Patrick SCULLY

Hi Harry,

I am afraid I am no help with your question but do have a question for you.  I am looking for a Patrick Scully married to a Mary Burrows. Yours looked like it might be mine, but the problem is that mine went to Canada and not Australia.

My Skully/Scully family left Ireland for Canada in the 1800s and were undoubtedly in Ontario (Canada West as it was known then) by 1845. Their son, John Skully, was baptized in St Marks Church in Prescott, Ontario, on 30 March 1845. His death certificate incorrectly states his birth as 30 March 1846. His tombstone in the St. Laurence O'Toole Church cemetery (Spencerville, Ontario) reads 1845. Some Canadian census records suggest other years, but it would be hard to be born after one's baptism

He was born in Canada. Patrick Skully and Mary Burrows/Burris are his parents on his birth certificate. Unfortunately, their Irish location was neither recorded nor passed down in family stories. So, where they came from in Ireland and what happened to them later is not known

Information in the 1851 Canadian census suggests that Patrick and Mary might have been in Canada as early as 1840. It shows a Canadian born Eliza Scully, age 11, adopted by an American couple, Ezra and Margaret Odell, living in the same area as John. They are not listed in later census records. An even earlier arrival might be indicated by the marriage record of William Mason and Margaretta Skully, both of Edwardsburgh, Canada. They married about nine miles away in the First Presbyterian Church of Ogdensburg, New York, on 11 June 1853. As there are no other Skully/Scully families in this area, it seems likely she had some connection with John. Whether she was a sister or aunt is unknown, but, interestingly, she did not take care of John. Unfortunately, we have found no further details on this family.

Michael Skully

94 Emo Road, Malvern East, 3145, Australia