Sharing our Links to the Past
by Wally and Frances Gray

#G32 GRAY, William [I]

Born: Unknown
Died: Unknown

Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown

Married: Unknown

The record indicates that William Gray [I] and his wife had six sons. It is likely that the couple also had daughters.

Children:
1. Charles GRAY
2. James GRAY (abt 1755-14 Apr 1815), m 14 Nov 1776 Mary BRACKETT (abt 1760-after 1815)
3. Samuel GRAY
*4. William GRAY #G16
5. Thomas GRAY
6. Josiah GRAY
* Direct line to Wallace F. Gray

We are not certain of the order of birth. The order here is based upon the order shown in the Cornwallis Document.

I have received the following document from inGeneas. Whether it is our William Gray or not is unknown but I am putting it here for your interest. This William Gray entered Nova Scotia and Cape Breton 1748-1749, the exact year being unknown. Here is the transcription:

Transcription from the inGeneas Immigration Database
Record #I-17548

Gray, William

Occupation:     Shoemaker
Year:         1748/49
Others:     single
Comments:    Date of entry April 4
Event:         #i33: Transcripts of Colonial Office Records: Nova
Scotia--List of Emigrants entering Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, 1748-49.
Source:     National Archives of Canada; Colonial Office, MG 11,
        Nova Scotia "A", vol. 44, pp 1-57, reel C-9125.

Note:
====

The first page of the records within this document begins with the
inscription: "03 T.N.S. Vol. 56, 1748". Under the Time of Entry column
for the first record is the notation "1748-9". For this reason, it is
assumed that all of the records are for March and April 1748. However, the
pages listing individuals with surnames beginning with the letter "P" and
"W" during the time period of March 30 to April 11 has the year 1749 at the
top of the Time of Entry column, so entries from this page only are listed
with the date 1749. In all other cases, it is not possible to definitively
say if the year is 1748 or 1749.


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inGeneas
Canadian Genealogical Research
and Searchable Databases
            lfox@ingeneas.com
http://www.inGeneas.com
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SOURCES:

    1. Family Tradition (from Cyril Gray of Ontario, Canada). William Gray [I] was a naval petty officer, an Irishman in the service of the crown, arriving at Halifax, with Cornwallis on June 21, 1749. Cyril recalls a wake he attended at the death of Patrick his grandfather, a descendant of William [I.] He said the wake "was as Irish as the shamrock is green."

    2. The Cornwallis Document which starts out: "In the year of our Lord 1749 A.D. William Gray of the staff of Governor Edward Cornwallis came from England to Halifax, N.S. Shortly after, William Gray and his family settled in Sambro. His sons were: . . . ." Then it lists the sons as shown above.

    3. Donald Gray of Halifax (deceased) gave me a paper in 1984 saying, "William Gray, arrived Halifax with Lord Cornwallis contingent in 1749." I have penned in from what Donald apparently told me, "Landed July 19."

    4. Dennis J. Brassard of Folsom, California. In a letter to Cyril Gray, Dennis says, "I have yet to uncover anything of substance that was able to connect the James Gray who first petitioned for land in Sambro, to William, the clerk of Governor Cornwallis. [He has no record of William] . . . .The land petition from James Gray, Senior led me to believe that he was the first Gray to settle Sambro since the records indicate that he was there since 1779. But, since William arrived in 1749, there is a distinct possibility that William was the first."  Dennis also gave Cyril copies of a descendancy chart of James Gray. That chart shows the birth, marriage and death information as we have listed in child number 2 above.

FURTHER RESEARCH:
Please see The Gray Family of Sambro for suggestions for further research and for a discussion of the accuracy of these accounts and further information as to the arrival of the Sambro (William) Grays from England.

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