Thomas Gallagher
ID # 5959, (1822-1882)
| Baptism | Thomas Gallagher was baptized on 22 July 1822 at Ireland. |
| Marriage | He married Elizabeth Jane Lamb, daughter of John Lamb and Mary Dewar, on 1 June 1858 at Ontario County. MS248 reel 11, Vol. 45, page 8 Ontario County Marriage Register Extracted from a list of marriages solemnized by James T. Byrne of Whitby for the year of 1858. Thomas Gallagher, 36, born Ireland, residing Whitby. Parents James Gallagher and Mary Trotter. Elizabeth Jane Lamb, 21, born Hawkesbury, residing Whitby. Parents John and Mary Lamb. Witnesses James B. Lamb and Thomas Tims, both of Whitby. On June 1, 1858. |
| Marriage | He married Mary Street on 23 November 1869 at Ottawa, Carleton Co., Ontario. Mrge reg. Ottawa, Carleton County Thomas Gallagher, 48, widower, occupation or religious persuasion not given. Born Ireland, residing Ottawa. Parents James and Mary Gallagher. Mary Street, 47, widow, religious persuasion not given. Born England, residing Ottawa. Thomas and Elizabeth Anderson. Witnesses Thomas Birkett and J. A. Henderson, both of Ottawa. On November 23, 1869, at Ottawa, by Rev. Edward Ebbs. By License. Remarks 'Registered under the old act.' Rev. Ebbs was a Congregationalist minister. |
| Death | He died on 27 June 1882 at Ottawa, Carleton Co., at age 59. |
| Burial | He was buried on 29 June 1882 at Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa. |
| Note | Thomas and Elizabeth have yet to be found in the 1861 census. Thomas appears in the 1871 census with his second wife Mary and children that, considering Mary's age at the time of their marriage in 1869, can only have been Elizabeth's. The 1871 census shows a Matthew, age 20, apparently a son. If this is indeed the case, then Thomas may have been married prior to his marriage to Elizabeth Jane Lamb. Death reg. Ottawa, Carleton Co. Thomas Gallagher died June 27th, 1882. Age 60. Congregationalist. Clerk P. Wks. Dept. Born Ireland. Physician Dr. Wright. The informant's last name appears to be Goram, or similar, and he is apparently with the 'cemetery'. At first glance, the death registration pages for Ottawa in this era have a problem. They mostly do not state the municipality or county. A look through the Carleton County pages make it clear enough that Thomas' death appears on pages listing City of Ottawa deaths. A second and rather interesting wrinkle is that the informants in the deaths as they appear on the pages were frequently the cemeteries. This isn't typical. With Thomas, the cemetery in question would have been Beechwood. Which gets us to an interesting piece of Ottawa city history. In the 1800s there was a growing awareness of the effects of decomposition of human remains on the water table and so by the 1870s cemeteries were being established outside of what was then the city limits. The City of Ottawa had a cemetery named Sandy Hill. Burials in Sandy Hill ceased in 1873 when Beechwood Cemetery, then outside the city limits, was established. The location of the old Sandy Hill Cemetery is now known as MacDonald Park. The Ottawa branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has transcribed Beechwood Cemetery and this transcription shows Thomas Gallagher and his first wife, Elizabeth Jane Lamb, buried in the same plot as her parents and a brother. Elizabeth Jane died, however, in 1868, some five years before Beechwood was established. The OGS also has transcribed Beechwood's records of interment, but perhaps rather more informative are the images of the interment register as found on Ancestry. The record shows Thomas' death on June 27, 1882, and his burial on June 29. This record appears at the bottom of the page. The next page shows as being buried in the same plot Elizabeth Jane Gallagher and Mary Eleanor Gallagher both being buried here on June 29 - 'from Sandy Hill'. The dates of death are not given. The Beechwood transcription of the gravestone, however, shows Elizabeth Jane's death as occurring on 12 November, 1868. Mary Eleanor's name does not appear on a stone according to the transcription. Since Thomas second wife, Mary Anderson Street Gallagher, was still living as of 1881, we must guess that Mary Eleanor was a child of Elizabeth Jane's. If so, she is likely interred with her mother. Certainly the burial register indicates her burial in the same plot. |
| Last Edited | 23 Jul 2018 |