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cornish roots

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Edwin J. Rosman was my Cornish Ancestor, who settled in B.C.

Rocky  (View posts) Posted: 28 May 2002 6:39PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hello Marilyn:

Thank you for contacting me!

All of my roots go back in history to the early Colony of Vancouver Island. My Sampson ancestor was from Orpington, Kent. But, I too have Cornish roots to Penryn (Saint Gluvius), Cornwall. In B.C. my Cornish ancestor lived on a farm he settled outside of Victoria back in the 1850's. He arrived in Victoria in April of 1854. His name was Edwin Joseph Rosman. He owned a saw mill at Witties Lagoon as well as his own Sailing Vessel, he was also a farmer.

In Cornwall he had business connections to the Crease family who also came to Victoria. I will send a link to the B.C. Archives and you will find Henry Perring Pellow Crease in many documents.

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/index.htm <~B.C. Archives.

Edwin J. Rosman was rather quiet and other than helping build the community of Metchosin (outside Victoria) he led a simple life of a sheep farmer later in retirement at Salt Spring Island. In Metchosin Edwin Rosman helped in the construction and formation of the school and Saint Mary's Church (both still standing). He married my great great grandmother (Mary Johnson)who was from Wrangell, Alaska. They adopted their oldest daughter who was later Mrs. Lillie Williams. Their oldest birth child was Ellen Georgina (first Mrs. Dan Rule, then Mrs. John Mahaffey). My great grandmother was next, she was named Martha Mary (Mrs. William McFadden). Then came Caroline (Mrs. W.T. Cotsford). The last child to Edwin and Mary was a son named Edward (he married May F. Sampson)

Some of my ancestors arrived earlier and a few later from this date... but all had connections to the Hudson Bay Company in some form. I have a connection to a lady who does research on Cornish people in B.C. History, I believe she is in Cornwall this very moment as I write. She has been researching Cornish names (in B.C.) for a good many years now. I will forward your message to her and she will hopefully get it soon. She would be upset to see that Vancouver Island is not included in the project (as of yet).

I believe some of your family contacted me a few years ago, as my Sampson family was having a 150 year reunion of Sampson's in B.C. We thought there was a connection until we found more information. My ancestor Henry Sampson (from Kent, England) was also in Nanaimo for a number of years. He too worked for the HBCo.

I have a number of my Rosman family photographs reaching back to the 1860's through the decades.

Cheers...... Rocky Sampson.

My "old faithful" email address that I have always had is: rbsampson@yahoo.com (just in case I ever loose this present address).
SubjectAuthorDate Posted
BarbaraRamsey... 24 Mar 2002 10:45PM GMT 
Rocky 28 Mar 2002 4:13AM GMT 
Marilyn Banns 28 May 2002 5:41PM GMT 
Rocky 28 May 2002 6:39PM GMT 
BarbaraRamsey... 28 May 2002 7:10PM GMT 
judy mcwillia... 7 Nov 2002 6:30AM GMT 
RockySampson1... 25 Mar 2008 7:44AM GMT 
ronworden 28 Mar 2002 8:38AM GMT 
BarbaraRamsey... 13 Jun 2002 11:14PM GMT 
JHendrickson 18 Jul 2007 11:30AM GMT 
   

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