The Carmody Genealogist

Welcome to My Genealogy & History Site

This web site contains links to an eclectic variety of genealogical and historical research. Naturally, I will begin with my own surname - the ancient Irish surname Carmody.

After 25 years of research, my Carmody family history is still firmly rooted in Prince Edward Island, Canada with no sure link to County Clare, Ireland. My grandmother confirmed the origin of the family but was unsure of the village. However, my research has branched out and you can find a link to my father, Roy Vernon Carmody and his "adventure" in the Royal Canadian Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) on board the H.M.C.S. Regina and the H.M.C.S. Hawkesbury. I have also included an extensive history of the corvette Regina with photos from my father's collection taken while he was on the corvette.

In addition to my Prince Edward Island background, one of my very distant ancestors fled to Canada after the Revolutionary War in the United States. Many United Empire Loyalists were severely persecuted in their homeland, ultimately leaving for Canada. In 1784, on board the ship Liberty, some of these landed at the Baie de Chaleurs in the Gaspe peninsula. From many sources, I have compiled a biography of Josiah Cass who originally settled in the Gaspe, later moving to Caledonia Springs, Ontario. The Cass family is well documented in Genealogical circles, including the Web. The family descends from William the Conqueror.

My personal history also includes my mother's ancestry from her grandmother, Josephine Carbonneau - direct descendant of Esprit Carbonneau dit Provencal who fought with the Carignan-Saliers Regiment in the late 17th century. My French ancestry begins in Canada on the I'le d'Orleans in the St. Lawrence River near Quebec City.

My Scottish roots come from my father's mother, Elizabeth Maye Holliday as she is descended from Lanark County's school teacher - John Holliday - A Forthright Man. Another Scottish line descends from the Waltons. This line is distinctly short as my great grand mother was a Home Child.

The Prince Edward Island Patrons List

Many genealogical researchers in Prince Edward Island are probably familiar with this list, but if not, you will appreciate the information it contains. The Patrons List is referenced in the 1879 Historical Atlas of Prince Edward Island and consists of 3657 names of the principal business men (and some women) living on the island in 1879. It includes their name, date of settlement on the island, occupation, lot on which they lived, their national origin, and their post office address. I think you will find this table quite a bit of help in your family research. Since the entire file is 900 k in size, I reduced it to 15 files to ease downloading. It was entered in a dBase database, using Crystal Reports and produced here in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) to maintain its original format.

I have also scanned the sketches of a number of those patrons published in the Historical Atlas and they can be accessed from this page.

World War I - The 38th Ottawa Overseas Battalion (C.E.F.)

During the First World War, The Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.) sent over 600,000 troops to Europe. Included in this total was The 38th Ottawa Overseas Battalion. This Battalion was somewhat unique in that the majority of its members lived in Ottawa or eastern Ontario and served together as a unit at the front.

Unfortunately, this famous regiment has become part of Ottawa's buried military past glory despite the unit's participation in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. A description of the unit's participation in the storming of Vimy Ridge can be found in an excerpt from its war diary. During the four days of the assault, which began on the 9th of April, 1917 and ended on the 12th, many a young man died on that battlefield and their blood forged Canada as a nation on the World's stage.

I have been able to resurrect a bit of their history through painstaking research through local newspapers and many of these will be posted as they are transcribed. There are over 300 articles to date with a few hundred more to come. I was able to discover a short history of the unit, written in 1941 referring to a battalion reunion in 1939.

Members of the initial draft have been indexed. Also included are the first reinforcing draft and the second reinforcing draft and all are in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. These files can be accessed from The 38th Battalion Main Index page

Home Children

My great, great grandmother, Margaret Walton arrived in Canada with her two brothers in the late 1880's. She was one of thousands of orphaned or destitute children who were sent to, hopefully, a better place than their home in Scotland. Margaret's father was in the Royal Navy and it it supposed that, after his death, her mother was forced to give away her three children. This portion of my site is under construction.

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