Hi,
Bernard (Barney) Tedford (my great grand uncle b.1839), emigrated from Belfast Ireland around 1870 to Montreal Quebec. He was a carpenter by trade and I believe he married in Canada and had at least one daughter. I'd love to hear from any other person with connections to Barney. I have developed a partial family tree for the descendants of William Tedford (1848-1912), Barney's brother (my great grandfather) and would love to be able to add some more branches to it.

thr email address is a lower case b-
Bernard is my great grandfather. please contact me for more information about our Canadian family.
Errors are me getting used to my IPad
Bruce

Hi Bruce,
Good to hear from you, we may well be related and it would be great if I could extend my family tree by sharing information with you.
I have attached two pictures, one Bernard (Barney) sent back to the Tedford family in Belfast,Ireland sometime after he went to Canada. The second photo is what he wrote on the back of the picture. Does this have any significance for you? Do you think it is your Great Grandfather? If so then I'd love to hear more about the Canadian side of the family. I'm a Tedford and a direct descendant of one of Bernard's brothers, William Tedford and his wife Eleanor (Ellen) nee. Newell. My branch of the family all stayed in Ireland/Northern Ireland until I emigrated to New Zealand in 1975 with my wife and two children.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Cheers
Des

Hi Des

Came across your post by accident. I am also a descendant of William and Ellen Tedford through their daughter Sarah Newell Tedford (my grandmother). Would love to hear about your connection with the same family and share any information you may have. I have a full tree on Ancestry.co and letters from Barney to relations at home which a re held in the Public Records Office, but you have probably seen these already. Great to get a photo of the 'Homestead' he talked about. Hope to hear from you soon. PS I still live over here in Antrim


Mandy

Hi Mandy,
Good to hear from you, sorry for the delay in replying but I have been away in Asia on a Cruise and just got back on-line. I would love to compare your family tree with the partial one I have and fill in some blanks.
I have a copy of one of the letters Barney sent from Canada to a Mr Lowry dated June 1913 (38 pages long) which I got from the Public Records Office in Belfast. I think this is the one you refer to. I am aware, however, of another letter Barney sent around the same time. My Grandfather was able to show me a copy of this way back in the early 60's but unfortunately it has gone astray. The letters make fascinating reading.
You may also be aware of an article written by a well known Ulster writer John or William Boyd-Bell? not sure of the name, and I can't find the copies of the Ulster Tattler where it appeared (around the 70's or 80's I think). I know I have the issues of the Tattler somewhere. This article reproduces much of Barneys letters, particularly his early days as a Post Boy to the Cleland family who lived in the original Stormont Castle so I suspect Boyd-Bell must have had copies of Barney's letters as well.
I'm not sure what our exact relationship is, perhaps you can work it out. My great grand parents appear to be the same as yours (William Tedford/Ellen Newell), one of their sons Joseph (brother to your grandmother Sarah Newell) married Agnes Taylor (my grandparents)and they lived for most of their lives around Strandtown/Upper Newtownards Road area in Belfast. One of their sons Joseph Newell Tedford married Elizabeth Dorothy Mollan, my parents. I am the second of 3 children and the only male. My full name is Joseph Desmond Tedford and I married Eleanor McKibbin. We have two children Wendy Ellen and Willian Joseph Stuart and we all emigrated from Bangor to NZ in 1975. we now have 6 grand children, 4 girls and 2 boys, three in NZ and three in Australia.
Regarding your grandmother Sarah Ellen Tedford, I have also found in an old family bible, reference to another Sarah who would have been a sister to your grandmother and died at the age of 5 years in 1891. Do you have any record of this or do you think there has been a mistake or perhaps your grandmother was born and named after her dead sister.
All very interesting. Hope to hear from you soon and would love to get a full copy of the family tree.
Kindest Regards
Des

Hi Des

Great to hear from you.
I have a copy of the other letter of Barney's which you mentioned. It was written to his neice Florence Kidd in about 1928. There is also another letter I got recently which describes a trip he made to Connemara to do some building work for Lowry's and was writtn about 1915 - 1920. Both make fascinating reading. I will copy them for you if you wish.
My mother remembers your father well - she just knew him as 'Newell'. It is interesting that you are called Des, as that was my father's name which of course is just coincidence as there are no ties there.
I wasn't aware of the Tatler article. Perhaps if you ever come across it you could send me a photocopy?
There was another Sarah Newell Tedford in the family as you described. It is strange how many families named their children after ones who had passed away. We wouldn't think of doing that now.
I typed you name into my family tree and it transpires we are second cousins!
I have sent you a link to the family tree that I have on Ancestry. I don't know if you have seen this one or not - perhaps you could fill me in with any gaps. In the meantime - take care and I hope to hear from you soon.

Mandy

Hi Mandy, it's really great to have made this contact with you. Yes, my dad was always known as Newell, he passed away in 1991 and my mum continued living in the family home in Bloomfield until she died at the age of 92 in 2008. I would be delighted to fill in any gaps in your tree, if I can, with specific dates and details. You said you have sent me a link to your tree, I'm really rather a novice on this particular web site and don't know where to find this link, perhaps you could help? When I went to bed last night after replying to your last contact, I think I remembered the correct name of the author of the article in the Ulster Tattler, It is Sam Hannah-Bell who is/was well known around Ulster as a writer. I'll try and find my copies of the article and would be happy to send you scanned copies of it as email attachments or mail photocopies to you in the post. I would be very keen to get copies of the other letters from Barney which you have. Perhaps we can work out some way of getting them to me. Scanned copies as email attachments would be fine but if not, maybe you could send photocopies and I could reimburse you the postage. I found his letters a delight to read and very informative. Particularly, regarding my great grandfather being the builder who was in charge of building Stormont Castle and Helens Tower on the Clandeboye Estate in Bangor. Hopefully, between us we will be able to add to our family histories. Keep in touch. Regards Des

Hi Des
Was talking to my mum about your dad last night. She says she really regrets not finding him before he passed away. She says she really liked Newell and your Uncle Billy and says that every time she sees David Suchet she thinks of your dad because of the likeness! She would love to see any photos you have of Newell or Billy or any of the family that would be more recent than her memories of them. I think the last time she saw them would have been the 40's. She remembers Newell's garage on the Belmont Road?
I must get around to scanning or copying those letters for you. I am quite busy in work at the moment but will definately get it done as soon as I can. I have sent you the link to the tree now - you should have received an email with a link. If not - let me know. Lovely to hear from you again

Mandy