Thomas’ tombstone, which was erected well after the burial (to fix older tombstone, perhaps?), has the wrong date for Thomas (listed as Nov.17, 1847). According to his eldest son’s bible, he died November, 18, 1846.

Came to Canada along with his wife, Mary, and children William, Mary, Charles and Hester. His younger, single (at the time) brother Henry came as well, on the ship Stakesby, from County Cork, Ireland in 1823. The ship left July 8th, and arrived in Quebec on September 2, then proceeding to Montreal by September 5th.

There seems to be some indication of further children born to Thomas and Mary (including one in 1823 in Ramsey Township, en route to Pakenham), but nobody seems to be sure.

There are some mentions of him being born in 1790, but 1793 is the year he gave Peter Robinson when he boarded the Stakesby.

There is a mention in the Mormon Libarary records of a Thomas and Margaret Boyle having a daughter born Feb. 11, 1813 in Ireland. On one of the boatlists, Mary is listed as Margaret, so this may be them with their first child, although, if this was the case, then the eldest daughter (around 10 at the time of the journey to Canada) stayed behind in Ireland.

Clifford Boyle (in Boyle Bulletin #6) mentions that when living in the Pakenham area, and when times were tough, the men would spend most of the winter up the Ottawa River Valley in lumber and forestry work.

From Boyle Bulletin #8 - Thomas, though protestant, was in some sense a spokesman for the largely Catholic “Ballygiblins” Robinson Settlers and was criticized locally for trying to interfere with election results.

There are records of Thomas leaving Pakenham in 1828, moving to Lot 24, Concession 11 in Huntley that year. By 1835, he had cleared 12 acres and built a barn, house and “other offices”.

There are two land petitions for Thomas in Huntley, one in 1835 and one in 1836.

In the 1842 census, he is listed as “Thos Boyle”, and the owner of his land. It states that 6 people from Ireland lived in the household. it also states that the family had lived in the province for 18 years, which is pretty close to the Stakesby arriving (1823). It states that 3 of the residents were male, between 14 and 18 years of age (all single), 1 married male of ages 30-59, 1 married female between 14 and 44 years of age, and 1 single female between 14 and 44 years old. All 6 belonged to the Church of England. Lastly, it states that they had 50 acres of land occupied by the family, and 39 acres of improved land occupied by the family. It shows that the previous year, they produced 100 bushels of wheat, 300 bushels of oats, 250 bushels of potatoes, had 8 neat cattle, 2 horses, 12 sheep, 7 hogs, 25 yards of flannel (or other woolen cloth), and 24 pounds of wool.