Ancestors of Christopher John Augustine Morry

Harriet Soars

Sex: F

Individual Information

Birth Date: 2 Feb 1844 - New South Wales, Australia ¹⁴ Christening: Death: Burial: Cause of Death:

Spouses and Children

1. *George C Kennedy ¹⁴ Marriage: 8 May 1862 - Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia ¹⁴ Children: 1. Caroline Ellen Kennedy

Living

Sex: M

Spouses and Children

1. Living

Solmose

Sex: M

Individual Information

Birth Date: Christening: Death: Bef 31 Oct 1996 ²⁹⁰⁷ Burial: Cause of Death:

Spouses and Children

1. *Florence Gertrude Norris ¹⁷³⁷ ^,1740 Marriage:

Living

Sex: M

Spouses and Children

1. Living

Agnes Maria Sooley

Sex: F

Individual Information

Birth Date: Aug 1914 - Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ²⁰ Christening: Death: 1993 - Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ( at age 79) ⁶¹⁸⁷ Burial: 1993 - Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ⁶¹⁸⁷ Cause of Death:
Events
• Alt. Birth: Between 1913 and 1914, Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Census: 1921, Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Parents

Father: Noah Edward Sooley ⁵²²⁴ ^,5225 Mother: Charity Walsh ²⁰ ^,35 ^,8075

Spouses and Children

1. *Erick Henley Legge ⁶¹¹ ^,6185 Marriage: Children: 1. Living

Anna Sooley

Sex: F
AKA: Anne Sooley ⁸⁰⁷⁶
Individual Information

Birth Date: 31 Jul 1858 - Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ⁸⁰⁷⁶ ^,8077 Christening: 25 Sep 1858 - Heart's Content, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ⁸⁰⁷⁸ Death: 6 Jun 1872 - Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ( at age 13) ⁸⁰⁷⁶ ^,8079 Burial: After 6 Jun 1872 - Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ⁸⁰⁷⁶ Cause of Death:
Events
• Alt. Birth: June 31 1852, Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Alt. Birth: 6 Jun 1858, Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Parents

Father: William Sooley ⁴⁶⁷ Mother: Mary ⁴⁶⁷

Notes
General:

270708: While I cannot as yet place her on the family tree, as the notes below make clear, her bible was passed down in the family and she is almost certainly an ancestor. The link is missing at this time.

Notations on a Bible from Heart's Delight from the Mid-1800s

The notations recorded below appear in the first pages of a St. James bible which has been in the possession of my mother, Evelyn Mary (Wheeler) Morry, since her mother, Sarah Minnie (Bishop) Wheeler, died in 1962. Prior to that it evidently was in the possession of Minnie's father, Jacob Bishop before he died in 1933. How he came to have it in his possession is a mystery.

Minnie's father was Jacob Bishop of Heart's Delight, or more precisely the area now known as Cavendish, which was formerly known as Shoal Bay or Shoal Harbour. Her mother, Jane Chislett, was from what was then known as Island Cove but is now known as Islington. For all intents and purposes the two communities, though considered quite distinct by residents and genealogists, have been historically combined in many records, such as voting lists, under the general name of Heart's Delight. This makes it difficult at times to trace one's ancestors to a more specific geographic location at any given point in time.

We presently know very little about the parentage of Jane and Jacob, but it is known that these two families are among the founding families in their respective small Trinity Bay communities. Although these surnames may have been found elsewhere around Trinity Bay and Newfoundland, these families were very specific to these two locations and were not closely related to people by the same name found elsewhere.

The surname which figures most prominently in the bible notations is Sooly or Sooley. The two spellings of the name appear interchangeably in the bible notations, even in reference to the same person. This name is historically more widely dispersed in Trinity Bay, appearing in several communities around the Heart's Delight area, but also in Heart's Content and elsewhere, including communities like Baie de Verde, Caplin Cove and Carbonear on the other side of the peninsula in Conception Bay. Nevertheless it is assumed that the Sooleys mentioned were either residents of Islington or Cavendish, since they record their location as Heart's Delight, and it is also assumed that they must have been related to either Jane Chislett or Jacob Bishop. How else to explain the bible being in their possession?

Another name appears at the very top of the inside of the front cover, which seems to be unrelated to the notations that follow: "Nathaniel Crocker, Heart's Delight". Unfortunately nothing at all is known about this person, including whether his name was added before or after the Sooley notations and whether or not he was a relative of theirs. However, despite the fact that Crocker is a very common name around Newfoundland, it is noted that it appears in voters lists and other records for Heart's Delight.

Note that the notations are transcribed as accurately as possible, especially in regard to the spelling of the surname, which varies constantly. Some of the writing is no longer legible and is indicated with question marks. Also to be noted is that there are many contradictory entries of dates. In the end this leaves me with no choice but to use the dates which are found on their gravestones and which appear to be mosy probable.

NOTATIONS

Inside Front Cover:

Nathaniel Crocker Heart's Delight

First Page of Bible:

Sooley

Anna Sooley Heart's Delight The daughter of William and Mary Sooly who was born in the year of our Lord in 1858 [almost certainly incorrect]. Born July 31 Aged…???

Lucy Sooly The daughter of William and Mary Sooley who was born in the year of the Lord in 1853 April 9 (?) Died 22 Jan 1879 Aged (?)

Next Page:

H and PP they both did agree to blot out the name of J and C all stood a mourning and sorry to see the envy and malice of H and P.P.

P.P.

Steal not this book my honest friend for there you see the owners name and when you die your God shall say where is that book you stole away

When it…???

Anna Sooly is my name Newfoundland is my nation Hearts Delight is my dwelling Place and Christ is my Salvation

Page After Title Page:

When I am dead and in my grave and all my bones are rotten this little book will tell my name when I am quite forgotten

Anna Sooley who was born in the year of our Lord in 1858 [56?] Died in June 6 1879 Aged 21 years and Ten monts [sic]

Note that the entries are all in the same hand even though it seems that they were written at different times.

Additional Thoughts

In addition to the above notations, which are all the writing that appeared in the bible, there was also included as a place marker a cloth ribbon in remembrance of the life and death of Queen Victoria, who died 22 Jan 1901. Most likely this was passed out at the time and was used by the present owner (Jacob Bishop? Jane Chislett Bishop?) as a place marker in the bible.

It seems likely that the maiden name of Mary, the mother of Anna and Lucy, was Bishop or else Jacob's mother's maiden name was Sooley and that the bible was passed to their first cousin, Jacob, as a remembrance after their untimely early deaths. However this is purely speculative at this time, based solely upon the fact that Anna, Lucy, and Jacob would have all been born more or less about the same time and in the same villages.

Since recording these notations preliminary investigations have revealed several possible leads:

1.A William Bishop Sooley from Heart's Delight was a member of the Home Guard of the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit in WWII and was assigned the Regimental Number 3556. Source - Newfoundland's Grand Banks website. This seems to indicate a marital relationship between the Bishop and Sooley families, hence the likelihood that the bible was given to Jacob after Anna's death, not to his wife Jane.

2.The Stonepics database of pictures of gravestones in Newfoundland cemeteries indicates that a gravestone bearing the name Anna Sooley, who died in 1879, is found in the cemetery in Heart's Delight. Perhaps there is more information on that stone that may be of value in determining her relationship, if any, to the Bishops and/or Chisletts. I have ordered this CD from Stonepics.

3.In 1871, a William "Sully" was recorded as a trader in Heart's Delight in Lovell's Directory. This was almost certainly the father of Anna and Lucy. If so, as a merchant, there should be more records concerning him than the average fisherman, which should facilitate finding out more about the family.

4.On Friday, 06 July, 1855, Harriet Sooley, the eldest daughter of William Sooley of Heart's Delight, married William Crocker. Source is Gert Crosbie's BMD records from Public Ledger 1820-1882 and Newfoundland Express 1851-1876. Almost certainly Harriet was an older sister of Anna and Lucy and it may very well have been her son Nathaniel Crocker whose name was found on the inside cover of the bible. For some reason, possibly an early death of Nathaniel, the bible was then given to Harriet's sisters Lucy and Anna. The fact that this wedding was published indicates the family was wealthier than the average fishermen and William Sooley, being a merchant, could afford this extravagance.

010424:
I am going over the above facts once again, having done so several times since originally recording them. I have also made better photographic images of all of the above transcriptions and made minor adjustments but the discrepancy on ages remains.

I discovered today that there was a baptims of a daughter of a man named Nathaniel Crocker living in Trinity (the town or adjacement, though possibly the entry was made by an itinerant minister who performed the baptism elsewhere). This is found on the NGB website and probably can be found elsewhere:

Date of Birth: April 8, 1858
Place of Birth: Trinity
Surname: Crocker
Parents Names: Nathaniel & Charlotte
Childs Name: Rachel
'Sex: F
By Whom Baptized: Rev. Benj. Smith
Date of Baptism: April 4, 1858
Religion: C.O.E.
Father's Occupation: Fisherman

This is the only entry under the name Nathaniel Crocker in that series of records. But clearly this man is of an age where it is possible that the bible did belong to him originally.

Of note in this regard, the date of publication of the bible does not pre-exist the births of Lucy and Anna Sooley, even taking into account the discrepancy on the year of birth of Anna. It is recorded as M,DCCC,LXIX -- in other words 1869 - a decade before they both died.

The mystery remains unsolved.

Annie Jane Sooley

Sex: F

Individual Information

Birth Date: Jul 1901 - Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ⁶¹¹ Christening: Death: Burial: Cause of Death:

Spouses and Children

1. *Enos Legge ²⁰ Marriage: Children: 1. Erick Henley Legge

Aubrey James Sooley

Sex: M

Individual Information

Birth Date: Bef 22 Apr 1886 - Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ⁴³⁷ Christening: 22 Apr 1886 - Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ⁴³⁷ Death: Burial: Cause of Death:
Events
• Minister/Priest: C. E. Smith, 22 Apr 1886, Heart's Delight-Islington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Parents

Father: Edmund Sooley ⁴³⁷ ^,770 Mother: Anne Marie Chislett ³⁴² ^,437 ^,770

Notes
General:

150705:

1886, Hearts Delight, Sooley, Edmund & Maria, Aubrey James, M, CE Smith, April 22, 1886, COE, Fisherman, DOB not recorded

Living

Sex: M

Spouses and Children

1. Living

Chesley Wilson Sooley

Sex: M
AKA: Chesley Sooley ⁷⁷⁰ ^,3349
Individual Information

Birth Date: 4 Sep 1894 - Heart's Delight, Newfoundland ⁷⁷⁰ ^,3349 Christening: Death: 18 Dec 1988 - ( at age 94) ⁷⁷⁰ ^,3349 Burial: Cause of Death:

Parents

Father: Edmund Sooley ⁴³⁷ ^,770 Mother: Anne Marie Chislett ³⁴² ^,437 ^,770

Spouses and Children

1. Living Children: 1. Cora Cavelle Sooley

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