Catharine Foynes

Catherine Foynes was my great great grandmother. As far as I can tell, her father was James and mother Catherine. Catherine married Peter Sweeney in Feb 1867 in Maryborough. Catherine and her first five children arrivd in Canada by ship in Aug 1877 and settled in Toronto where it appears Peter was waiting for them.

I found the travel records of Catherine and the children but Peter was not with them. I have found a Peter Sweeney who arrived the previous year but have no way to be certain it was him. In Toronto, they had one more child, Joseph born in 1879 who became my great grandfather.

Unfortunately, Peter passed away in Apr 1880 leaving Catherine to alone with six children. I imagine life was difficult for a Irish widow, not long in Canada, raising six kids. The 1881 Canada Census shows she was working as a washerwoman. By the 1891 Census, some of her older children were working and the oldest daughter was married. The 1901 Census shows Catherine living with children Peter, Kate and Joseph. These children were all married between 1902 and 1904. Catherine appears in the 1911 Canada Census living with daughter Kate and her family.

Catherine was buried with her husband Peter in St. Michael's Cemetery in Toronto. I believe she died in either 1912 or 1916 going by the weathered lettering in the tombstone and only being able to look at a photograph of it. It appears that Catherine had a sister Margaret who married Henry Johnson in Maryborough in Apr 1872. They appear to have emmigrated to Canada as I have found a baptism record for Margaret and Henry's daughter Emma born in Toronto in 1875. No further records come up for them in Canada so what became of them is a mystery. Catherine and Margaret may have had a brother Thomas but I can find no information about him.