I am searching for the parents of an Alexander Bennett who was born in Canada, most likely New Brunswick, in 1838. He died in 1903, and on the census prior to his death, claimed that his father was born in England and his mother in Ireland. He had listed himself as of English origin on earlier censuses, and at one time was recorded of Scots origin, which I believe was a mistake because his wife and stepchildren at the time would have been Scots, and he got recorded as such right along with them.
In any event, my question is, if Alexander Bennett's father had been born in either the British colonies before the Revolution or somewhere in Canada, would he still have considered himself as born in England? Or would that designation go only to someone who had been born in the Old World?
I ask because in my mom's DNA matches, there are quite a few Bennett matches that descend from the well documented family that originally settled in Saybrook, CT. That line did eventually branch out into Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. So, if pre-revolution, New World born Brits considered themselves English born, then that could be a good route to investigate. If not, I know it is back to the drawing board.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out!
Megan