My gg-grandfather left Yorkshire (possibly from Elvington where he was born in 1818) for Upper Canada some time before October 10, 1845 when he purchased a tract of Clergy Reserve land in Upper Canada (REACH Township). My theory is that it's quite possible my gg-grandfather was part of a group of fellow emigrants from Yorkshire. I excerpted the following quote from Samuel Farmer's "On the Shores of Scugog" (which I've previously posted, NO DATES ARE PROVIDED): "A third group travelled east from Toronto to Oshawa, and then north. They settled the Whitbys, Reach and Scugog, and included ENGLISH, Irish, Scotch and some Americans" [my caps] (pg. 201), and on page 203: "Still farther to the west, John Sykes, Chas. Mitchell, and George PORTEOUS were settled." If I can find one or two other researchers whose ancestors populated the same area, then we might be able to pool our collective knowledge and "put 2 and 2 together". The 1871 Ontario Census shows a total of 487 heads of household and/or strays in Reach Township who were born in England (covering 348 distinct surnames), out of a grand total of 849 entries for the township. Now if the census takers had only asked just where in England they were from! :) Any input would be appreciated. Thanks. --Doug ========================== Doug Porteous dporteous@home.com Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada