Newfoundland's Grand Banks Message Board

Good Morning,

My name is Penney Harvey Stevens. I was born in Nova Scotia of Newfoundland parents - I am very proud of my Newfoundland heritage! I have been interested (some say obsessed) in genealogy for many, many years. Even though I am currently working on the Tremills, Nichol, Hudson, Taylor, Harvey, Butt families, I would love to hear from anyone interested in chatting about any Newfoundland genealogy.

Penney
North York, Ontario

I descend from Joseph BUTT, whose daughter, Patience (1855-?) married a John Penney.
Joseph was born in Spaniard's Bay to John BUTT and Mary DROVER.

Joseph was buried in Harbour Grace.

I have a fair bit of information on the BUTT side of my ancestors, but not much on who they married.

Do you think you might have any info that would help me, or I you?
Patti

Hi Penney:

Where in Newfoundland are your Tremill's located? I am researching the Tremill Family of Petty Harbour, later found in St. John's. I have a "stray": William Tremills married 15 Aug 1844 SJTB Anglican Cathedral to Jane Harvey.

Any connection?

Trishe

William Tremills was born 26 May 1816 at Widdicombe-in-the Moor, the son of Nathaniel Tremills and Ann Chafe, and the grandson of Nathaniel Tremills and Susanna Turner. His
older brother John Tremills (1804-1868) married Elizabeth Chafe, daughter of Henry Chafe
of Petty Harbour.

Hi Again:

The Tremills have me totally confused, at least the oldest ones!

You start with Nathaniel Tremills married to Susanna Turner - I have his name as Ralph. We'll say he is the same guy. Do you have dates for him or Susanna? That's my sticky point, as there seems to be either an added generation here or I have a missing one.

Nathaniel Tremills married Ann Chafe? I have 5 Nathaniel's (not including yours above) but none could be this person. Do you know which Ann Chafe he married?

With your help, maybe I can get my Tremills sorted out!

Sorry, I made a typo! Nathaniel Tremills was the son of RALPH Tremills and Susanna Turner. Nathaniel died at Princetown, Devon, on 29 March 1854. His wife Ann Chafe
was buried at Princetown on 20 October 1837.

Anne Chafe was baptized 5 August 1776 at Widdicombe-in-the-Moor, daughter of
Samuel Chafe and Ann Arnell. They were married 2 September 1771 at Widdicombe.
Samuel was buried at Cordon on 6 May 1814, aged 64 years. His wife Ann predeceased him on 4 July 1795, aged 45 years.

Nathaniel Tremills and Anne Chafe had a twin son James born 24 April 1804 at Widdicombe. James died at Petty Harbour on 10 January 1875.

James married Alice Satterley on 15 April 1839. She was born 11 April 1813 to John Satterley and Jane Hannaford. They were the parents of Ralph Tremills who married Lucilla Chafe on 6 December 1866 at Petty Harbour. Their son Nathaniel was adopted by the Chafes and eventually moved to Boston where he died.

Edward:

You are a saint! Once I got past the "Ralph's", "Nathaniel's" and "Lucilla Ann's, everything fell into place.

Now, as for Nathaniel Tremills, s/o Ralph Tremills & Lucilla Ann Chafe. He wasn't 'adopted' per se by the Chafes. When Ralph Tremills died 27 Aug 1870, his widow Lucilla Ann married 6 Jul 1876 Emmanuel Chafe (23 Nov 1829-3 Nov 1908), s/o Jacob & Harriet Chafeand, taking Nathaniel James with her, moved to the Goulds. John William Tremills remained in Petty Harbour with his Uncle.

After (I think) Nathaniel Tremills married Elizabeth Upshall (I don't have that record yet but it was 21 Nov 1894), he took the surname Chafe. Nathaniel emigrated to Boston, MA in 1889; Elizabeth emigrated in 1891. Nathaniel worked for the Boston Railroad and they had 4 children: Ralph, Ernest, Albert & Warren. I have loads of records on them all if you don't.

Thank you so much for all your help! I probably have more questions.

Hi Again:

I have three children for Ralph Tremills & Susanna Turner:
1) Nathaniel James (1777-1854) m. Ann Chafe
2) John (no dates) m. Elizabeth UNK
3) Thomas (1792-1861) m. Mary Hext

Now, Thomas' birthdate is based on his age at death, which is likely wrong as there is a huge gap between his birth and that of Nathaniel's. Does anybody have any dates for Thomas & Mary, John & Elizabeth, Ralph & Susanna?

Am I missing any more children for Ralph & Susanna? I don't have access to the English records.

I do have access to the US & Canadian records, if anyone needs a look-up.

Thomas Tremills was baptized 4 February 1793, the son of Richard Tremills and Jane Kivil. He married Mary Ann Hext at Ashburton on 30 December 1816. Thomas died at
Petty Harbour on 13 January 1861. They had eight children:

Jane Tremills, born circa 1817
Mary Ann Tremills
John Tremills, born circa 1823; died 26 March 1851
Nicholas Tremills, born 29 March 1831
William Tremills, born 7 January 1834: drown 12 February 1853
Ralph Tremills, born 5 February 1837; drown 12 February 1853
Nathan Tremils, born 5 October 1839
Eliza Tremills, born 6 March 1843


Nathaniel Tremills and Ann Chafe had seven children:

James Tremills, born 24 April 1804
John Tremills, born 24 April 1804
Elizabeth Tremills, born 24 October 1809; died 9 August 1842
Mary Tremills, born 30 August 1812
Susannah Tremills, born 13 January 1814; died 2 March 1838
William Tremills, born 26 May 1816
Ralph Tremills, born 16 July 1820; died 16 March 1832

Thank you Edward for all that information. I had Mary Ann, d/o Nathaniel & Ann, born 30 Aug 1812.

So, Thomas Tremills is not the son of Ralph & Susanna. Who was Richard? Was he the son of Ralph?

And now I have a Michael Mills, living in the Goulds, same time as Thomas. Never heard of him before and do not know if he was a Mills or Tremills.

ROAD REPORTS 1847 - 1848 Part 3
LIST OF THE NAMES OF DESTITUTE PERSONS AT GOOLDS TO WHOM ASSISTANCE WAS RENDERED,
AND FROM WHOM NO RETURNS WERE RECEIVED.
Thomas Mills & Thomas Osborne 1 Barrel £ 1 4 0
Michael Mills 1 Barrel £ 1 4 0

Trishe

I believe that all of the Tremills of Petty Harbour are descended from
Ralph Tremills and Elizabeth Noseworthy of Widdicombe-in-the-Moor.

Their son Nathaniel Tremills (20 March 1709 - 8 January 1784) married
an unidentified woman named Agnes. They had at least six children:

Henry Tremills, bapt. 14 January 1735
Mary Tremills, bapt. 10 February 1737Elizabeth Tremills, bapt. 12 October 1740
RICHARD TREMILLS, bapt. 9 April 1745 (married Jane Kivil, 19 March 1773)
RALPH TREMILLS, bapt. 4 October 1747 (married Susanna Turner, 12 January 1773)
(child of Nicholas Turner and Agnes Knight)
JOHN TREMILLS, bapt. 23 December 1750 (married Joan Noseworthy)

Thanks Edward for all of that. You have done a marvelous job tracing this family. I am going to presume that not all of Nathaniel & Agnes' children had ties to Petty Harbour or even Newfoundland. We know the children of Nathaniel James & Ann Chafe did. And so did Thomas of Richard.

Do you know anything about Thomas' wife, Sarah French? I have been having a tough time getting any information on any of the French families, but there are lot of them in my tree.

I have only Nicholas as the son of John & Elizabeth (Ralph, Nathaniel, Ralph), and nothing on him except his death.

Sarah French, wife of Thomas Tremills, was the daughter of Francis French.
I suspect that she was unrelated to the French family of Petty Harbour and
may have been from Widdicombe-in-the-Moor.

John Tremills Jr. and Elizabeth Hamlyn had two children who married
Frenchs: Mary wed Thomas French in 1823, and Richard wed Eliza French
in 1847. Their brother Nicholas was bapt. 29 March 1805 and he was
buried at Petty Harbour on 31 August 1855. He may have came to Nfld.
with his father John Tremills (1778-1862).

I suspect I am in trouble yet again!
I have John Tremills, married Elizabeth UNK, as the parents of Nicholas born 1805. But I have this John as the son of Ralph Tremills & Susanna Turner.
You used the term "John Tremills Jr.", indicating that his father was also John.
Maybe I am just slow today.

John Tremills Jr., bapt. 7 December 1777, was the son of John Tremills and
Joan Noseworthy. They were married 23 December 1773. Joan was the
daughter of Ambrose Noseworthy and Mary Mortimore.

John Tremills Jr. married Elizabeth Hamlyn on 25 September 1803. They had
eleven children. John Tremills Jr. died 24 July 1862.

Okay, that explains the Jr. Now, John Tremills married Joan Noseworthy - would he be John, the son of Nathaniel & Agnes?

Yes, John was the son of Nathaniel and Agnes, and brother of Ralph
and Richard. The Tremills arrived in Petty Harbour as an extended
family of siblings and cousins. This was pretty common for families
involved in the migratory fishery.

Penney,

I have been researching my Sheppard family for a few years now. You mentioned having Sheppard connections. I would like to know which Sheppard family you are associated with. We might share some of the same ancestors.

Marj

Okay Edward, I have my John's in their proper places now. Thank you so much. If John Tremills & Elizabeth Hamlyn had 11 children, did all of them come to Newfoundland? I know Nicholas did, but the only other ones I have are Mary & Richard, because you told me they married into a French family. Was that in Newfoundland or England?

I am not sure how many of the children of John Tremills and Elizabeth Hamlyn
came to Newfoundland. Mary, Ann, Elizabeth, and Richard married in Devon,
but I am not sure about the other children. I have a few Mills-Tremills strays
which I have not identified. I suspect that some of them went to Australia
as several Petty Harbour people immigrated there in the 1850s and 1860s.

Thanks Edward.

I too have a few unidentified Tremills:

Nathaniel Tremills married Rachel UNK. They had a child, Avis, born 6 May 1853 Petty Harbour, bp. 5 June 1853 Petty Harbour Anglican.

It is noted that Avis was a male, but the only other record I found for an Avis Tremills was for a female, spinster, Petty Harbour, who married Edwin John Pack, bachelor, Bay Bulls, on 28 May 1873 Bread & Cheese Cove, Bay Bulls.

I also do not have parents for Nathaniel Tremills (1824 PH-1892 Goulds) who married Elizabeth Tiller (could she possibly be a Fillier instead?), and had at least two children:
Nathan, born 1858, married 1882 Sarah Jane Mullowney
Ellen Mary, born 1861

I believe this is the marriage record for Nathaniel Tremills & Elizabeth Tiller

Marriages Part 1 1830 - 1870 St. Thomas Anglican Church, St John's, Nfld
DATE PLACE OF MARR GROOM BRIDE WITNESSES REMARKS / RESEARCH NOTES
Apr 24 1851 St Johns Nathanael WELLS, bach, Petty Harbour Elizabeth TILLER,
spinster, St Johns George Prignell, David Marsh

Both of us are trying to identify the same stray Tremills.

John Tremills and Elizabeth Hamlyn had a daughter Avis bapt. 20 June 1820, but
she is reputed to have died on 18 January 1844. I suspect that her brothers
had daughters named in her honour.

There is likely an error in the church records for the birth of Avis Tremills (1853).
She is probably the daughter of Nathaniel Tremills and Elizabeth Tiller. I have
her marrying Edwin John Pack. She died 25 August 1918.

On 2 June 1849 an Avis Mills married John Williams at Bay Bulls.

Another stray is Sarah Jane Tremills, 22 years, who married
Abraham Bussey on 17 December 1882. It is interesting to note
that Henry John Whitten married Charlotte Bussey (1851-1882),
the daughter of Isaac Bussey and Mary Dawe of Port de Grave.
Edward Doyle married Mary Bussey (c1823-1881) in 1843.

I believe there is a link between Nathaniel Tremills who married Elizabeth
Tiller and Mary Ann Tremills who married George Prignell on 19 March 1851.

BTW, I have Ellen Mary Tremills (1861) marrying Martin Mullowney in 1882.

Interesting that we are both chasing the same strays.

I know there are many entries in church records that contain errors, either in the original records or through the transcriptions.

Taking Nathaniel Tremills marrying Elizabeth Tiller, you have given me food for thought. By mentioning his sister's, Mary Ann, marriage to George Prignell, I went back and looked at my records.

Mary Ann & Nicholas were twins. If I am correct in the 24 Apr 1851 marriage for "Nathaniel Wells & Elizabeth Tiller", is it not possible that instead of it being "Nathanael Wells", it is actually the marriage of "Nicholas Tremills"? George Prignell was a witness to this marriage. Mary Ann & George married the same year, on 19 March.

Nicholas Tremills died at the Poor House in 1878. There is no mention if he was single or married.

Nicholas' father, Thomas, was rendered assistance for destitute people in 1847-8.

Nicholas' brother, Thomas, died in the Lunatic Asylum in 1901. Several of his younger children had a dispute with their father, left Petty Harbour for St. John's, and changed their name to "Mills".

A flaw in this line?

Sarah Jane Tremills was the daughter of Thomas Tremills & Sarah French.

Petty Harbour Anglican Records BAPTISMS (Part 1) 1824-1862
DATE OF BIRTH PLACE OF BIRTH PARENTS' NAMES CHRISTIAN NAME OF CHILD BY WHOM BAPTISED DATE OF BAPTISM FATHER'S OCCUPATION TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME (SOURCE)
Nov. 13, 1860 Petty Harbour MILLS, Thomas & Sarah Sarah Jane George M. Johnson Nov. 25, 1860 FRENCH (VS Vol 23)

Her sister, Elizabeth Ann, was one of the witnesses at her wedding.

Thank you for Ellen Mary's marriage to Martin Mullowney. I missed that one.

I had the Henry John Whitten and Edward Doyle's marriage - didn't have a date for Edward's so thanks! - but have not had a chance yet to see who the parents of Abraham were.

I had the marriage of Avis Mills to John Williams too but had no idea who she was. Since John was born about 1828, she was born about the same time. She could be a child of Thomas & Mary Ann Hext or of John & Elizabeth Hamlyn or of another child of Ralph & Susanna Turner (if they had one besides Nathaniel James).

Sarah Jane Tremills married Abraham Bussey:

Abraham A. Bussey (likely Arthur, as this name appears on the 1930 Census) was a cabinetmaker, likely from Port de Grave. He & Sarah Jane emigrated to New York City in 1891. I found the 1910 Bronx Census and the 1930 Queens Census and several City Directories. They had 4 children, two of whom were Arthur E. (born 1890 Newfoundland) and Sadie (born 1893 New York). I'll have to find the 1900 Census to see if the other two appear on it. They were likely both born in Newfoundland, between 1882 - 1889.

Abraham died in New York between 1938-1945, according to a photo on the NGB Site.

I located the death for an Arthur A. Bussey, aged 71 years, at Queens, NY,
who died 8 December 1931.

Great Edward & thank you. I have a start on the rest of his family now.

Sarah Jane Tremills (13 Nov 1860 PH - 7 Aug 1951) married Arthur Abraham Bussey (1860 - 8 Dec 1931 Queens, NYC)
Children:
Alice Maud Bussey, born 24 Jan 1884 SJ, married abt 1909 Henry Gibson, born abt 1884 County Antrim, Ireland.
3 Children: Howard born 1911, George born 1913, Pearl born 1919.
John H Bussey, born 17 May 1886 SJ, married abt 1908 Evangeline Salincrup, born abt 1885 Puerto Rico.
2 Children: James E. born 1913 NY; John H. born 1915 NY
Arthur Edward Bussey, born 28 Jun 1889 Toronto, York, ON; single.
Sadie Mae Bussey, born abt 1891 NY, died Sep 1977 Upland, San Bernardino, California, married 1908 Walter Quigley, 1888 - 16 Mar 1921 Brooklyn, NYC.
1 child known: Richard Quigley, born 1918 NYC.
Sadie Mae married2 1925 George Joseph Wass, born 7 Jul 1887 NYC.
1 child known: Vivian born 1826

Had to work tonight so will try and research more on Saturday if I have time.

I was able to locate the marriages for Sadie Mae Bussey. Both of them occurred
in the Borough of Manhattan, NY. Both marriages are a bit unusual: in the first
marriage the month and year are different in the index, and in the second marriage
Mae did not use the surname Quigley.

Bussey Sadie, November 21, 1916 # 3963 (1917)
Quigley Walter F., December 21, 1917 # 3963 (1917)

Wass Joseph G., August 10, 1925 #25097 (1925)
Bussey Mae, August 10, 1925 #25097 (1925)