John's parents: Thomas Cunneyworth / Ann Reynard
John was the firstborn child of Thomas and Ann.
LDS IGI records on the Internet list a John Cunningworth
christened in Holme On Spalding Moor, East Yorkshire, England, Nov 29,
1829, with parents Thomas Cunningworth and Ann Unknown
According to the 1871 Ontario census, John was born c. 1830-31.
Note: There are 2 Johns (one 40, the other 45, both born in
England) recorded in the 1871 census records for Toronto.
According to the Ingledew family history, his mother Ann
arrived in North America "aboard ship with her first-born in her arms".
John was presumably with his father, Thomas Cunneyworth, in Madrid, St. Lawrence County, NY in
1830. Madrid is across the St. Lawrence River, east of Ontario's Kitley Township, Leeds County.
The June 1, 1830 New York census shows Thomas as the head of a
family which consisted of one male and one female, both aged "of twenty and under thirty" and
one male "under five years of age".
Ontario Genealogical Society, Leeds & Grenville Branch, Census
Records for the Township of Kitley in 1839 lists a Thomas Conneyworth as head of a household
consisting of 1 male and 1 female adult with 3 male children and 2 female children. This
information correlates well with our Thomas and Ann, the 3 male children in this census being
John born c. 1829, George c. 1833 and William c. 1838, and the 2 female children being Catherine
(born when?) and Susan (c. 1836?).
Connie Spencer originally informed me by email of the Leeds and Grenville Genealogy Society index
for the 1841 Ontario census for Kitley township which includes the following information for a
Thomas Conyworth: 1 male adult, 1 female adult, 3 male children and 3 female children. Sometime
later I confirmed this 1841 listing myself in the Ontario Genealogical Society, Leeds & Grenville
Branch, publication. The third female child would have been John's sister
Ruth Ann, born c. 1841.
I was unable to locate the 1841 census in a subsequent visit to the Ontario Archives. I did
confirm, however, that in the 1842 Kitley census,
a Thomas "Cunyworth", nonproprietor of real estate (i.e. a tenant), farmer, was the head of a
family in one inhabited household, with 3 natives of England, 5 natives of Canada of British
origin, and had resided in the province for 10 (or 11?) years. The household included 1 male
and 1 female aged 5 or under, 2 males and 2 females older than 5 but younger than 14, 2 married
males aged between "30 and not 60" and 2 married females between "14 and not 45". An "8" appears
(erroneously) in the column for "Number of lunatic [females] above five and under 14 years of age",
next to the column titled (more reasonably) "Number of persons in each family belonging to the
Church of England".
This implies that Thomas and Ann had 6 children (3 girls and 3 boys) in 1842 and
shared the house with another couple, who were not members of the same church. One girl and one
boy were born c. 1837 - 1841 (since the same number of children were reported in the 1841 census),
and the remaining 2 girls and 2 boys were born c. 1829 (John) - 1836, all but one in Canada.
Other evidence (Catherine's 1881 Ontario census record) suggests
that Catherine was also born outside Canada, however. Both married couples and one child (John)
were born in England.
Ontario Genealogical Society, Leeds & Grenville Branch, Census
Records for the Township of Kitley in 1844 lists a Thomas "Canningworth" as head of a
household consisting of 1 male and 1 female adult with 4 male children and 3 female children.
This information correlates well with our Thomas and Ann. The fourth male child in this census
would have been John's brother Richard, born c. 1843.
The 1871 Ontario census records at the
Ontario Archives show a John Coneyworth, unmarried,
age 40, labourer, living with (his mother?) Ann Coneyworth, a widow, age 59, both born in England,
religion Church of England.
This census indicates that John and Ann were living at the home of John's sister, Elizabeth Jane
Wright (age 24) / Joseph Wright (age 25) and their daughter Letitia (age 11 months), all born in
Ontario.
The 1871 census also shows William "Cunniworth" (age 33) listed as a sailor, with wife Margaret
(age 32), 4 children and also a (cousin or brother?) John, living in the same house (age 45),
railway employee, born in England. All listed as Church of England).
There are two other John Cunneyworths in Ontario, younger contemporaries here:
John Thomas (1864-????) and
John "Jack" Reynard, (1880-1947/48),
for a grand total of 4 John Cunneyworths living in Ontario at the same time.
Toronto City Directories for 1873 through 1880 document the
following addresses for John Cunneyworth:
1873 Cunningworth John, laborer, 36 Bathurst
1873-74 Coneyworth John, car repairer, 36 Bathurst
1880 Cunneyworth John, repairer T G & Br, 32 Niagara
(sharing the house with Richard Cunneyworth and William Teboy)
The 1881 Ontario census records at the
Ontario Archives show a John Cunneyworth, no
marital status, age 52, Car Repairer, living with Richard Cunneyworth (Head of Household), born
in England, religion Church of England.
In a rough sketch of a Cunneyworth/Wright family tree chart sent to me by Mike Wright, notations
of "bachelor" and "Markdale, Ont" are written in the box for John. (There is an unincorporated
area near Owen Sound called Markdale).
Vital Statistics death records list a John Cunneyworth,
unmarried, born March, 1834 in England, died c. Nov 7, 1909, age 75 at a "Home for Incurables"
in Toronto. His medical certificate states that he suffered from "Paralysis" for 12 years and
died of heart failure.
Caroline Dyk has also noted a John Cunneyworth in LDS Death Records with this date.