Individual Notes

Note for:   Henry Whitaker,   ABT 1800 - UNKNOWN         Index

Occupation:   
     Place:   Solicitor (Chancery Lane, London, Eng.)

Event:   
     Type:   Comment 1
     Place:   founder of "Whitaker's Almanac"


Individual Notes

Note for:   Louise Burwell,   11 MAY 1854 - 12 JAN 1902         Index

Event:   
     Type:   Comment 1
     Place:   eldest daughter

Burial:   
     Place:   Woodland Cemetary, London


Individual Notes

Note for:   Hannabel Burwell,   ABT 1825 - UNKNOWN         Index

Residence:   
     Place:   Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada

Burial:   
     Place:   Woodland Cemetary, London


Individual Notes

Note for:   Helen Louise Bowyer Dampier,   25 NOV 1885 - 24 JAN 1970         Index

Event:   
     Type:   Comment 1
     Place:   2 sons and 2 daughters

Event:   
     Type:   Comment 2
     Place:   striking resemblance to Susan Blackburn


Individual Notes

Note for:   Harold Langmuir Bucke,   25 AUG 1879 - 2 MAR 1951         Index

Occupation:   
     Place:   mining engineer

Individual Note:
     
The Buckes, Dampiers, and Blackburns were good friends; and the Buckes, amongst other things, introduced the Blackburns to our cottage area near Point au Baril
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from 1901 census for London Township, Ontario...

Given Names Surname Relationship to Head of Household Birth Place Age Division #
   
Richard Bucke head England 64 8
Jessie Maria Bucke wife Ontario 61 8
Ina Matilda Bucke daughter Ontario 23 8
Harold L. Bucke son Ontario 21 8 .................[eventually married Helen Louise Bowyer Dampier]
Robert W. Bucke son Ontario 20 8

Given Names: Richard
Surname: Bucke
Relationship to Head of Household: head
Birth Place: England
Age: 64
Division #: 8
Page #: 1
Entry #: 1
Family #: 1
   
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from "London Township...Families Past and Present", 2001....

BUCKE
Horatio Walpole Bucke (1802-1856) was born in Worlington, Suffolk, England to Thomas George Bucke and Georgina Walpole, a descendant of Sir Robert Walpole, a Prime Minister of Great Britain. After graduating from Cambridge University in theology, Rev. Bucke was appointed curate of the parish of Methwold in Norfolk County, England. In 1828, he married Clarissa Andrews (1796-1845) of Mildenhall, Suffolk. Their wedding was attended by the prominent families of Suffolk, Norfolk and London, including Lord Horatio Nelson and his wife. It is believed the couple came to Upper Canada for financial reasons. In 1838, they settled in London Twp. on a 100-acre farm, situated three miles east from the then town limits, with their seven, English-born children: George Walpole (1828), Edward Horatio (1829); Philip Eustace (1831), Augustus Henry (1832-1857), Anne Mary Georgina (1833), Helen Augusta (1835) and Richard Maurice (1837-1902) who would later return to the area where his early life was spent and where he would become a noted psychiatrist and visionary. Three more children were born here: Alice Clarissa (1838) and twins Julius Poussett and Julian Rivers (1840), but the latter twin only lived four months.

Rev. Bucke brought with him an extensive library, including books in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, Italian and Spanish, which he used to educate the children. After his wife's death, he married Elizabeth O'Reilly in 1846 but she died the following year. Very little is known of Rev. Bucke's life in Ontario. In 1853, George Walpole (the eldest son) sold Creek Farm, of which he had assumed control in 1851, and with his share of money he inherited from his mother, bought a farm in Moore Twp., south of Sarnia. The entire family moved there except R. Maurice, then 16, who left home that year and wandered about the middle, southern and western U.S. for the next five years. He had experienced a deep feeling of loneliness and unhappiness after his mother's death when he was only eight years of age.
After graduating from the McGill University medical school in Montreal in 1862, top in his class, Maurice completed post-graduate studies in Europe. In 1865, he established a medical practice in Sarnia and married Jessie Maria Gurd (1839-1926) of Moore Township. After ten years in Sarnia, Dr. Bucke accepted a position as superintendent of the new lunatic asylum in Hamilton. In 1877, he was appointed as the second superintendent of the London Insane Asylum (now London Psychiatric Hospital) which had opened in 1870, and was then the largest institution of its kind in Ontario. He remained here for the next 25 years until his death. His return to the township found him located only a stone's throw from Creek Farm [Creek Farm, the Bucke homestead, located near S'/2 Lot 8, Con. 1] where he was raised.

During his tenure at the hospital, Dr. Bucke introduced changes in the management of the mentally ill. Restraint chairs were eventually abolished. He initiated an open door policy to give patients a sense of freedom and he introduced the use of female attendants in male wards. Also, the use of alcoholic beverages to subdue patients was discontinued. He developed occupational therapy by encouraging patients to work constructively at the hospital. He was also a professor of mental and nervous disorders at the UWO medical school. Dr. Bucke was a close friend and admirer of Walt Whitman, the celebrated American poet, whom Bucke emulated in many ways. The two spent time together at Bucke's township home and elsewhere. The story of the men's friendship was portrayed in the movie, Beautiful Dreamers (Canadian, 1990). Dr. Bucke published Whitman's biography in 1882. In 1901, just a year before his death, Dr. Bucke published Cosmic Consciousness, still a popular philosophical work today.

Maurice and Jessie raised eight children in the township: Clare Georgina (1866-1867); Maurice Andrews (1868-1899); Jessie Clara (1870); William A. (1873); Edward Pardee (1875) who became a medical doctor; Ina Matilda (1877-1968) who married Dr. Edwin Seaborn (1872-1951); Harold (1879); and Robert (1881). The parents, their two eldest children, and the Seaborns are buried in Woodland Cemetery, London.

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Individual Notes

Note for:   Richard Maurice Bucke,   18 MAR 1837 - 1902         Index

Residence:   
     Place:   Methwold, Norfolk

Individual Note:
     
Household: from 1881 census

    Name Marital Status Gender Ethnic Origin Age Birthplace Occupation Religion
    Richard M. BUCKE M Male English 44 England Physician Church of England
    Jessie Maria BUCKE M Female Irish 42 O. Church of England
    Morris Andrew BUCKE Male English 12 O. Church of England
    Jessie Clara BUCKE Female English 10 O. Church of England
    William A. BUCKE Male English 8 O. Church of England
    Edward P. BUCKE Male English 6 O. Church of England
    Ina Matilda BUCKE Female English 4 O. Church of England
    Harold BUCKE Male English 2 O. Church of England
    Johanna RYAN Female Irish 23 O. Cook Roman Catholic
    Bessie HYMERS Female English 16 O. Nurse Methodist

Source Information:
     Census Place London, Middlesex East, Ontario
     Family History Library Film 1375904
     NA Film Number C-13268
     District 167
     Sub-district C
     Division 3
     Page Number 80
     Household Number 262
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from 1901 census for London Township, Ontario...

Given Names Surname Relationship to Head of Household Birth Place Age Division #
   
Richard Bucke head England 64 8
Jessie Maria Bucke wife Ontario 61 8
Ina Matilda Bucke daughter Ontario 23 8
Harold L. Bucke son Ontario 21 8
Robert W. Bucke son Ontario 20 8

Given Names: Richard
Surname: Bucke
Relationship to Head of Household: head
Birth Place: England
Age: 64
Division #: 8
Page #: 1
Entry #: 1
Family #: 1

Individual Notes

Note for:   Sarah Blackburn,   10 DEC 1824 - FEB 1841         Index

Event:   
     Type:   Event 1
     Date:   13 MAR 1825
     Place:   christened at Clerkenwell, England

Burial:   
     Date:   17 FEB 1841
     Place:   Abney Park Cemetery, London, England


Individual Notes

Note for:   Joseph Blackburn,   15 AUG 1818 - UNKNOWN         Index

Event:   
     Type:   Event 1
     Date:   16 NOV 1818
     Place:   Christened at Finchingfield, Essex, Eng.


Individual Notes

Note for:   Jemina Blackburn,   12 SEP 1827 - UNKNOWN         Index

Event:   
     Type:   Event 1
     Date:   10 FEB 1828
     Place:   Christened at Clerkenwell, London, Eng.

Individual Note:
     
Could have died young since Charlotte Emma is referred to as the "2nd daughter" of the Rev John in her marriage notice. Sarah also died young (about age 17).