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Mary (Bate) Ackerman of Liverpool, England and Ontario, Canada

Mary Bate was baptized on May 9, 1819 at the church of St. Peter in Church Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, England. Her parents were William and Catherine (Cottier) Bate. Her younger sister, Rebecca (Bate) Buck, was my great-great-grandmother. Mary appears with her family in the 1841 England census as Mary "Accerman." See William and Catherine (Cottier) Bate for more information. Ancestry.com has a marriage record for Mary Bate and Henry Ackerman. The date was February 4, 1841. They were married in the church of St. James in Toxteth Park in Liverpool. Mary was able to sign her name but Henry signed with an "X." They were both of full age, and it was the first marriage for both. Henry was a sailor. They were both living in Toxteth Park. Henry's father was William [Tole?] and Mary's father was William Bate, and both men were also sailors. The witnesses were James [Mateine?] and Isabella [Lowe? or Jone?], both of whom had to sign with an "X" too. Henry was away, possibly at sea, when the 1841 census was taken, as he does not appear with Mary and her family.

Judging from birthplaces of their children, Henry and Mary must have moved to what is now Ontario in the late 1840s. I have not been able to find them there in the 1851 census. At the time of the 1861 census, they were living in the township of Maryborough, Wellington County (District 2, pages 34 and 41):

Catherine was born in England about 1843, but I have not been able to find a birth record for her. There is a six-year gap between Catherine and the twins who followed her, so it seems likely that Henry and Mary either lost some children in between to early death, or they were apart for a time, possibly while Henry went to what is now Ontario to prepare for the rest of the family to come.

By the time of the 1871 census, the family had moved to the township of Wallace, Perth County (Division 4, page 42):

Perth County borders on Wellington County, so they had not moved very far. The eldest two daughters were no longer with the family, and it appears that Daniel may have died before the census was taken. I don't know what became of Catherine, but Mary had married in 1869 (from the LDS website at www.familysearch.org):

Name: William Shields
Event: MARRIAGE
Event Date: 13 Oct 1869
Event Place: Drayton, Wellington, Ontario
Age: 24
Estimated Birth Year: 1845
Father: Geo Shields
Mother: Isabella
Spouse: Mary Ackerman
Spouse's Age: 22
Spouse's Estimated Birth Year: 1847
Spouse's Father: Henry Ackerman
Spouse's Mother: Mary
Registration Number: 253
Film Number: 1862475

Evidently the family was still living in Wellington County, in Drayton, when this marriage took place.

At the time of the 1881 census, Henry and Mary were living with their son William and his wife Rachel, still in Wallace, Perth County (Division 1, page 6):

Here is the marriage record for William and Rachel:

Name: William H Ackerman
Event: MARRIAGE
Event Date: 03 Mar 1880
Event Place: Maryborough, Wellington, Ontario
Age: 29
Estimated Birth Year: 1851
Father: Henry Ackerman
Mother: Mary Ackerman
Spouse: Rachel Jack
Spouse's Age: 25
Spouse's Estimated Birth Year: 1855
Spouse's Father: Edward Jack
Spouse's Mother: Mary Jack
Registration Number: 011689
Film Number: 1869509

Edwin, Louisa and Elizabeth had also married before the 1881 census:

Name: Edmund A Kerman [sic]
Event: MARRIAGE
Event Date: 24 Dec 1873
Event Place: Maryborough, Ontario
Age: 21
Estimated Birth Year: 1852
Father: Henry Kerman
Mother: Mary Kerman
Spouse: Mary Jane Plant
Spouse's Age: 18
Spouse's Estimated Birth Year: 1855
Spouse's Father: Jeremiah Plant
Spouse's Mother: Bridget Plant
Registration Number: 012236
Film Number: 1862890

Name: James Buck
Event: MARRIAGE
Event Date: 19 Oct 1876
Event Place: Wallace, Wellington, Ontario
Age: 24
Estimated Birth Year: 1852
Father: Martin Buck
Mother: Eliza Buck
Spouse: Louisa Ann Ackerman
Spouse's Age: 21
Spouse's Estimated Birth Year: 1855
Spouse's Father: Henry Ackerman
Spouse's Mother: Mary Ackerman
Registration Number: 011658
Film Number: 1863654

Name: Thomas C Eliott
Event: MARRIAGE
Event Date: 11 Feb 1880
Event Place: Wallace, Wellington, Ontario
Age: 23
Estimated Birth Year: 1857
Father: Hugh Eliott
Mother: Isabella Eliott
Spouse: Elizabeth Ackerman
Spouse's Age: 20
Spouse's Estimated Birth Year: 1860
Spouse's Father: Henry Ackerman
Spouse's Mother: Mary Bates
Registration Number: 011651
Film Number: 1869509

I don't know what became of Rebecca. John apparently went to the United States as there is a record on Ancestry.com showing him returning to Canada on July 4, 1920. He had been living in Portland, Oregon, and was entering Canada at White Rock, BC. He was single and was born in Palmerston, Ontario, and he left Canada in 1905. He was returning to Palmerston, to his brother, A. Ackerman.

In the 1891 census, Henry, age 69, was a widower living in Palmerston, Wellington County (page 67) with a Jackson family that does not appear to be related to him. There is a death record for Mary in Ancestry.com:

Name: Mary Ackerman
Event: Death
Event Date: 20 Jun 1881
Event Place: Wallace, Perth, Ontario
Gender: Female
Age: 62
Estimated Birth Year: 1819
Reference Number: yr 1881 cn 14913
Film Number: 1853233

The record says that she was born in Liverpool, England. Her cause of death was inflammatory rheumatism.

By the time of the 1891 census, Azel had married:

Name: Azel Ackerman
Event: MARRIAGE
Event Date: 25 Apr 1883
Event Place: Palmerston, Wellington, Ontario
Age: 21
Estimated Birth Year: 1862
Father: Henry Ackerman
Mother: Mary Ackerman
Spouse: Martha Ann Carbett
Spouse's Age: 20
Spouse's Estimated Birth Year: 1863
Spouse's Father: Charles Carbett
Spouse's Mother: Isabela Carbett
Registration Number: 012887
Film Number: 1869764

Louisa's first husband, James Buck, died in Palmerston on January 17, 1883 of consumption. She married his brother, Martin, the following year:

Name: Martin Buck
Event: MARRIAGE
Event Date: 21 Feb 1884
Event Place: Palmerston, Wellington, Ontario
Age: 36
Estimated Birth Year: 1848
Father: Martin Buck
Mother: Eliza Scott
Spouse: Louisa Buck
Spouse's Age: 28
Spouse's Estimated Birth Year: 1856
Spouse's Father: Henry Ackerman
Spouse's Mother: Mary Bait
Registration Number: 012520
Film Number: 1869801

I don't see Henry Ackerman in the 1901 census, and it seems likely that he had died by then. I have not been able to find a death record for him, and I also can't find any cemetery records for Henry or his wife Mary.

Mary (Bate) Ackerman, as noted above, was the older sister of my great-great-grandmother, Rebecca (Bate) Buck, of Ernestown Township, Addington County, Ontario. Rebecca's husband was Azel Buck, so that is likely where the youngest son of Henry and Mary Ackerman got his first name. Azel Buck was the son of Martin and Eliza (Scott) Buck, and the older brother of Louisa Ackerman's two husbands, James and Martin Buck.