My GGGrandfather Benjamin Hewson appeared in Caistor around 1833-1835. He obtained the land from family relation George Hargraft who obtained the lot on Con 5, Lot 5 in 1833 at government auction.
Several of his children and relations also farmed the area with some coming to Canada from Ireland in the 1840s. The lack of census and other records before 1850 make it difficult to tell precise relations and when individuals and families immigrated to Canada. However recently I was able to locate a passenger list which appears to contain some of my Caistor Hewson line:

Oct. 3, 1834 the ship "New Jersey", 636 tons, carried 132 passengers including a Benjamin Hewson age 60 (b1774), farmer and Susana Hewson age 55  (b1779),  from Liverpool to New York.
These ages agree fairly well with the gravestone marked years 1771 and 1776 and the year of immigration, 1834, is my estimate for when they came to Caistor based on land records and family correspondence. Also these Hewsons are farmers as were the Caistor lot. I note that there only appears to have been one death (an infant 3 months old) on the voyage.

Also on another page of the same passenger list:
(birth year calculated from ages)

Bridgett Hewson 25  b1809
Mary 22                   b1812
John 23                    b1811        farmer
Thomas 28               b1806        farmer
Andrew 18               b1816
Joseph 13                b1821
Sarah 11                  b1823
Jane 8                      b1826

Images of the ship New Jersey's Oct. 3, 1834 Passenger List
Ships manifest page 1
Ships manifest page 2
Ships manifest page 3
Information on Captain James Wibray of the ship "New Jersey"

Some of these Hewson names appear to match the known year of birth for Benjamin's children while others do not and are likely cousins or grand children.

To see how common the Benjamin Hewson name is I searched the 1840 USA census and could not find a match..
Many Irish appear to have come to North America from the port of Liverpool, landed in New York and then came into Canada by the Erie Canal.

If anyone has any information to support or refute this connection please contact me.

return to index

revised September 15, 2008