200th Anniversary of the arrival of the Tennants in Canada

The journey of the Tennants on the ship 'Commerce'

Thomas Tennant and his wife Anne Hill and their extended family arrived in Canada at Montreal aboard the sailing ship Commerce in August 1820. 

The Commerce was a three masted ship with 1.5 decks. She had a draft of 17 feet. The ship was 111 feet long and 29 feet 6.5 inches broad and was built in Quebec at Fort William Henry in 1813. A sketch of the Commerce by Graham McBride of Halifax is shown below. It comes from page 13 of 'Carlow to Lanark - An Irish Family History' written by Robert Dawson Tennant.

Thomas and Anne emigrated to Canada with seven sons and two daughters. They were George and his wife Elizabeth Smith, William, John, Richard, Elizabeth, Judith, Thomas, Robert and Joseph and a man servant.

After landing in Montreal in August 1820 they all made their way to Fort Wellington at Prescott. The adult men then left for Perth via Brockville. In Perth they made formal arrangements for their Location Tickets. Thomas, the patriarch, and his wife Anne Hill settled on the 10 Concession of Lanark Townsip in  Lanark County. His children and their families settled in various other locations along the 10th and 12th Concessions of Lanark Township.

Settlement in Lanark Township

The family walked to their new home on the 10th Concession of Lanark Township in Lanark County around the 23 of November 1820. We know this as Elizabeth Smith, wife of George, the eldest son of Thomas, gave birth to her first child George Ansley Tennant on 23 November 1820 in the home of local resident, Willie Ireton, near Drummond Centre and Innisville, not too far from the Mississippi River. (From 1987 to 1991 I lived on 10 Concession Drummond Township not too far from Innisville and Drummond Centre). 

A photo of the log house of George Tennant and Elizabeth Smith is shown below from the summer of 1937.

Robert Dawson Tennant, the author of the Tennant family history book 'Carlow to Lanark - An Irish Family History' writes on page 20 of his geneaology regarding their journey to Lanark that "matriarch Ann[e] (Hill) Tennant carried an iron pot and some of their dishes". That pot is on view in the Middleville Museum. 

The museum is not too far from the original Tennant settlement. It is highly recommended that anyone interested in early Lanark Township life and times in general and the Tennants in particular, should visit the museum. It has several items of Tennant noteworthyness and overall gives an excellent perspective on early life in the area. Mike Tennant and Doug Tennant are shown in the photo below with a chest of drawers from the early Tennant household and which is on display at the Middleville Museum.

A low key celebration but a celebration nonetheless

On Saturday August 22, 2020 Mike Tennant and his wife Lorrie (nee Sawyshyn), Jeannie Tilson and Doug Tennant gathered during the great 2020 Covid-19 pandemic at the Tennant cemetery at 943 Concession 10B of Lanark Township to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the arrival of the Tennants in Canada. After a memorial toast, salutation/prayer in memory of Thomas and Anne and their immigrant family, a modest picnic was enjoyed on the grounds of the cemetery. Mike provided a selected reading  from Robert Dawson Tennants family history and we all reviewed various stories about our ancestors and how our family has grown through marriagees and about how the Tennants and their descendants journeyed throughout North America..

Scott Meabry - cemetery custodian (who just recently assumed those duties from Gerald Tennant) expended considerable time and effort to ensure the grounds were exquisite for the 200th Anniversary celebration.

The Rockingham, Ontario Tennants

The following post information is about new research results linking William Tennant (1824-1902) of the Rockingham, Ontario area (near Barry's Bay) to his father Richard Tennant (1797-1879).

For nigh on 100 years or so, it seemed that William Tennant (1824-1902), son of  Richard Tennant (1797-1879) and Jane Cardiff (1801 - ?) was a lost soul. Indeed, in the family history book written by Robert Dawson Tennant entitled "Carlow to Lanark - An Irish Family History" William has his name listed once on page 64 along with his genealogical cataloguing system number '53' and that is it. There is no other information listed, that this blogger could find, in the book about William. Do not confuse him with the William listed as number '3' by Robert Tennant on page 25 in his book and who died in 1821 unmarried.

The family history book about all things 'Tennant'

So what happened to William Tennant, son of Richard and Jane Cardiff? Where did he go? Who did he marry? Did he have children? All good questions which went unanswered for tens and tens of years until a distant relative of mine from the North Bay, ON area called one late winter Friday night in 2014 to enquire if I would 'just take a look' at some information about a 'William Tennant who had married a Mary Coughlin'. After discussing the matter for a considerable time via telephone I agreed to do the research. Then with dogged determination, I let life get in the way and put off the research for almost four years. One rainy day while my wife Jeannie was doing some geneaology, I decided to work on some 'dougieology' and set about checking out the Drouin collection for St. Patrick's parish near Renfrew, ON.

In the parish registery there are some very discernable entries about a William Tenant (which is an early variable of the Tennant surname) who was baptised into the Roman Catholic religion and then was married that very same day to a Mary Coughlin by the parish priest Father John McNulty.

A screen shot of the registry is provided herein for your review as well as this amateur geneaologists attempt at transcibing the entries.

Transcription (below) from the St. Patrick Roman Catholic parish registry. St. Patrick’s church is near Calabogie or Renfrew ON. The first entry (No. 74) by Father John McNulty is regarding the baptism of William Tennant (1824-1902), son of Richard Tennant and Jane Cardiff. The second transcription  (No. 11) is about the marriage of William Tennant and Mary Coughlin.

No.74    May 14, 1851 of the Indulgence Grant received After Incantation, Baptised (illegible word - possibly 'such') Conditions William Tenant aged 27 Years of Lake Doré Settlement. Sponsor John McNulty and Bridget Coughlin St. Patricks

No.11    May 14, 1851 of the Indulgence Grant Married Wm. Tenant to Mary Coughlin before witnesses John McNulty and Bridget Coughlin St. Patricks

William's father and mother (Richard Tennant and Jane Cardiff) are shown living in the Lake Doré Settlement area in Wilberforce Township, Renfrew County, ON in the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census documents. While the census for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia was completed in 1851, Canada West and Canada East did not start their collection of data until the following year. Therefore, for Canada West and Canada East, and in Wilberforce Township, what is known as the Census of 1851 officially began on January 12, 1852. Wilberforce Township is named after William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833) who was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade.

As William fell in love (hopefully and obviously) with Mary Coughlin, it was for him, given the context of the times, to have to consider and choose to change his religious denomination and convert from being a member of the Church of England or protestantantism to Roman Catholic. In 1851, when William got married to Mary Coughlin, it would have been literally unthinkable for him to convert to Roman Catholicism and remain as an accepted part of the Tennant family associated with Richard Tennant and Jane Cardiff. The only option for William to be able to marry Mary would be to convert to Roman Catholicism. This would have triggered, in that day and time, the action of being ostracised and/or shunned by his parents and siblings. This shunning or ostracisation by Richard and Jane with regard to their son William, would have been a momentous action and would explain why there was no further mention of or information provided about him in the family history book. For all intents and purposes, William would have been considered 'dead' and unknown to his parents and other family members.

So, having researched and found that a William Tennant was baptised as a Roman Catholic on May 14, 1851 and then married that same day to Mary Coughlin is interesting. All the more interesting is that this William Tennant was from the Lake Doré Settlement where Richard Tennant and Jane Cardiff were living having moved there from Lanark Township, Lanark County ON about 1843 or 1844. We know this as their daughter, Elizabeth Tennant (1844 - 1923) who married William Carnegie (1818-1896), was born in Wilberforce Township according to the 1871 Canadian census.

William Tennant was married 14 May 1851 to Mary Coughlin. The 1851 census was conducted in 1852, due to delays, and there is no record of him living with or near his father Richard, in the 1851 census.

William Tennant and Mary Coughlin were content to stay in the Brudenell/Sebastopol Township area for the rest of their lives. They had five children (see insert).

William died 18 November 1902 and was buried on 21 November at St. Ann's Parish Church. Mary died 16 May 1906. The following is taken from the church registery: Item # 4 Page 267 # S 7 Mary Coughlin was born in Ireland  (Mrs. Wm. Tennent) May 18th 1906 We, the undersigned blessed the body of Mary Coughlin Tennent who died the day before yesterday aged seventy-three years. Witnesses to burial James Stanley.

In the 1861 census William chose to list his religion as Church of England while Mary and the children were listed as Roman Catholic. The census shows William and Mary living amongst Mary's 'Coughlin' relatives (see insert from the 1861 census). Indeed, Mary's parents, Simon and Mary O'Brien were living just down the road from her and William.

1861 Census for Brudenell Township

On 20 September 2019 my wife, Jeannie, and I ventured to the Brudenell area (Letterkenny Road and Rockingham area) after having confirmed by telephone several months earlier that descendants of William Tennant and Mary Coughlin were still living in the area.

We met up with Allen Howard Tennant and his wife Lorna Roberston who live on Tennant Road just off Letterkenny Road. Over tea and homemade cookies we exchanged some stories of family lore on both sides and thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful 'mini family reunion'. With Allen and Lorna (my 3rd cousin 1X removed) calling themselves the 'Rockingham Tennants', Jeannie and I (of the Chalk River Tennants) left our new-found cousins and headed home. It was exciting knowing that we had finally met the descendants of William Tennant and Mary Coughlin - mystery solved!

Some of the Rockingham Tennants

Robbie Burns Celebration 2016 - Chalk River Legion Wm. Bryant Branch #562

2016 Robbie Burns poster

Approximately 40 people attended the very first sit down Burns Supper at the Royal Canadian Legion in Chalk River ON. Jeannie Tilson was accompanied by Ray Lavallee on the pipes at this supper and they played a wee concert for the attendees. The meal, prepared by Carol Thompson and her helpers, consisted of roast beef, mashed potatoes and turnips, and a wonderful homemade dessert. 

Traditional Fare, a celtic style trio, played wonderful music. Traditional Fare is Jim Beattie, Paul McClelland, and Dan Schryer.

The Hollmer side of things

Peter Hollmer and Katarina Martinsen

Peter Hollmer was born on March 17, 1848, in Wöhrden, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, the son of Jacob. He married Katharina Christine Elisabeth Martinsen and they had four children together. He then married Margaret Ann Hudson on April 14, 1903, in Renfrew, Ontario. He died in Chalk River Ontario on November 18, 1903, at the age of 55.

Peter Hollmer is listed as passenger #1 on the ship "Steinhoft". He left Hamburg by himself at the age of 48 as listed on the manifest on the Steinhoft with 148 other passengers on the 15th of September and arrived in Montreal on the 4th of October 1894.

Peter's wife, Katarina, and their children left Hamburg on September 29, 1894 on a different ship called the "Baumwall" and arrived in Quebec City on the 17th October 1894.

John Hollmer, his son Percy and my grandpa George Tennant

One of those children was Jacob (John) Hollmer, my great grandfather on my dad's side. When John (Jacob) Christopher Hollmer was born on March 20, 1881, in Germany, his father, Peter, was 33 and his mother, Katharina, was 32. He married Ella Lena (Elsie) Bergman on October 24, 1905, in Chalk River, Ontario. They had eight children in 10 years. He died on June 8, 1948, in Chalk River, Ontario, at the age of 67. When Elsie Bergman was born on October 21, 1885, in Germany, her father, Paul, was 35, and her mother, Annie, was 34. She married John (Jacob) Christopher Hollmer on October 24, 1905, in Chalk River, Ontario. She died as a young mother in the great influenza outbreak of 1918-1920 on October 21, 1918, in Chalk River, Ontario, at the age of 33.

Annie Pearl Hollmer

One of those eight children of John and Elsie was my grandmother Annie Pearl Hollmer. When Annie Pearl Hollmer was born on January 7, 1909, in Chalk River, Ontario, her father, John, was 27, and her mother, Elsie, was 23. She married George Edward Tennant (my grandfather) on January 11, 1927, in her hometown of Chalk River. They had six children in 26 years. She died on December 20, 2002, in the hospital at Deep River, Ontario, at the age of 93.

George Edward Tennant

When George Edward Tennant was born on June 3, 1906, in Chalk River, Ontario, his father, George, was 29 and his mother, Margaret, was 19. George Edward Tennant was born on June 3, 1906, in Chalk River, Ontario, to Margaret McAuley, age 19, and George Cardiff Tennant, age 29. He married Annie Pearl Hollmer on January 11, 1927, in his hometown. They had six children in 26 years. He died on June 9, 1989, in Chalk River, Ontario, at the age of 83. George worked on the local Canadian Pacific Railway establishment in Chalk River. George and Pearl are buried in Forest View Cemetery (just off highway #17 at Fields Road) in Chalk River Ontario.

Pearl Hollmer and George Tennant - Xmas 1977

Pearl Hollmer and George Tennant

Tom Tennant, his father George, his mother Pearl Hollmer and me - Doug Tennant 1978

65th Wedding Anniversary - Tom Tennant & Elaine Cuthbert

On Wednesday June 30, 1948 Tom Tennant and Elaine Cuthbert were married by Rev. Carl Dean in St. Andrews United Church on Main Street in Chalk River ON. The maid of honour was Eunice Moore and the best man was Tom's brother Jack Tennant.


Tom and Elaine celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary at a garden party at their home in Chalk River with approximately 70 family and friends including several great grandchildren. Deputy Mayor Anne Giardini brought greetings from the Town of Laurentian Hills while Marjorie Kellow, their daughter, read out greetings from the Governor General, Prime Minister Harper and Her Majesty the Queen.

Tom and Elaine (front) with Jack and Eunice (rear)

Family Photo June 30, 1948

The Cuthbert Connection & Rosehall Farm

The Cuthberts and Rosehall Farm

This next part of the blog focuses on the Cuthbert side of the Tennant/Grawbarger journey. While no Cuthberts ever married a Grawbarger (that I know of), Tennants and MacDonalds did as described elsewhere in this blog. Indeed there is also the case where two MacDonald Sisters (Laura and Margaret) married two Cuthbert brothers (Ira and Ken) from Rosehall Farm. Margaret or Maggie is my maternal grandmother and she married Ken Cuthbert while her sister Laura married Ira Cuthbert. Ken was known as the gardener at Rosehall while Ira was the true farmer.

The Grawbarger connection comes about where it is made clear that Maggie and Laura MacDonald's mother was Mary Grawbarger (married to Alfred MacDonald). Interestingly with regard to the Tennant/Grawbarger linkage, Mary Grawbarger's mother was Sarah Jane Tennant (1867-1941).

The photo on the right, taken at Rosehall Farm, shows Glenn Cuthbert (son of Maggie MacDonald), Winston Cuthbert, someone I don't know, Maria McLeod (Winston's grandmother), my mom's brother Tom Cuthbert and my aunt Ida MacDonald (married to Bill Shultz). I think the wee gaffer in front is Alec Agnew. If you can correct and/or identify any of these individuals please contact me or leave a comment.

Rosehall was owned and cared for by the Cuthberts from about 1877 up through to 2005 when Winston Cuthbert and his wife Cory Vermeer-Cuthbert sold Rosehall. Winston and Cory (a minister in the United Church of Canada) along with their children Rory and Thomasina had to part with Rosehall as they moved up to Espanola where Cory had received a call for her services as a minister. Not wanting to be far from a steward of the land, Winston bought a farm just outside Massey ON so that he could carry on with his labour of love as a farmer.

This photo to the left taken behind the milk house at Rosehall Farm shows the three Cuthbert brothers (sons of William and Maria) Ira, Ken and Lorne (married to Helen McDavid).

My wife Jeannie and I were very fortunate and blessed to be able to buy Rosehall (all 199 acres of it) and bring it back into the extended Cuthbert/MacDonald/Grawbarger/Tennant family in December of 2010. So sit down, sit back and relax as you go on a journey to Rosehall Farm.

The Cuthberts of Rosehall

Thomas Cuthbert & Margaret Downey 1877-1893
William Cuthbert & Maria McLeod 1893-1943
Ira Cuthbert & Laura MacDonald 1943-1973
Winston Cuthbert & Cory Vermeer 1973-2005

The Scottish beginnings of Rosehall Farm

Thomas Cuthbert (1819-1893) was born in Bathgate, Linlithgowshire Scotland and he married Margaret Ogilvie Downey on 16 August 1844 in Scotland. Their daughter was Isabella Arthur Cuthbert in honour of Tom's mother Isabella Arthur who died at the age of 26 (1800-1826). Tom's father was David Cuthbert who may have been a weaver from Bathgate Scotland (according to the 1841 Scottish census).

Tom and Margaret moved to the Glasgow area and in the 1851 census they are listed with their children Margaret (age 9) and Isabella (age 3) as living at 10 Duke Street Glasgow College.

In 1861 Tom and Margaret are listed in the English census and are living in the Cripplegate Ward of the City of London and they have Isabella, Thomas, George and another son (Arthur? age 6 months) living with them.

In the 1871 English census Tom (listed as a harness maker) and Margaret are living at 10 Adam Street in Portman Ward of the City of London. Their children that are living with them at this time are Isabella (age 23 a machinist, sewing machine?), Thomas (age 16), William (age 8) and a daughter Marion (age 5).

In 1872 the Cuthberts emigrated to Canada and initially moved to the Beachburg area for six years in Renfrew County. They subsequently ventured a wee bit northwest and homesteaded at Rosehall Farm Lot 4 and part Lot 3 Concession 9 of Wylie Township in Renfrew County. Today their farm has a municipal address of 244 Law Road Chalk River (in the Town of Laurentian Hills). The map below is from 1877 and shows William Cuthbert as the owner of 200 acres in Wylie Township.

The first home that Tom and Margaret built for which we have records was a log house constructed in 1879. William, their son, would have been 13 years old. As he became of age and married Annie Maria McLeod, William assumed the responsibility for the farm after his father Tom died in 1893. William's mother Margaret died on 28 July 1901 in Pembroke hospital of heart disease. Here is the clearest and best photo of William and Maria with their children and some neighbours and Margaret Downey in front of Rosehall in 1900.

This photo of the Cuthbert homestead is from 1907. That's William standing on the right and I think Maria in the centre. The road should have been way over to the left of this photo and that may be a summer kitchen or woodshed to the right and behind the house. I don't know who is who for the children around them.

In this 1934 photo William and Maria are posing at the back of the house. Notice the corner of the milk house just behind them to the right. The original log house has been covered over and an addition has been put on the front of it facing towards the road. A small porch is visible to the left of the rear of the house.

This 1908 photo shows the Cuthbert family posing out in front of their log home once again with 6 of their children. Bill is looking very distinguished with his fancy hat on with the children surrounding him and Maria. There is still lots of the "ivy" growing around and over the milk house at Rosehall today.

This 1910-1915 photo depicts Maria and William working on the farm. Never too far from his formal attire, Maria is holding Bill’s hat for him as he smokes the bees.

This photo of Maria and others behind the milk house was taken in the 1940s or 50s. You can see the bank barn off to the right and a couple of other drive shed type buildings on either side of the milk house.

This photo (to the left) of the ubiquitous ivy covered milk house has Marion Cuthbert and her husband Herb Gunning posing with some cousins (siblings?). The bank barn and another wee building are visible on the right hand side.

Here is the milk house (above) as photographed on July 31, 2011. The farm house with light blue siding can be seen off to the left.

This is the rear of the farm house in a photo (above) taken on July 31, 2011.
This photo (above) from October 2010 shows the east and south side of the bank barn with the modern hay barn off to the left.

Here is a photo (above) of the front of the farm house at Rosehall Farm taken in October 2010. The deck has been replaced with new flooring and lattice work is now up all around the deck. That's me and Kevin Hickey talking on the deck.


This is a photo of my wife Jeannie Tilson who is out standing in her field at Rosehall Farm.

Looking westward towards the buildings of Rosehall Farm on July 30, 2011.

Various images of Rosehall Farm taken July 30, 2011.

This is a photo of me (Douglas Tennant) east of the bank barn at Rosehall in October 2010.

The photo below captures Dean Cuthbert and me when Dean came for a visit in June 2019.

The Manitoba leg of the Tennant/Grawbarger Journey

Thomas & Sarah Ann (nee Tennant) Grawberger

Thomas and Sarah Jane Grawberger came to Badger Manitoba about 1900 from the Tennant Settlement near what is now known as Chalk River, Ontario. They brought five of their children with them: George, Isaac, Sarah (Sadie), Margaret (Maggie) and Bill.

Their oldest daughter, Mary, remained in Chalk River and married a man named Alfred MacDonald on October 31, 1900. Mary & Alfred had chicken stew for their wedding supper as recounted by Elaine (Cuthbert) Tennant. The photo on the right is Alfred and Mary on their wedding day. Photo supplied by Perry MacDonald - Chalk River.

Badger was a thriving little town then, with a Post Office, stores, dance hall, section house, station and freight sheds. There were quite a few saw mills in the area and a lot of wood business. Tom worked on the Canadian National Railway and his wife Sarah Jane operated a boarding house.

Margaret, Sadie and Bill went to school in Badger.
In 1906, Tom took a homestead on S.E. 1/4 of 14-2-11 where he moved later after retiring from the C.N.R. because of illness. He lived there until his death in 1925 at the age of 70.

Their son, George joined the Army in 1914 and was reported missing in action in 1916 in World War I.

Bill married a girl in Vancouver and he died in 1954.

There are several Grawberger (notice that their name spelling is with an "e" not an "a" in Grawberger) families still living in the Piney Manitoba area.


ref: Pine Valley Echoes: a History of Badger, Menisino and Piney, p. 229
Author: Piney Area History Book Committee
Publisher: Piney Area History Book Committee, 1988ISBN0920739474, 9780920739471, Length343 pages

Thomas Tennant & Mary Ann Grawbarger

Thomas and Mary Ann and Robert Tennant (brother to Thomas) and his wife Elizabeth Grawbarger (sister to Mary Ann) rode the rails out to Manitoba in the very early 1900s. They probably came out just after they were bought out on the Tennant Settlement by the Federal Government to form the Petawawa Military Base in 1907/08. That's Thomas and Mary Ann on the right.

The major rail head where they moved to was Minnedosa Manitoba and they set up their new homes near Fairmount Manitoba just north of Basswood. They were members of the Fairmount Church and Thomas and Mary Ann and Elizabeth are buried in the Fairmount Cemetery (just off Fairmount Road which is east of Manitoba Highway #270 - off Hwy #16). This is a photo on the right of Fairmount Church.

After Elizabeth died in 1913 her husband Robert Tennant (in his early 70s) picked up with his remaining family and they carried on the journey out to Egerton Alberta to become farmers once again. Egerton is just south east of Wainwright Alberta. That's Doug Tennant standing beside the headstone for Thomas Tennant and Mary Ann Grawbarger at Fairmount Cemetery in Fairmount Manitoba.

This is a photo of Fairmount Cemetery looking to the rear of it toward where Thomas & Mary Ann and her sister Elizabeth Grawbarger are buried.