The Bennetts
The story of ancestry on Glen’s mother’s side has been researched and summed up with good reliability in a family history written around 1980 by Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Bennett of Carleton Place, Ontario. The piece is called “The Bennetts of Lanark County”.
A man named Edward Bennett arrived in Canada from County Cork in Ireland in the early 1820s. He is thought to have settled in Lanark Township in 1828. It is believed he married twice, his second wife being Mary Graham. Mary came from Ireland around the same time, but on a separate ship. They likely met and married around 1830. Born in Ireland in 1811, she was 9 upon arriving in Canada, travelling with her father Noble Graham on the ship “Commerce” in 1820. So, the young Mary Graham, aged somewhere between 20 and 21, gave birth to her first son Noble in 1831, and in 1834 a second son Edward was born. And this would seal the deal: Edward Bennett and Mary Graham-Bennett became the Great-great-great-great grandparents (on Glen’s side) of Olivia, Ian, and Elinor.
The Fee Connection
Edward Bennett (the younger) grew up and worked as a blacksmith in a town called Ferguson’s Falls. When he was 25 he met and eventually married a young woman named Dorcas Fee, in 1859. Children began arriving steadily. When Bennett was 35 or so they moved to Carleton Place, in 1869. He died of flu a short time later at age 38, leaving his widow Dorcas with six young children. Then the seventh was born two months later. In total there were six sons and one daughter. Edward and Dorcas Fee-Bennett were the Great-great-great grandparents of Olivia, Ian, and Elinor. Edward Bennett was buried in the Fee plot at Pakenham Anglican Cemetery.
The young widow, Dorcas Fee-Bennett, had her own story. She was born in County Longford, Ireland. During the 1840s potato famine her mother, Mary Harris-Fee, had elected to sail to Canada with a number of other family members of the Fee clan. Dorcas’ aged grandmother Mrs. Harris was also travelling with them. Sadly, the grandmother died during the long voyage and was buried at sea.
After Edward’s death Dorcas Fee-Bennett surely demonstrated resilience by picking up the pieces of her life and continuing to raise her family single handedly. As each son became old enough to work, Dorcas kept back a portion of the weekly wage until she was able to buy him a lot close to the family home in Carleton Place. Her sole daughter’s name was Mary Jane Bennett. Mary Jane grew up in Carleton Place, Ontario, and eventually met and married a man named George Thom. They lived in Almonte.
The Thom Connection
At this point the Bennett name disappears from our family tree and is replaced by Thom. Mary Jane and George Thom had five children: Mabel Idella, Katie Mildred, Dorcas Elizabeth (Bessie), James Edward Neilson, and Leonard Bennett. Mary Jane Bennett and George Thom were the Great-great grandparents of Olivia, Ian, and Elinor. She is referred to affectionately as Gramma Thom. Glen had the pleasure of knowing Mabel, Katie, and Bessie (his Nana).
The Hepburn Connection and the Brown Connection
Bessie Thom grew up and met and married John Thomson Hepburn in the 1920s. The Thom name disappears in our family tree to be replaced by Hepburn. The Hepburns had three children: Mary Joyce, Dorothy Jean (b. 1927), and Donald Walter. Bessie (Thom) and John Hepburn were the Great-grandparents of Olivia, Ian, and Elinor. At the time of this writing all three of their children have died. Joyce was tragically killed in a tobogganing accident in 1944. Jean (Nana Brown) met and married Ronald Brown in 1955. Ron and Jean were the Grandparents of Olivia, Ian, and Elinor. She died in 2016 in her 90th year. Don married Joan Armstrong, and he died in 2018 at the age of 88.
Surviving descendants of the Hepburns are Joan and Don’s children Gordon, Bruce, and Neal. Daughter Kathy tragically succumbed to a sudden illness in the 1990s. Robert died in the 2000s. Jean and Ron’s children are Doug, Gerry, Arlene, Glen, and Will.
The grandchildren are Doug and Carolyn’s children Neema and Matthew; Gerry and Debbie’s children Sarah, Amy, Kevin, Chris, and Jason; Arlene and John’s children Trevor and Lindsay; Glen’s children Olivia, Ian, and Elinor; and Will’s children Steven (Lisa Hodgins) and Zoe (Diane Olcha).
Great grandchildren are Reagan, Judah, Reese, Olive and Lex.
The story continues...
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Parents and siblings of George Nelson Thom. Father William
is Great-great-great grandfather to Olivia, Ian, Elinor
(on Nana Hepburn's side) |
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George Thom and Mary Jane Bennett are the great-great grandparents
of Olivia, Ian, and Elinor
(nana Hepburn's parents, nana Brown's grandparents) |
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This is young Bessie Thom (nana Hepburn)
Great grandmother of Olivia, Ian, and Elinor |
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Dorcas Elizabeth (Bessie) Thom-Hepburn (nana Hepburn)
photo taken c. 1982 |
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Christina Hepburn aka "Auntie Tina", aunt of Nana Brown
Sister of John Thomson Hepburn
Auntie Tina was a familiar visitor at the Hepburn
household. She was a fiery, fun, independent, and smart woman.
She loved her nieces and nephews, and her grand-nieces and nephews! |
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Not sure what is in her hands, but she was known for all kinds
of needlework and handcrafts. |
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| Bessie Thom (named Dorcas in this photo) is in the middle row on the left. |
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| George Thom (grampa Thom) became a farmer and a gardener in Burnaby BC. |
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| A pretty epic photo, considering the time |
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| Don, possibly Uncle Leonard or Uncle Nelson, Jean |
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This looks like Nana Hepburn's siblings (ie. the Thom family) visiting at the Hepburns.
Notice the Hepburn kids are delegated to the step. |
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This looks like (from left) Nana Hepburn, Grampa Hepburn,
Joyce, Auntie Tina, Grampa Hepburn or Grampa Thom (they all had moustaches), Don, and Jean |
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| Grama and Grampa Thom, Joyce, Jean, Don, cousin Betty |
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| Grama and Grampa Thom |
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| Grama Thom on the right, Uncle Leonard back-right |
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John Hepburn (Glen's grampa Hepburn), Joyce, Grampa Thom
(Glen's great grampa), Bessie Hepburn (nana Hepburn), Don, Jean |
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| Don, Joyce, Jean c. 1938 |
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| John Thomson Hepburn |
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| Joyce, Auntie Tina, Jean (Nana Brown), Don |
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Dorcas Elizabeth Thom-Hepburn with her cup of tea
(Bessie Hepburn, aka. Nana Hepburn)
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Jean, Grampa John Hepburn, Don
dog named *igger |
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| Joyce Hepburn's grave is in Edmonton |
We are indebted to Joyce for her hard work in keeping a family photo album. It is Joyce's photo album, meticulously assembled and labeled, that is the source for almost all of the photos of the Hepburn family. Other photos have been assembled from a few different places: some Nana Brown owned and a few others that were in Uncle Don's family history which cousin Gordon passed on to us recently.
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Donald Hepburn, brother of Jean Hepburn
Died 2018 |
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