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Family Stories >> Canada>> Earliest

Canada: Earliest Known Families

1604: Roger Nolin : St. Croix Island (NB-ME border)

1663: Pierre Nolan : Quebec, QC

1656: Jacques Nolin : Île d'Orléans, QC

1760s: Jean-Baptiste Nolin : Red River/St-Boniface, MB

1783: James Nowlan : Escuminac/Bay-du-Vin, NB

1788: James Nowlan : Indian River, PEI

1780: Patrick Nowlin : Falmouth, Kings Co., NS

1783: John Nowland : Country Harbour, NS

1797: Edward Nowlan : Prince Edward Island

1798: Michael Nowland : Smith's Creek, NB

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1604 : St. Croix Island (NB-ME border)
[76] Roger Nolin (???? - ????) - from Honfleur, France
[77] unknown (???? - ????) - from Unknown
Children:

In 1604, Samuel de Champlain set up the first French settlement in America on St. Croix island in the middle of the river of the same name forming the border of the present-day province of New Brunswick and the state of Maine.

In order to expedite the setting-up of the settlement pieces of lumber for the main buildings had been pre-cut and numbered already in France, most likely at Honfleur, France, the point of departure for the voyage, sitting on the English Channel, close to the mouth of the Seine. One of the carpenters who would have assisted in setting up the "pre-fabs" on St. Croix river, was one Roger Nolin/Nolen/Nolan, a carpenter from Honfleur, Normandy, possibly the first Nolan to set foot on American soil. It is not known if this Roger Nolin had a family back in France but we do know that he died in America.

By the spring of 1605, several of the men on St. Croix island had died of scurvy and the severe winter conditions convinced Champlain to look for another place to settle. Thus during the spring and summer of 1605 Champlain scoured the Atlantic seaboard for an alternate place of settlement. After a bit of search Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia was chosen but Champlain's men continued to explore the Atlantic seaboard. It was on such an outing that Roger Nolin died falling victim to American natives as he tried to retrieve a copper kettle which the crew had brought ashore to fetch fresh water.

A likely relative of Roger Nolin/Nolen/Nolan would be Françoise de Nollen (1612) who married Jacques LeBlond (1602) and was living in Honfleur in 1637 when her son Nicolas was born. He was baptised in the St. Catherine church, Lisieux diocese, Normandy, and, as a young man, Nicolas went to New France (Quebec). On October 13, 1661, at the Château Richer in Montmorency, near Quebec city, he married Marguerite Leclerc who also hailed from Honfleur. Nicolas and Marguerite had ten children, all born between 1662 and 1676. All were baptised at the Ste. Famille church on Île d'Orléans. Their names were: Jean (1662), Jacques (1663), Catherine (1664), Marie-Madeleine (1665), Nicolas (1667), Jean-Baptiste (1668-1669), Jean-Baptiste (1670), Joseph (1672), Marie (1674) and Martin (1676).

1663 : Quebec, QC
[142] Pierre Nolan (c1637- ????) - from St-Germain de l'Auxerrois, Paris, France
[143] Catherine Houart (sic Howard) (c1632 -1712) - from Torcy-le-Grand (St-Ribert), Seine-Maritime, F
Children: Marie-Michelle (1664), Jean-Baptiste (1666), Catherine (1668), Thierry (1671) and Anne (1674)

Pierre was born in the heart of Paris, in the parish of St-Germain de l'Auxerrois, sometime around 1637, the son of Nicolas Nolan and Michelle Perrier who had married sometime around 1624. Given the timeframe, location and the obviously Irish surname "Nolan", Pierre is likely to have been the grandson of an Irish emigrant who fled to France around 1603 as part of what came to be known as the "Flight of the Earls" following the defeat of the Irish at the Battle of Kinsale.

In 1663 when we find Pierre in Quebec city he held the post of Artillery Commissioner in the French military and had business interests in both France and New France, i.e. in Paris as a merchant and in Quebec city as a "cabaretier" (cabaret owner). He must also have distinguished himself militarily since he bore the title of "Chevalier" (Sir/Knight).

More Information on Pierre, Catherine and children:

Pierre Nolan married Catherine Houart in Quebec city on January 18, 1663, and later that year seems to have sailed back to France with her. The following Spring, their first child, Marie-Michelle, was born on March 30, 1664, in La Rochelle and baptized a few days later in the St. Bathélemy church. Given that Pierre and Catherine's second child, Jean-Baptiste, was born on July 6, 1666, onboard a ship bound for Quebec city, it would appear that Pierre and Catherine spent their first couple of years together in France before returning to Quebec city.

Like Pierre, Catherine Houart seems to also have been a descendant of an Irish emigrant who fled to France after the Battle of Kinsale. Both her parents, Thomas Houart (sic Howard) and Nicole Guerout, were born in Rouen, France, around 1605 and she herself was born in Torcy-le-Grand (St-Ribert), Seine-Maritime, France. Catherine had also previously been married to a Guillaume Legeay-Desmares.

Pierre and Catherine appear to have lived most of their married life in the lower-town area of Quebec city where they had an inn. All their children married into fur-trading families and in time their grandson, Charles Nolan Lamarque, son of Jean-Baptiste, became one of Montreal’s most important fur merchants, reputed to have sent the most voyageurs to the west and the farthest.

Children of PIERRE NOLAN and CATHERINE HOUART:

1656 : Île d'Orléans, QC
[144] Jacques Nolin (c1641 - 1729) - from St. Jean-du-Perrot parish, La Rochelle, Franc
[145] Françoise Chalifour (1657 - 1697) - from Quebec, QC
Children: Gabriel (1676), Louise (1678), Françoise (1680), Pierre (1682), Jeanne (1685), Marie-Madeleine (1690), Guillaume (1693), Jacques, Marie Anne and Michelle (c1693), possibly others

Jacques Nolin dit Deschâtelets hailed from the parish of St-Jean-du-Perrot, La Rochelle, Aunis, France, having been born there around 1641, the son of Jacques Nolin dit Deschâtelets and Marguerite Gaillard. He was an armour maker ("armurier") by trade and, according to Nolin family tradition on Île d'Orléans, Jacques had two brothers who also settled in the Quebec city area, one of whom was killed by a bomb blast. These may have been the Pierre and François Nolin mentioned in local records of the time but who do not seem to have had any descendants in the area.

More Information on Jacques, Françoise and children:

Jacques and Françoise were married in Notre-Dame church in Quebec city on 18 November, 1671. They settled on Île d'Orleans in the area of St-Pierre and had at least 8 children:

1760s : Red River/St-Boniface, MB
[201] Jean-Baptiste Nolin (c1741 - ????) - from Quebec
[202] Marie Angélique Couvret (???? - ????) - from Manitoba
Children: Marguerite (1780), Angélique (1787), Geneviève (1790), Joseph (c. 1804), Louis, François, Adolphus, Madeleine and Charlotte

Jean-Baptiste Nolin, born in Quebec around 1741 and believed to have went west as a young man.

More Information on Jean-Baptiste, Marie Angélique and children:

Jean-Baptiste marrid Marie Angélique Couvret, the daughter of Joseph Couvret and Marie Objibwa, around 1770, most likely in the area of current day St Boniface, Manitoba.

Children of JEAN-BAPTISTE NOLIN and MARIE ANGÉLIQUE COUVRET:

Descendants of this branch also ranged into the adjoining American states i.e. to Minnesota and Michigan.

1783 : Escuminac/Bay-du-Vin, NB
[25] James Nowlan (c1743-c1848) - from Ireland
[26] Anne Caissie (c1779-1829) - from Bay-du-Vin area, NB
Children: Charlotte (1801-1857), Catherine (c.1801-bef 1853), James (1806- aft.1881), Thomas (c.1808-1877), Andrew (1810-aft.1881), Jean-Baptiste (1814-1815), Martin (c.1816-1894), Mary (c.1818), Anne (c.1819), Daniel (1820), Margaret and John

James Nowlan was born in Ireland sometime around 1743. As a young man, he went to England and joined the 22nd Regiment of the British Army. At the onset of the American Revolution, his regiment was sent to America and saw limited action. At the end of the war, in 1783, when New York, the last British stronghold was evacuated, his regiment was sent to Shelburne (then Port Roseway), Nova Scotia, where he was discharged from military service. For services rendered to the Crown, James was given a grant of land in Escuminac, New Brunswick, then still part of Nova Scotia.

More Information on James, Anne and children:

Around 1800, in his late fifties, James Nowlan married Anne Caissie, the grand-daughter of an Acadian who had escaped deportation in 1755 by hiding out on Boishébert Island (Beaubears Island), an island situated in the middle of the nearby Miramichi river but a bit upriver.

James and Anne lived in the Bay-du-Vin area, probably around Eel River Bridge, where their youngest son, Daniel, was living in 1866. Given the absence of permanent local church facilities in the area, their first child, Charlotte, was baptized in 1801 at a mission church in Kouchibougouac, NB. After Charlotte, ten or more children were born to the couple, the last one being born sometime around 1820. Anne died in 1829 while James lived on for many more years. In 1843, at the ripe old age of 100, he was still living in the Bay-du-Vin area and collecting a "Relief" of 10 pounds per year as "an old Revolutionary War soldier". However, by the time his son Daniel married Mary Nash in October 1848, he had passed away.

Children of JAMES NOWLAN and ANNE CAISSIE:

1788 : Indian River, PEI
[146] James Nowlan (???? - ????) - from Ireland
[147] unknown McLellan (???? - ????) - from Scotland
Children: Angus (c1789)

[148] Margaret Campbell (???? - ????) - from Scotland
Children: John (c1807), William (bef 1810), Peter (1811),Donald (1814), Christy (c1817) and Simon (bef 1820)

According to family tradition handed down to a grandson (Dougald) who settled in the St. Louis area of New Brunswick James came to the New Brunswick /Prince Edward Island area via the St. Pierre and Miquelon islands. In the late 1700s, it was common for Irish "servants" from the Newfoundland fishery to escape to the nearby islands of St. Pierre et Miquelon where they could practice their religion. It is believed that some also went further afield to the Magdalen islands and to Prince Edward island.

James married twice once around 1788 and again in the early 1800s but both times to Scottish lasses . This explains why some census records show PEI Nowlan/Nolan descendants as being of scottish origin.

More Information on James, unknown and children:

Around 1787, James' first wife, two brothers, John and Angus McLellan, their families, and two sisters left South Uist, one of Scotland's werstern islands, bound for Upper Canada. However, upon arriving in Charlottetown in what was then known as St. John's Isle (Île St. Jean), the captain of the ship, hearing of disease in the port of Quebec city, decided to let off his passengers without going any further. It was in Charlottetown that the McLellans met Lt. Colonel Robert Stewart, part proprietor of Lot 18. Upon learning of their situation, he advised them to settle upon his estate, telling them that, at the mouth of Indian River, they would find a deserted French house.

In the late 1700s, there was no Catholic church in Indian River but the faithful did attend Sunday mass at a French missionary chapel serving the Acadian and native population some 6 miles across Malpeque Bay on present-day Lennox island. The priests serving the mission were a Father Beaubien from Quebec and an Abbée de Colonade from Charlottetown. This is likely where James first met and married the McLellan sister. It is also likely where their son, Angus, was baptized around 1789. By the late 1700s, the mission chapel across the bay was abandoned and a new church built in Indian River.

In 1798, James and his first wife were living on Lot 19, on the south side of the Indian river. Most neighbours were of Acadian descent but there were also a few English-speaking settlers such as Dugald Steele who eventually became James' brother-in-law, marrying another McLellan sister.

Children of JAMES NOWLAN and McLELLAN sister:

More Information on James, Margaret and children:

Children of JAMES NOWLAN and MARGARET CAMPBELL:

1780 : Falmouth, Kings Co., NS
[213] Patrick Nowlin (???? - bef. 1836) - from Ireland
[214] unknown Manning (???? - ????) - from Unknown
Children: Patrick (c1780)

Sometime before 1780, Patrick Nowlan, born in Ireland, had settled in the area of Falmouth, NS, across the river from Windsor, NS, perhaps having come there via the United States.

More Information on Patrick, unknown and children:

Around 1780, Patrick's first wife, a daughter of Thomas Manning, bore him a son which they named Patrick. The family's peace would, however, soon be disturbed by the influx in 1783 of large numbers of Loyalist refugees fleeing the American Colonies to seek refuge in Nova Scotia. It was in these trying times that Patrick's first wife was charged for having supposedly murdered a man named Cagan and subsequently hung. Patrick remarried, marrying Hannah Westcott (c1751), but they did not have any children of their own. In 1836, Hannah was living in Horton, NS, when she died, her husband Patrick having preceded her. In those early days, the family also decided to change the spelling of the family name from Nowlan to "Nowlin" perhaps reflecting a family link to the early Nowlans who had settled in Virgina around 1700. The Nowlins of Falmouth are also known to have been of the Baptist faith.

Child of PATRICK NOWLIN and unknown MANNING:

1783 : Country Harbour, NS
[215] John Nowland (???? - ????) - from ?United States
[216] Margaret (???? - ????) - from ?United States
Children: John (c1772) and Sarah (c1773) born in the US; Joseph (c1785), David (c1789) and Thomas (c1794) born in Nova Scotia

John Nowland was born in the mid 1700s and, during the American Revolutionary War, served as a soldier in the King's Carolina Rangers stationed in the Loyalist stronghold of St. Augustine, Florida. However, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and the return of peace, all the King's Men, the loyal Colonists, the British Troops and their fellow mercenaries were required to forfeit their properties and leave the land. John who had fought for King and country was forced to leave his home and seek a home elsewhere, accompanied by his wife Margaret and their two young children, John, aged 11 at the time, and Sarah, aged 10. On the bright side, however, Governor Parr of Nova Scotia, on behalf of his majesty King George III, had promised the loyal soldiers and colonists land in his jurisdiction. Thus began the long journey to a new home in Nova Scotia.

P>The group of refugees, of which John's family was a part, left Charleston, North Carolina, by ship in the spring of 1783 bound for New York city which was still being held by British troops. However, upon arrival, the city being overcrowded and food and lodging being scarce, the commanding officers for the group decided to sail on to Halifax as soon as they could round up the necessary provisions, tools and supplies which would be needed once they took possession of their new lands. Unfortunately, the preparations dragged on for a few months before the group could finally leave. In Halifax, things were not much better. The influx of the many refugees who had arrived earlier had made the prospect of finding suitable accommodation doubtful. No tents were available and some refugees had already resorted to building shelters in the streets. People were also fighting over what little food was available. Faced with this situation, the commanding officers for the group decided to take their chances in the wilds of Nova Scotia and so it was that the Nymph sailed on to Country Harbour, NS.

On Christmas Eve, 1783, in a snowstorm, a lonely British transport ship, the Nymph, sailed into Country Harbour, on the southeast coast of Nova Scotia. Aboard were approximately 900 weary souls, soldiers, militiamen, civilians and their families, loyal to the British Crown, who had left Charleston, North Carolina, some seven months earlier.

The group spent their first winter on the east side of Country Harbour at a place known today as the Mount, in the township of Stormont. For southerners, however, the freezing temperatures and winter conditions (deep snow, spring runoff, etc.) were a bitter experience. According to local lore, as many as a third of the new arrivals died that first winter.

More Information on John, Margaret and children:

Children of JOHN NOWLAND and MARGARET:

1797 : Prince Edward Island
[34] Edward Nowlan (????-????) - from Ireland
[35] Margaret Devereux (???? - ????) - from Ireland
Children: Moses (1797), Peter (????) and possibly others

Edward Nowlan, like the better known James Nowlan of Bedeque Bay (1798 census) and later Malpeque Bay (Indian River), is believed to have been a fisherman who left the Newfoundland area in the late 1700s to escape being embroiled in the territorial wars between France and England. In 1794/96, the French fleet under Amiral Richerie had detroyed Saint-Pierre in 1794 in retalliation to the deportation of the local population by the British and, in 1796, had razed the community of Bay Bulls on the Newfoundland on the Newfoundland Southshore.**** A documented case of a fisherman leaving Newfoundland for that exact reason relates to a Michael Finn who, around 1800, resettled to the fishing community of Pokemouche located in nearby northern New Brunswick.

Although the only documented Nowlan household on PEI in 1798 was that of a James Nowlan who was living on Lot 19 in the Bedeque Bay area, based upon New Brunswick records, it is now believed that there was another Nowlan family living on the island at the time, that of Edward Nowlan living on Lot 9 somewhere near Brae Harbour on Egmont Bay. The 1798 census records for Lot 9 no longer exist but it is possible to ascertain from later records that Nowlans did indeed at one time live on Lot 9. In particular, a Daniel Nowlan, farmer, is listed in Lovell's 1871 Directory as living in Brae, Prince county, PEI. He also appears with his family in the 1881 census.

There being only a few Catholic churches/chapels on PEI in the late 1700s and New Brunswick with its Acadian communities being so close, it is likely that Edward and his family went to New Brunswick to have their religious needs met. This would explain why Edward and his wife, Margaret Devereux, had their son Moses baptized in New Brunswick in the Pokemouche/Inkerman area in 1797. The link between PEI and the Pokemouche/Inkerman area seems to have been maintained while Edward and Margaret's children were growing up such that, by the early 1820s, we find Moses marrying a girl from that area and his two brothers, William and Peter, applying for land grants in the area.

More Information on Edward, Margaret and children:

Edward Nowlan and Margaret Devereux, both born in Ireland, likely worked in the Newfoundland or St-Pierre-et-Miquelon fishery before moving on to PEI where they settled, most likely in the mid-to-late 1790s. In 1797, either prior to settling on PEI or while living there, they had their child Moses baptized in Pokemouche/Inkerman area of New Brunswick, a short sailing distance from the Egmont Bay area of PEI (Brae Harbour) where they are assumed to have settled.

Children of EDWARD NOWLAN and MARGARET DEVEREUX:

1798 : Smith's Creek, NB
[66] Michael Nowland (???? - ????) - from Waterford, Co. Waterford, IE
[67] unknown (???? - ????) - from Unknown
Children: James (1787), Mary E. (c1788), Richard (c1795), Thomas Dorsey (1797)

Michael Nowland, a carpenter by trade, was born in Waterford, Ireland, and first went to the "Colonies" sometime before the American Revolution but seems to have gone back to Ireland after the war before returning to the "Colonies". Supporting the latter is the fact that his first son, James, was born in Waterford, Ireland, on July 21, 1787.

Michael belonged to the Church of England and, as a carpenter, took the contract to build Trinity Church which stands today in Sussex, NB. He, however, does not appear to have completed the project, possibly succumbing to illness. He was likely buried in the family's small private cemetery on the family farm in Smith's Creek where the tombstone of his son James and his grandson James-William "James W." are still visible today but where also many other stones lie half-buried. In 2002, the property where the small family cemetery is located was owned by Harold Crowe.

More Information on Michael, unknown and children:

Returning to the "Colonies" sometime after the birth of his first son, James, in Waterford, Ireland, in 1787, Michael and his young family settled in Nova Scotia where there was a high demand for skilled carpenters to build homes for the displaced Loyalists. As the family was growing, he must have been anxious to obtain land of his own and so it was that, around 1796, joining with others, he "located" on land in the area of Sussex, NB. In 1798, he and the other settlers like him who had "located" in the area petitioned the New Brunswick Government for a grant of the land they had improved. By 1800, when a tax assessment was done for the area, Michael was listed as having improved 3 acres of land and was in possession of 4 cows. Unfortunately, a creek, appropriately named "Mistake Creek" (most likely a branch of Smith's Creek) ran through Michael's property and caused the land to flood in the springtime. As a consequence, Michael chose to improve the land on the other side of the creek which was on higher ground and, in 1804, requested that he be allowed to retain this land. In 1808, he petitioned for a further 200 acres of adjoining land, stating that he and his son needed it to meet their needs for "firewood" and "fencing timber".

Children of MICHAEL NOWLAND and UNKNOWN WIFE:

Nolan Family Crest

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