Faye's tree

• 1 Thomas Yeo 1819 - 1891
• ... +Sarah McIntyre 1825 - 1891
• .. 2 John Yeo 1848 - 1896
• ....... +Margaret Ann Ramsay 1846 - 1891
• ....... 3 John Thomas Yeo 1875 - 1931
• ........... +Ann Elizabeth Vincent 1880 - 1958
• ............ 4 Etta Yeo 1917 -
• ................. +Casper Thompson
• ................ 5 Faye Thompson

Letters from Faye re her Uncle Daniel, son of John Thomas Yeo & Ann Elizabeth Vincent.

I do not know if it is important or not, but an added piece of information on my Uncle Dan that was killed in 1944, the one that is listed on your Honor Roll, he had a son born by May Ballantyne, of Renfrewshire, Scotland. They were to be married on Dan's next leave, but unfortunately he was killed prior to that leave. The son was named David. Not many of the family members knew of the existance of David, but for some reason my mother and May corresponded before and after Dan's death and I have some of the letters. I have tried many different avenues to locate David, but to date I have had no luck. It is entirely possible that May married and David may have been adopted, so I may never find any trace of him, but will not give up looking. I feel that he is as much a part of the tree as I am. ..Faye Hodson

12th June, 2003

Dear Sheila: I owe you a really BIG HUG! I found David! I took the list of names that you gave me and wrote to each and every one of them, explained the situation and asked for help. Well one of the letters went to David's uncle in Paisly and he phoned David's mother, May who phone David and David called me tonight. May Ballantyne had remarried 2 1/2 years after my uncle was killed in the war to a man by the name of Nixon. They immigrated to Canada for a short time in Nova Scotia. David immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1975 and his mother lives in Nova Scotia now. He phoned me and we spent a half an hour on the phone. He has been trying to find some of his dad's family for some time. He, his wife and mother even visited the grave of my uncle in France last year. It is hard to tell which of us is more excited. We plan on keeping in touch and I am going to add him to my Yeo Family Forest. I can not thank you enough for being so helpful, my family is so greatful. I have two of my cousins phoning him tonight and my uncle phoning tomorrow. It is truly wonderful. Do not stop what you are doing, it works and in this case has been successful. Thanks again Faye Hodson

Correspondence re this branch (I am copying these e-mails as this branch still has many of us trying to find its roots...)

Dear Sheila, I was so happy to see your new web page. My husband's name is Raymond Yeo. His uncle Dan is listed in your Roll of Honour. There was no information on his parents. They were John Thomas Yeo and Ann Elizabeth Vincent. In your line of succession, you have that he descended from Robert Yeo and Rose Cory of Cornwall, which is the same line that Norma Falconer has for her line of succession. I would be interested in this line of succession, as I thought it was a different line altogether. My Ray's family were Roman Catholic. At least they were as far back as Ray's gggrandfather, Thomas. Thomas emigrated to PEI in Canada from Bideford, England. Thomas was born in 1819. He as well as his two sons, John and Richard are listed in diferent census lists from PEI. Would love to hear from you on any information you can give me. I am always digging for more information on the Yeo family. Sincerely, Vida Tattrie

My reply

Dear Vida, Lovely to hear from you and I have now added Daniel's parents to the Roll of Honour. I thought this was very important to include as so many of our Yeo family have given their lives for others. Re your Thomas, I have worked on this on and off over the years and am still convinced Thomas came from Kilkhampton. There are very few catholic Yeos and think that your Thomas converted because of his wife.s religion. There is a Thomas baptised in Kilkhampton in 1819, son of Thomas & Dorothy of Stibb, yeoman. Having an overview of all the Yeos in that area, I can find no marriage of a Thomas and Dorothy, so think it could have been a child born out of wedlock. Stibb was held by the Cornish family and then the Ashtons and there were some of the Bradworthy Yeos in the area but I have looked at their trees and can find no links. The name Flora appears in the Kilkhampton branch in 1822 and as the Yeo family were very conservative about christian names, this could have been passed on through them. When did Thomas emigrate to Prince Edward Island ? I have put the 1841 Cornish census on-line on purpose in the hope that it may help. I have also quite extensive records on the Bideford area but will recheck these in the summer months when I have time to go to Exeter. Bideford and Kilkhampton are linked by the ships sailing from Bideford to PEI. The only other Yeo branch that I know of that sailed from Bideford to PEI was the Robert & Elizabeth Fulford branch and I have looked at this tree in depth, mainly because it is part of our tree. They seemed to have sailed to PEI with a large contingent of the Fulford family. Any clues you may have I will follow up as I would love to solve this problem. I have highlighted where I think it could fit in. Kind regards, Sheila

Vida's reply

Hi Sheila, Many thanks for your info. What I have gotten from different people is that Thomas Yeo was born in England in 1819. Supposedly his father was Robert Yeo who was married to Mary Ann Fulford. Other children of Robert were Louisa, Francis, William, James (married Nancy McIntyre), Robert Jr. (married Orentha Pridham), John, our Thomas who married Sarah McIntyre. I think the family may have all come to PEI together. You are right about Thomas converting to the Catholic religion as he was baptized July 27, 1861 in Sts. Simon & Jude Church, Tignish PEI. I don't know where they lived to begin with in PEI, but in the 1881 census, Thomas and his two sons John and Richard, were living on Lot 3, Prince County, PEI. I'm not sure when they came over but probably in the 1840's. Does this agree with any of your info? Back to Daniel Yeo. He was 28 years old when he died on D-Day. That is for your Roll of Honour. Sincerely, Vida

My reply

Dear Vida, I can dispel this one. Robert's parents were Richard & Susanna Pilliphant and Robert, himself was born in 1813, so could hardly have had a child by 1819. His brother, Thomas, was born in 1828, so it is unlikely he could lose ten years in age.. There is another Thomas baptised 1820 in Launcells, son of Thomas & Mary Gliddon and I think Thomas sen could be related to Richard and Grace Lashbrook, who also emigrated to PEI, but I think your Thomas has to be connected to the Kilkhampton Yeos, and someday I hope between us we well find the clue. Samuel & Nancy Prowse emigrated around 1842 so they could have gone over as a family. Are there no immigration records available in Prince Edward Island ? Cheers, Sheila

Ralph's letter 5.5.2003

Dear Sheila; I would like to add a little(speculation) to the following conversations with Vida. It is also my theory that Thomas had a connection with Samuel Yeo and Nancy Prowse as you suggest. Samuel did indeed emigrate in 1842. Also with him was his sister Ann Maria and her husband Samuel Rodd. Whether there were others on their particular ship I do not know. Samuel Rodd was a master stone mason. He built the St. Simon's and St. Jude Church in Tignish (I believe circa 1855) At that time it would have been the only church of any denomination for miles around. A notice taken from the records there states, baptised John Yeo, of Protestant parents Thomas and Sarah. It is not unreasonable to think that Rodd employed Yeo. This is a church that is large and grand and a lot of pride would have gone into it's construction. What better place to baptise your children?