancy (same page of census but not listed with family) 24, Edward (same page of census but not listed with family) 27.  The occupation of Edward is listed as farmer.  Missing on this page of the census are Patrick, James, Biddy, and John.

A point of clarification added by Valerie:  The 1901 and 1911 Canadian censuses indicate that they came to Canada in 1837. The story that was passed on by Ruby was that Pat worked in the mines in Cork for a penny a day to help earn money for the emigration. The accuracy of this is unknown. We do not know that they were from Cork. I am concentrating my search more on central Ireland these days because of the higher frequency with which I find the name McCann there. As well as names resembling Chrissley, such as Critchley. Meath seems particularly promising.

Source for the 1851 and 1861 censuses is Library & Archives Canada records.