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A genealogy of the Hallett and Craswell families.



Ethelred Craswell

Ethelred Craswell

Male 1824 -    Has 6 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Ethelred Craswell  [1
    Relationshipwith Dalton Paul Hallett
    Birth 1824 
    Gender Male 
    Siblings 5 brothers and 5 sisters 
    Documents
    News item in The Gazette, October 1, 1885, A '49er's Return, page 2 - 2
    News item in The Gazette, October 1, 1885, A '49er's Return, page 2 - 2
    News item in The Gazette, October 1, 1885, A '49er's Return, page 2 - 2
    News item in The Gazette, October 1, 1885, A '49er's Return, page 2 - 1
    News item in The Gazette, October 1, 1885, A '49er's Return, page 2 - 1
    News item in The Gazette, October 1, 1885, A '49er's Return, page 2 - 1
    Notes 
    • It seems Ethelred Craswell has proven to be a somewhat colourful character.

      Approximately 10 years prior to her death, my mother, Helen (Stevenson) Craswell told me a story about an interesting visitor she had received a few weeks earlier. This visitor was travelling on Prince Edward Island and had been asking questions about the Craswell family in the Rustico area. She was directed to my mother.

      The visitor was from Australia and claimed that one of her ancestors was a Craswell from Prince Edward Island. This ancestor had apparently left the Island for the California gold rush immediately after his marriage. He left his new bride behind. From there he somehow ended up in Australia after running into some trouble in California. She speculated he may have been transported on a convict ship to Australia. I doubt this is true since I don't believe that convicts were transported from California to Australia.

      It is possible he may have run into trouble with the law after arriving in Australia. Over time, in Australia, he married again (despite having a wife already) and started a family. She believed he had written to his first wife on PEI over the years, even after re-marrying. She further speculated that he may also have had a wife in California. She concluded the visit by informing my mother that they were "quite a respectable family now."

      I was amused by my mother's retelling of the story at the time, but neither she nor I wrote down any details. Over time I am sure she and I changed and embellished the story in our minds so I never gave it much weight in family research. Then one day in early 2021 I came across a reference on the newspapers.com website which provided surprising evidence of the truth of the main story. It contained a digital copy of a short article2 in The Gazette of Montreal dated October 1, 1885. It was a reprint of an earlier article from The Journal of Summerside, PEI.

      Further digging is required on this story.
      Harold Craswell (May 2022) [1]
    Person ID I3635  My Genealogy | Craswell
    Last Modified 2 May 2022 

    Father James Craswell
              b. 1793, Portsea, Hampshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 21 Feb 1865, Saint Eleanors, Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 72 years) 
    Mother Harriet Withers Heal
              b. Abt 1801, Tisbury, Wiltshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 25 Feb 1882, Saint Eleanors, Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 81 years) 
    Family ID F1282  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Sources  Sources (Log in)  Sources (Log in)



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