Source: Ernest's birth registration record.
Ernest was born c. June 9, 1893 in Toronto when his parents were living at 6 Turner Ave.
Source1: Ernest's birth registration record.
Source2 Note: The Hunt family tree records show a birth date of June 12, 1893.
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Ernest Edgar Cunneyworth (c. 1918?)
My father thinks this photo was taken when Ernest was in his 30's
but I find it hard to believe that he was any older than 25 at the time.
Perhaps a fashion expert could set the date more precisely based on
Ernest's attire.
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Ellen’s parents: John Joseph Sullivan / Honour Anne Corcoran
Source1: Marg Cross and a written reference to this generation of ancestors in a family book of memorabilia, in daughter Edna’s handwriting.
Note: this same book spells Ernest’s mother’s name as "Easson".
Source2: Ellen's birth registration record.
Source3: Ellen's statement of birth and birth certificate.
Bob Hunt tells me the name Sullivan was shortened from O’Sullivan.
Ellen was born in Toronto c. Oct 7, 1897.
Source1: Gary Hunt's family tree scrolls, hand-written by his mother, Edna May Cunneyworth Hunt.
Source2: Ellen's birth registration record.
Source3: Ellen's statement of birth and birth certificate.
Source4: 1901 Ontario census for Toronto West City Ward 5
Ernest and Ellen were married c. September 29, 1913, according to LDS IGI records.
Ellen’s parents, John and Annie, were Irish Catholic. Ernest’s brother William Victor, was a committed Orangeman, so this must have made for interesting conversation around the dinner table.
Ernest was a Baptist. He worked for Ontario Hydro, Canada Packers, Kellogs, Cooey Rifle (small arms manufacture), a barrel company on Glen Scarlet (still there in 2001) and at the time of his death, at Line and Cable in Newmarket. Ernest had "cousins" Bertha Bull (married to Jack Bull) and Jack (and son Fred) Fortune. Bertha and Jack’s children included Audrey (married James Kirkpatrick), Norma and others. The exact family relationship is unknown.
Ellen was "Nana" to her grandchildren. She was diabetic, as were most of her children in their later years. (Edgar was hypoglycemic, Bill’s status was unknown and Marg was not diabetic; the remaining 4 children are also known to be diabetic).
Daughter Edna said that Ellen was somehow connected to Desmond castle in Kinsale, Ireland (on the south coast).
According to a family rumour, Ellen’s grandfather and actress Maureen O’Sullivan’s ("Jane" to Johnny Weismeuller’s Tarzan) grandfather were cousins. Several family members have expressed doubts about this, while others suggest that there is documented evidence to support the connection.
Ellen’s mother Annie had sisters, Margaret ("Mag" Strain), Honour, Nelle, Theresa and Jenny. Jenny married Henry Kearney. (source: Ronald Cunneyworth and Margaret Cunneyworth Cross). Mag was a tall, slender lady, famous for "blowing the skins off potatoes" (i.e. peeling with very thin peels), Copenhagen snuff in one pocket and a handkerchief in the other. Mag (died c. October 31, 195?) and Annie? are buried at Mount Hope cemetery, Toronto.
According to my father, Ellen was the firstborn of the Sullivan children, with full-brothers Thomas Francis ("Uncle Tip") and Pat (who ran a cook wagon for the Johnny Jones Circus, died c. 1940 near Savanah, Georgia). Bob Hunt recalls that Nana had visited relatives in Savanah. Marg Cross told me that Pat married Pauline Unknown, a circus showgirl. Thomas Francis is buried at Mount Hope cemetery, Toronto.
The 1901 Ontario census for Toronto West City Ward 5 lists Ellen with her parents, siblings and grandmother:
John Sullivan, age 28
Annie Sullivan, age 23
Ellen C Sullivan, age 4
Margaret T Sullivan, age 2
Thos F Sullivan, age 5 months
Catherine Sullivan, age 63, identified as a "lodger" and widow
Ellen also had half-brothers Jimmy, Walter and George (from her father John’s second marriage to Sarah "Sadie" or "Grandma Sade" Lanigan) and a cousin Eva Oates. Grandma Sade Lanigan had a daughter from a previous relationship who was buried in a pauper’s grave and family members were advised (by whom?) not to claim her. Grandma Sade’s funeral prayer card refers to her as "Mrs. Sarah Sullivan Thompson who passed away Feb 5th, 1956" in Toronto. Did she marry a man by the name of Thompson after John Sullivan’s death?
Nola Rodgers recalls Nana saying that she once lived on Tecumseth St. and on Niagara St. and that she had worked at a fast food outlet at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). My father and uncle Rob identified this enterprise as Mumby’s, located underneath the CNE grandstand.
They lived at 2231 St. Clair Avenue during the 1950s, between Keele Street and Runnymede Road. My dad recalls that they paid their rent at the nearby office of the Ontario Stock Yards.
Ernest and Ellen with their children
L-R: Edna, Ernest, Ronald, Robert, Ellen, Margaret, William, Edgar, Allan
Photo courtesy of Ronald Henry Victor Cunneyworth
My father also recalls hard times as a teenager. His mother Ellen collected his pay cheque every
week from Canada Packers, as his contribution to the family finances.
(He managed to keep $5.00 for himself). Other children and many other relatives and friends also
worked at Canada Packers, across from the family residence on St. Clair Avenue. The histories of
Canada Packers and the railways are cornerstone components in the
development of West Toronto Junction and its people, including this
family.
Ellen and Ernest in front of the family home at 2231 St. Clair Ave.
Photo courtesy of Ronald Henry Victor Cunneyworth
The above photo shows Canada Packers in the background and the local
barber shop (behind car) with its traditional barber pole beside the door. Note the CN railway
track between the house and the street.
The author recalls having his hair cut as a child at the barber shop on St. Clair Avenue. My father remembers the barber, Mark Juniper, as a character who walked the street in winter with no coat on and his shirt sleeves rolled up.
Ellen and Ernest with 16 of their 17 grandchildren (missing: Linda Cross)
St. Clair Avenue, Christmas, 1952
Note: The author is pictured clasping his hands in front of "Nana".
Photo courtesy of Ronald Henry Victor Cunneyworth
Ernest died c. Sept 21, 1957.
Source: The Hunt family history records.
Ernest is buried in Park Lawn cemetery, Toronto.
Ellen "Nellie" Catherine Sullivan (c. 1960?)
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Ellen died c. July 7, 1970.
Source: The Hunt family history records.
Ellen is buried with Ernest in Park Lawn cemetery, Toronto.
Children:
- Edna May Cunneyworth / Glyndwr Hunt
- Edgar John Cunneyworth / Doris Maude Hackett
- Robert Gordon Cunneyworth / Lillian Edna Long
- William Percival Cunneyworth / Jean Gladys Budreau
- Margaret Ellen Cunneyworth / Arthur Edward Cross
- Ronald Henry Victor Cunneyworth / Mary Angela Oresky
- Allan Thomas Cunneyworth / Margaritta "Rita" Ada May Cowley