George Hewes’ father was the most recent of the migrations. Charles Hughes (as the name was originally spelled) was a soldier in the Royal Artillery who was shipped to Canada in 1837, and afterwards, decided to stay. He was born in Almondsbury, a village in South Gloucestershire. This village is just south of the Severn and the border with Wales, which is interesting since there has been a family tradition that we have some Welsh heritage. The Hughes Family of Almondsbury was very poor, often relying on charity for such things as clothing, but they were hard-working, too. Their poverty supports a narrative that Charles would have left England for a better opportunity in America.
Job Bevan, George Hewes’ maternal grandfather, came to Canada in 1817, also as a soldier. He was from the Wiltshire town of North Bradley, and his family is traceable there for three or four generations. This was near the city of Trowbridge, the heart of the woolen cloth industry, and many people in the area made a subsistent income as weavers. Some of my ancestors also may have been farmers who supplied the sheep for making the wool.
George Hewes’ maternal grandmother, Rebecca Pepperell, came to Prince Edward Island with her parents and siblings in about 1808. Their place of origin was in a different part of Wiltshire, the town of Durnford. The Pepperell family can’t be traced any further than Rebecca’s parents, but since people rarely ventured too far from where they were born, it’s likely they at least came from the surrounding area. Durnford is located just three miles from Stonehenge, and is near other sites of ancient rock monuments. It’s fun to speculate that my ancestors were in the area when they were built, but of course there’s no way to prove that.
Map of where my ancestors lived.
My South West England ancestors' decision to make a life in Canada was motivated almost entirely by economic conditions in England at the time. Unlike my ancestors who migrated in the 17th century, they moved to a place in America that wasn’t raw wilderness, so perhaps they weren’t as adventurous (or desperate). Starting fresh in the maritime provinces of Canada gave them a chance to get out of an endless cycle of poverty — something they did achieve.
The ancestors who settled in Prince Edward Island didn’t stay there very long, and by 1860, the family moved to the U.S. Eventually, George Hewes ended up in Los Angeles where he maintained a strong English identity. My great aunt told me that she remembered he had a Union Jack displayed proudly on a wall in his home. I was puzzled by this story, but after learning about his pure English heritage from South West England, it all makes sense.
