MC1753: Harley family collection: [1832-1898]
Dates of creation: Photocopied 1989
Physical description: 5 pp. of textual
records and 3 photographs: color
Biographical Sketch / Administrative History
William Harley, Mary Ann Harley, and John Harley,
the children of Ann Bidder and William Harley, were born in Ireland in 1796,
1799, and 1800 respectively. William Harley was the first of the Harley siblings
to immigrate to Miramichi, New Brunswick, settling there about 1820. He was
soon employed as a government land surveyor. He encouraged his sister, Mary
Ann, to join him, which she did in 1822. She married John Henry (1795-1870),
and they had eight children. Mary Ann Harley Henry died in 1898.
Brother William Harley married twice, first to
Ann MacLean (b. 1797). Her parents, Prudence French and Archibald A. MacLean,
were Loyalists, and they settled on the Nashwaak River in New Brunswick. After
Ann's death, William moved to Ontario where he married Susannah.
John Harley disembarked at Miramichi, New Brunswick
the year after his sister Mary Ann had made the same voyage. He married Ann
Coughlan in 1829, and they resided in Newcastle where they raised three sons
and two daughters. John Harley found employment with William Abrams, a merchant
and shipbuilder, at Rose Bank (Nordin) in the 1820s. After Abrams death in
1844, John Harley rose to the position of master builder with Joseph Russell
at Beaubair's (Beaubear's) Island. In 1849 Harley and his partner George Burchill
bought the island and the shipbuilding operation. The partnership was dissolved
in 1857, but Harley worked alone until 1866. During his shipbuilding career,
he constructed no fewer than 62 vessels.
John Harley held several civil appointments in
the Miramichi region. He was appointed a commissioner for the lighthouse at
Escuminac (1853), inspector of lights for New Brunswick, inspector of buoys
and beacons for Miramichi River and Bay, and harbour master. Following his
father William's death in 1830, his mother, Ann, immigrated to New Brunswick
to reside with him. John Harley died at Chatham Head, Miramichi, N.B. on 16
September 1875.
Source: "John Harley," Dictionary of Canadian
Biography, Vol. 10
Scope and Content
This collection consists of several items including
a typescript transcription of a letter from William Harley to his wife in Newcastle,
dated 28 November 1832; a photograph of an historic sketch of Beaubear's Island;
a photographic copy of William Harley's appointment as deputy surveyor for Northumberland
County, dated 1827; a photographic copy of a document making William Harley
responsible for the Crown forests, dated 1821; and a transcription of an article
on the life of Mary Ann Harley Henry that appeared in the Portland Daily Press
on 7 February 1898.
INVENTORY
MS1 Harley
family records, 1821-1898.
A
Letter from William Harley to his wife in Newcastle, 28 November 1832. (Transcript)
B
Photograph of a historic sketch of Beaubear's Island and an entry for “Harley, John” from the Dictionary of Canadian Biographies,
1888, pg 133. (Transcript)
C
Photographic copy of William Harley's appointment as deputy surveyor for Northumberland County, dated 1827
D
Photographic copy of a document making William Harley responsible for the Crown forests, dated 1821
E
Article on the life of Mary Ann Harley Henry that appeared in the Portland Daily Press on 7 February 1898. (Transcript)