John Clazie (abt. 1841 - 1888)

Born about Apr 1841 in Eyemouth, Berwickshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Agnes Ritchie — married 5 Dec 1873 in Thurlow, Ontario, Canada

Descendants

Died 17 Apr 1888 at about age 47 in Warkworth, Ontario, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Paul Fergie [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Clezie Name Study.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Clezie_Name_Study

Note: Spelling varied wildly before the 20th century. Anyone searching for ancestors in this family should consider alternative spellings: Clazey, Clazie, Clazy, Clezie, Clezy. The name has even been found as Clacey, Clacy, Claisye, Claise, Clasey, Clasie, Cleasie, Clisy, Clizzee.

John was born about April 1841 at Eyemouth, Berwickshire, in southern Scotland, exact date unknown. His mother, Margaret Clazie, was 21, unmarried, a farm servant. The census in June 1841 showed the child "John Robertson, other name Clazie, age 2" lived with his mother and her own parents, Margaret Gray and John Clazie. The numeral 2 after young John's name in the census seems to have meant 2 months, not 2 years but that is uncertain.

John's father is unknown. That same 1841 UK census at Eyemouth showed a man named John Robertson, age 20, born in England, lived with his father, Adam Robertson, a spirit dealer. Likely this John Robertson was the father of the child but evidence is lacking.

Margaret Clazie, mother of the baby John, later married Peter Swanston, in about 1842. But because Swanston was not the child's father, young John was raised by Margaret Clazie's parents Margaret Gray and John Clazie. The 1851 UK census at Chirnside, Berwickshire, showed them all living with John's aunt, Mary Sheriff Edwards Clazie, and uncle, Peter Drummond.

The 1871 UK census showed "John Clazie", age 30, at St. George, now part of Edinburgh. Soon after the census date, he emigrated to Canada, where he settled in Percy Township, Ontario, near the home of his 2nd cousin, William Clazie.

Soon after arriving in Canada, John Clazie married Agnes Ritchie in 1873 at Thurlow, Ontario. The marriage certificate showed his residence was Percy Township, his occupation was mason, his parents were John & Margaret Clazie (they really were his grandparents, but they had raised him.)

John and his wife Agnes were listed in the 1881 Canada census at Percy Township, Ontario, with three children, David, Maggie and John. (Maggie's full name was Margaret Gray Clazie, after John's grandmother, Margaret Gray, who raised him from infancy!)

(Note: The 1881 Canada census is poorly indexed and the handwriting on John's record was awful! The family surname was mistakenly indexed as "Clorzie" on www.familysearch.org.)

John Clazie passed away at Percy Township, Ontario in 1888, aged just 47. His death certificate showed the cause of death was pneumonia - 40 years before the invention of penicillin. He was buried at Warkworth, now part of the Municipality of Trent Hills.

^[1]

Do you have information about John Clazie? Please contribute to his biography. Everything on WikiTree is a collaborative work-in-progress.

Sources

• www.familysearch.org

• Information from Sharon Kathleen Spry (1949-2015)

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/252433019/john-clazie

Footnotes

1. ↑ Entered by Rick Heiser, Jun 26, 2013

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Rick Heiser for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Rick and others.