William Airth & Johanna Murphy


William AIRTH was born Jul 30 1829 in Horton Township Renfrew Ontario,
the son Sgt Henry AIRTH & Marion PARK
who had been married Jan 29 1813 in Glasgow Lanark Scotland.

Johanna MURPHY was born in 1841 in Ontario,
the daughter of Thomas MURPHY & Mary McCARTHY.

William & Johanna had 8 children:

1) Henry James born Sep 15 1867
married abt 1896 to Christina McNEE (3 sons)
Harry died May 8 1928 while Christina died Jul 30 1941.

2) Mary born Feb 1st 1869
married abt 1889 to John JAMES (1 child at least)
Mary died in 1900

3) Thomas born Aug 15 1872
married abt 1887 to Marion Airth JAMIESON (3 sons)
(daughter of William JAMIESON & Sarah MELLEY)

4) David born 1873 / died Jul 14 1873

5) Margaret Alice born Jun 19 1874
married Jan 12 1898 to Joseph Onesime PLAUNT(3 children)
(he was the son of Thomas Ritchie PLAUNT & Ann MAHER)

6) William born May 22 1876 / died 1904

7) Elizabeth Agnes born Feb 14 1881
married abt 1912 to George TAYLOR (2 daughters)
Both Elizabeth & George died in Winnipeg Manitoba

8) Robert born Dec 26 1882 / died 1911
* * *
"The STORY of RENFREW" by W E Smallfield & Mr Campbell

"In 1864, William AIRTH, the youngest son of Sgt Henry,
opened up business in the same stand on the corner of Raglan & Patrick Street in Renfrew.

For a few months he had with him Henry BARR, his nephew,
and a son of the pioneer David BARR.

Henry, who was not attracted by the shut-in life,
went then to his present fine farm in Bromley Township
where he has prospered greatly and has been honored
by being elected as MLA for the North Riding of Renfrew.

William AIRTH continued in business alone from the spring of 1865,
doing an increasingly flourishing trade til 1870 when,
tiring of the confinement,
he sold out to Barr & Wright.

For some years after that he led a life of leisure in his comfortable home on Opeongo Street.
As his family grew up, he set to work again,
having the Coombs' farm within the village limits.
He renovated everything about that rather run down homestead,
initiated his boys into the myteries of farming for profit,
took an intelligent and helpful interest in municipal affairs
and served many times as Councillor and School Trustee.

Though the youngest and most robust of the AIRTH brothers,
he succumbed to an attack of typhoid fever in the 1890s
whilst yet comparatively a vigorous man.
Mrs AIRTH was also called away about the same time.

Mr AIRTH was of a more retiring disposition than his brothers
and took little part in the amusements in which some of them delighted,
but he will be remembered as an upright, steady-going citizen,
whose purposeful life was helpful to the interests of the community
in which he spent most of his days.

His sons did not perhaps take so kindly to farming as their father expected,
as one by one, when they grew up, they turned to other occupations,
till now the fine farm has passed into other hands.

Two sons - Harry and Tom - are still with us;
Willie is dead and Robert is in Winnipeg.
Two daughters - Mrs JAMES and Mrs. J. PLAUNT - died early
whilst Lizzie is a trained nurse living in Winnipeg."

Johanna died Jul 11th 1896.
William died May 3 1897

William AIRTH & Johanna MURPHY were my 2X GR Grand Aunt & Uncle !!

Return to Sgt Henry AIRTH & Marion PARK ~ William's parents