My great-grandad George Abel had an elder sister named Hannah, who was born in East Yorkshire c1834. Whilst I'm still unsure of Hannah's precise birthplace, I do know that by 1839 her parents (James and Mary Ann Abel) had settled in the small Yorkshire village of Huggate where a younger sister was born and baptised and where the family were recorded in 1841 census.

When census was taken in 1851, Hannah was living at Huggate Rectory where she was a house servant in the employ of widower Thomas Rankin (curate for Lord de Saumerez) and his housekeeper daughter, Miss Mary Rankin. Being in service at the Rectory must have given Hannah some insight into a more genteel way of life than that experienced by her elder sisters, who both worked in village farmhouses inhabited by large families with several additional living-in male farm servants. Rev Rankin had many interests, including tutoring residential pupils, astronomy and agriculture and animal husbandry, possibly to the detriment of his parish duties.

Three years later, on 7 April 1854, when Hannah was 20 yrs old, she was married in the village church to Edward Broughton, recorded on the marriage certificate as "of Huggate" and "a labourer," son of James Broughton. Their son Charles Broughton was born on 25 April the following year and was baptised in the parish church at Huggate on 18 May 1855. Shortly afterwards this little family sailed for Ontario, Canada, where their second son William was born on 29 August 1859.

What an undertaking it must have been for Hannah to leave her parents and siblings - none of them could read or write, so keeping in touch was out of the question. Their destination was Perth County, an area of Upper Canada which was just being opened up, but was probably still without either made up roads or a railway or a proper settlement. There would have been the cold to combat, a home to construct and equip and a husband to cook and clean for whilst looking after one small child and being pregnant with another. Edward originated from Lincolnshire and some of his brothers and their widowed father also went to Perth County, but I don't know whether they all went together or separately.

The Broughtons farmed at Elma and raised seven children in total. Edward died in 1903; Hannah survived him by a decade, dying on 8 December 1913, aged 79 yrs and 6 months.

I would love to hear from anyone who can tell me more about the lives of Edward Broughton and Hannah Abel or about the early days of Elma township.