MATERNAL NAMES
MARY ANN BROWN 1809-1890
2nd great-grandmother
King Street Toronto, Ontarro, Canada Circa 1850 (8)
​BIRTH (UPDATED APRIL 2024)
Mary Brown was born in 1809, daughter of Irish stock. Like the McEwans they must have emigrated to Glasgow during the Industrial Revolution. The Irish that moved to Glasgow and lived in the Tradeston area of the city like most immigrants, stayed with their brothers from Ireland creating a ghetto of Irish. Most of these people were working poor and lived in miserable conditions.
MARRIAGE​​
Mary would become the wife of William McEwan as mentioned in William's biography, 16th of April 1836, Tradeston, Gorbals, Lanark County, Scotland. You can view part of the document on that page.
​​ I have little information on Mary. Unable so far to find her parents and siblings except for those mentioned on the 1841 census for Glasgow, Scotland. On some document I found her name as Mary Ann, not just Mary on some documents.
​​​ Mary and William had one child and named him John. If she had not miscarried before then traditionally this should be the name of William's father. Since she had only one is my my assumption. John was born in 1841, four years after their marriage.
​​ While they lived in Scotland Mary would have been pregnant with John. Did they decide a life in Tradeston was not the life they envisioned for their themselves or their child? That is hard to say. Perhaps they looked at Canada as a new beginning and hopefully a better life. I wonder if she made the journey from Scotland to Canada while pregnant, or with a newborn in her arms. Another unanswered question. I believe the twelve-year-old child in the 1841 Scottish census to be William's youngest brother. (his age fits and William as his older brother would be the most likely choice to be responsible for him if his parents were unable to manage)
IMMIGRATION TO CANADA
Mary and William appear to have immigrated sometime after the birth of their only child, John McEwan, in November of 1841 as William is present in the 1847 Toronto Directory. The 1851 census for Toronto has not survived. She can be found in the 1861 and 1871 censuses living in Toronto with her family. Neither she nor William are present in the 1881 census or have yet to be found.
​​ Mary Ann McEwan, widow since three years, died in Toronto, Ontario, December 23rd, 1890, of old age at eighty-one. She was buried the following day in the Necroposlis Cemetery, Toronto, Canada, Sec 1 Lot 153 next to her husband William.
Citations
(1) B.1809 Brown Mary (not found but referred to in the censuses)
(2) M.1836 McEwan William/Brown Mary Ann
(3) C.1841 Scotland Parish: Kirkfield; ED: 47; Page: 22; Line: 450
(4) TC.1861 Census of Canada Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1102-1103
(5) C.1871 Census of Canada Census Place: St Davids Ward, Toronto East, Ontario; Roll: C-9972; Page: 24; Family No: 103
(6) D.1890 Brown-McEwan Mary Ann Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938, 1943-1944, and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947 Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 60 Bur. 1890 Brown-McEwan Mary Ann Ontario, Canada, Toronto Trust Cemeteries, 1826-1989 Toronto Trust Cemeteries; Toronto, Canada; Cemetery: Necropolis Cemetery; Volume: 07; Year Range: 1883-1891
(7) Bur.1890 Brown-McEwan Mary Ann Find a Grave memorial/58575293
(8) History of Toronto. (2024, April 11). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Toronto
CHILDREN OF WILLIAM McKEOWN AND MARY ANNE BROWN
​​ My great-grandfather was the only child of William McEwen and Mary Ann Brown. Follow the link to read more about him.
**NOTE**
There are some on Ancestry who believe John McEwan to the son had brothers and sisters in Ireland that were left behind when the family moved from Glasgow to Toronto while according to my family "he was a babe in arms".
I believe people are confused with lineage. I believe I have a strong case to prove he was an only child, his father being William but his grandfather being John, (not William). Not only do I have a DNA connection to his grandmother, Eliza Cunningham, I also have many documents to prove where he was at certain times when he is said to be in Ireland producing children. Another confusion could also be that Mary Brown is being confused with Mary Walpole, who also comes up in searches as she also married a William McEwaen in Aghalee, whereas my Mary was married in Scotland. More of my research can be found in the attached PDF.