In Register #15 for Pakenham-Huntley (for the diocese of Ottawa, Anglican church of Canada), William and Elizabeth’s marriage is listed in the presence of Thomas Boyle, Charles Curtis and Thomas Checkly.
When he died, his son Harry went along with William’s body by train to Pakenham to bury him alongside his parents and his wives. His death date is confirmed by his death record with Manitoba Vital Statistics (which show his place of death as the RM of Pembina).
In Register #15 for Pakenham-Huntley (for the diocese of Ottawa, Anglican church of Canada), his burial is listed as having been done by R.H. Jones, priest.
A solid Orangemen throughout his life, it also appears that William may have suffered form Alzheimers or something similiar in his last years (in Thornhill, Manitoba), as evidenced by a letter sent on his behalf to cancel his subscription to the Alamonte Times (in Ontario).
From Clifford Boyle of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, in Boyle Bulletin #5: He was a large man, just a little over 6 feet tall, always a farmer and a very strong character, quick to commit violence under pressure. There are considerable stories as to his great strength. One of interest is that in taking a load of potash to town in a wagon, each barrel weight 170 lbs., a wheel broke. William unloaded the potash singlehanded, rolled the broken wheel into town, had it fixed, rolled it back to the wagon and put it back on...singlehanded.There are other stories of his strength and violent temper under duress, such as, getting into an argument in one of the towns in Southern Manitoba near where he lived. Three men attacked him. With one on each arm holding him down he heard the other man rattling a neck yoke -- which he thought they were going to beat him with. He gave a violent heave and threw the two men holding him, jumped up, chased the man with the neck yoke to a bar and broke his jaw in two places.As far as I know no ties were kept with Ireland, at least there is no record of them. However, we do feel pretty confident that, being protestant, our Thomas and his family left Ireland with some religious persecution behind them.William did take up land near Pakenham in Ontario or in the Huntley area but after his second wife died he and 10 of his 14 children moved to Southern Manitoba to a place called Old Nelson. This town eventually disappeared when the railroad came through south of there, through Morden and Manitou.
From Joan Chalmers of Champlin, Minnesota, USA, in Boyle Bulletin #5: My mother, Elsie McNab Padgett often related a Boyle family reminiscence to me about the Boyle trip westward across the prairies to Manitoba in 1877.My mother alwasys recalled that this “legend” was told to the accompaniment of gales of laughter. She frequently mentioned the Boyle’s great sense of wit and love of fun.According to Janet Boyle McNab, my mother’s mother, as the caravan of William Boyle neared its destination after travelling through severe rain storms, they rested, on a pleasant sunny day, on the open prairie. They decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and brought their rain soaked paper money out of the chests and laid it on the prairie to dry. They forgot about the drying money. Suddenly a wind came up and blew the now dry and light money in all directions as the children of the family ran around wildly trying to collect it.
From 1851 census - he is listed as 34, which would make him born around 1817. He is also listed as a farmer. The 1851 census also has the name spelled wrong, as ‘Boyl’.
In the 1861 census, he is living his second wife Sarah (shown as being born in the U.S.A), and his family from both wives. Also with them is Mary Curtis (born in Ireland, age 36), and Ellen Whitehead (born in Upper Canada, age 19), who are shown as not being residents at the house. Mary is visiting from Fitzroy, and Ellen is visiting from “Mania (sp?) City”.
In the 1881 census in Manitoba, he is listed as an 85 year old widower, which is completely off (this would be closer to when his dad was born). However, there is references (via letters) that his mind was going in his final years. Living with him at the time were James, Mary, Margaret, Ellen, Charles, Josephine,Jane, Henry and Parker (with a lot of bad mis-spellings, and some completely off ages).
An Almonte Gazette article from April 1874 shows William putting his farm up for sale in the township of Huntley, consisting of “pt. lot 24, 10th concession (50 acres) and part lots 24,25,11th concession (100 acres). 100 acres cleared and in a high state of cultivation, the balance good woodland. Good buildings and other improvements. For further particulars apply to the proprietor on the premises. William Boyle,Panmure P.O.”
He has two funeral notices (Bud Boyle has copies of each). The first one, for the Thornhill area residents, states that he passed away in his home. The funeral was Dec. 31 at 12 noon at the family residence, then to Thornhill Station for shipment to Pakenham, Ontario.
The 2nd notice, for Pakenham area residents, states that he died at Thornhill on December 30, 1895, and that the funeral took place at 3:00 PM on January 5th, 1896, from Mr. Quigley’s Undertaking Establishment in Pakenham, to St. Mark’s Church, thence to the cemetery.
Barb Malchuk has gotten a copy of his death certificate. In it, it states that he died of “dropsy of kidneys” (excess of watery fluid collecting in the body), which he apparently had for 2 weeks. His son Thomas Boyle is the one who informed the government about his death.