There is some question about Peter's year of birth. While his tomb stone, and 1881 and 1901 census indicates he was born in 1842, his death certificate and obituary notice say he was born in 1839. The Tyendinaga Twp. assessment Roll of 1893 also indicates that he was born in 1839. The 1911 census says he was born in 1841.
While Peter's marriage record says his parents are John Doyle and Bridget Maher, his death record and family lore says his mother is Mary Furlong. There are 13 listed Peter Doyles baptized between 1839 and 1842, with four having a father named John (Find-My-Past in 2020). At this time, I know of no way to narrow down the search. None have either Mary Furlong or Bridget Maher as mothers, although one has a Mary Doyle as the mother.
Peter was a sailor, perhaps with the Royal Navy (The Bantam magazine,1987), traveling around before settling down in Forest Mills. He was also a whitesmith (working with tin) and a blacksmith (family history). Family legend says he worked on some part of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa. One story says he was very smart and so had a tutor, and another says he wasn't too smart at all and needed a tutor.
Family history also states that Peter had a brother who owned a store in Dublin, Ireland.
There is some confusion about when Peter came to Canada. The 1901 census says that Peter came in 1872, but the 1921 census says he came in 1862.
Peter married Ellen McGuire (originally from Shillelagh, Wicklow) in Ontario in 1873. They had two children: Thomas in 1874 and Mary Elizabeth in 1878. Thomas died in his blacksmith shop in August 1911. The County death record says: "Never called to see him while alive, but he died suddenly on 24 August at about 7 or 8 p.m. Was dead some time before I got there".
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1st Jan 1840 (circa) | |
| Date of Death | 2nd Aug 1911 | |
