(Note: Il s'agit ici de la version en anglais de l'article précédemment publié sous le titre "Le Tipperary Settlement: qui étaient les colons derrière ce nom)
On an 1832 map, at the junction of Laval Road and the road to Lac Beauport, there is a place called "Tipperary Settlement" (BANQ: https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3121100). The reason for this designation is simple: the settlers who first came there were mostly from this county in Ireland. But who exactly were they and under what circumstances did they arrive here?
First, it should be said that Irish immigration dates from before the period known as the famine (An Gorta Mór in Irish), which began in 1845. As soon as the Napoleonic wars ended, thousands of immigrants arrived in what was then Lower Canada, after 1815. They came mainly from the British Isles, therefore from England, Wales, but especially from Scotland and Ireland. While many only transited through the Port of Quebec, the main place for harbouring ships at the time, thousands remained in Quebec, particularly in the Beauce region and north of Quebec.
By Island_of_Ireland_location_map.svg: *Ireland_location_map.svg: NordNordWestNorthern_Ireland_location_map.svg: NordNordWestNorthern_Ireland_-_Counties.png: Maximilian Dörrbecker (Chumwa)derivative work: Rannpháirtí anaithnid (talk)derivative work: Mabuska (talk) - Island_of_Ireland_location_map.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10943733
The Irish we are talking about here, may have first worked as day laborers in Quebec, and were eventually offered to colonize the lands of the ranges of L'Ange-Gardien and Laval by the Québec Seminary. So they arrived about 1830.
Part One-The Stapleton Descendants
Martin Stapleton and Mary Kelly, with their children James (1818), Martin, (1819), Mary (1821), Bridget (1824), Hannah (1826) and Margaret (1828), arrived sometime around 1830. The baptisms of these children are all in the parish of Borrisoleigh (https://goo.gl/maps/rLXPBPsiCRdwqxQbA), located in the center of County Tipperary. The last baptisms indicate the place of birth as being Pallas, or Pallas Cross, located 3 km from the town of Borrisoleigh, (https://goo.gl/maps/kijSLQRnD2cLUkQV7https://goo.gl/maps/kijSLQRnD2cLUkQV7) therefore in a rural environment. Strangely, a second Martin was baptized at SBDL in June 1836, and another family member, John, was born at an unknown location around 1835 or earlier, according to censuses. This family therefore provided us with very precise information on its origins. In addition, Martin appears in the 1831 census, in the "parish of Laval", with a land of 200 acres, of which only 2 are cultivated, with 2 cattle, and neighbours are Joseph "Callinor" (possibly Carroll) and Philip Quinn ( FamilySearch, free site with registration:https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939D-VD11?i=4&wc=M6PT-1MH%3A162523701%2C162528701&cc=1834329 )
In 1858, when the Séminaire de Québec attributed « Titre nouvel" to Laval settlers, the contract dated July 15, 1858 tells us that Martin Stapleton Jr. occupied lot no. 5 of Rang 2 of Laval, and had on the NE border Edward and James Rockett and at the SO, John Shaw. Note that this lot had already been awarded in February 1838. The document also indicates that he cannot write or sign. The brothers Martin and James Stapleton, sons Martin and Mary, have a lot of 100 acres each at the time of the 1851 census, on which they harvested only a few acres, for oats, peas, potatoes and turnips, in addition to producing hundreds of bales of hay and maple sugar. As early as 1870, James Stapleton's family emigrated to Warren County, Pennsylvania, which, after the discovery of oil in 1869, became a magnet for men seeking work. The youngest of the brothers, John, was already a day laborer in Quebec in 1860, and later settled in Manistee, Michigan, where other settlers from Laval also settled to work in the lumber industry. Strangely, Martin and his family, from the marriage with Bridget Murphy, do not appear in the 1861 census.
In 1871, Martin's farm produced little more than in 1851, except that he harvested 1000 bales of hay. He owned a horse and had 2 pigs, one of which had been killed or sold within the year. He did not harvest wood on his land. It is hardly surprising that many inhabitants were abandoning the land for jobs in lumber camps or factories that were beginning to appear, particularly in New England and southern Ontario. The land remained in the family until at least 1911, when Martin's son, William Stapleton, was there with his family; but in 1921 he became a day labourer, living on 5th Street in Limoilou.
It can be assumed that the family left after the death of the only son, William Georges, in 1915, at the age of 21, from an unknown cause. He was buried in the old cemetery of SBDL.
It should be added that as early as September 1893, William Stapleton had sold part of his land to James Dawson (the brother of his son-in-law Patrick who married Bridget Stapleton before emigrating to Ottawa). Interestingly, the English description of this land states that it is bounded "on the south by a creek called crooked hill and on the north by the public road". What could be this stream located near the lands numbered 28 and 29 on the cadastre?
Thus, after this date, the name of Stapleton no longer appears in the censuses or in the parish registers. However, among the daughters of William Stapleton, two will live in the Quebec region, including Lac St-Charles, and the Stapleton descendants still live there under the names of Hogan, George, Aubé, Gingras and Lepire. They are Mary Ann Ellen (1888 SBDL-1963, Quebec) and Daly Monica (1896 SBDL-?).
As we will see later, the Stapletons came here with other families from the same region, and we will see that they probably already knew the Dawsons, Keoughs, Bolans, Kellys, Ryans, Carrolls...
As for the name Stapleton in the Borrisoleigh area, it is very common; some 1916 revolutionaries bore this name in County Tipperary and a quick search yields some well-known sporting figures. And of course, you can have a good Guinness at Stapleton’s Bar, on the main street!
Note on the surnames of the first two ancestors, Martin Stapleton and Mary Kelly
-Around 1850, the name Stapleton appears 214 times in County Tipperary, much more than elsewhere, then neighbouring County Kilkenny (84) and Laois (24). It is in the parish of Borrisoleigh where we find the most. It is a name of Anglo-Norman origin, which came after the Anglo-Norman invasion. As for the surname Kelly, it is widespread everywhere in Ireland, and it would be difficult to find any place in which there is no Kelly! It is the 2nd most common surname in fact. (Source: https://www.johngrenham.com/surnamescode/1911_deds_full.php?surname=Kelly)
On this map of land grants of 1874 (cadastre), we can see the land occupied by Martin Stapleton (son), in the north of the parish. North is at the left on this map, where we can see the Montmorency river in the south.
In her book, Soeur Marie Ursule (whose family name was Sanchagrin and lived in Minnesota, but whose origins were in Ste-Brigitte) mentions among the Irish families trying to settle the area north of the parish, "Bill" Stapleton, the son of Martin Stapleton (page 56).
As a supplementary note for our local Irish Heritage group, I would add some details about local families.
Mary Ann Ellen Stapleton (born 188 in SBDL-died 1963 Québec), married Alfred George, a soldier from Ontario, à St. Pat’s in 1915. They had the following children:
1- Noreen Rita (1917-2013)-married Gérard Aubé, St. Pat’s 1940, and had 3 children in Ste-Foy
2- Alfred W (1918-2002) married first Lilian Wilson in London, UK, them Geneviève Gauvin, in Loretteville, his brother’s widow.
3- Aloysius Gerard (1919-?) married Geneviève Gauvin in Vanier in 1943, they had 4 children.
4- Maureen (1920), married Jean-Baptiste Gingras in 1939 at St. Pat’s.
5- Stanley (1922-) married Jeannette Andrew in 1942, Québec, they had 5 children who were all married in the Québec City area.
6- Patricia Agnes (1932-) married Laurent Lepire in 1952, in Lac St-Charles, where they had 2 children
Monica Daly Stapleton (born 1896 in SBDL-?) married local Irishman John Patrick Hogan in 1921 at St.Pat’s, and had 5 children in Québec, who went on to live in Valcartier Village.
The other Stapleton children moved on to Ontario and the USA.
1- Irene Hogan (1922-1997)
2-Gerard Gerry Majella (1923-2007) married Eva Robinson from Valcartier, at St. Pat’s in 1948, they had 8 children in Valcartier.
3- Alfred Aloysius (1925) married Alice Martel in 1947 at St.Pat’s.
4- William Walter (1926) no information
5- Philip Leo, died in 1929 aged one month.
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