John George Farndale

A remarkable person who provided us with an eye witness account of the Crimean War before taking his family to a new life in Ontario

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Yorkshire and the Crimean War

John George Farndale was born on 26 October 1836, the son of John & Martha Farndale, a farmer of Skelton. He was baptised in Skelton on 27 November 1836.

By 1841 the family lived at Coatham Stob, Long Newton. John Farndale, 45, was still a farmer; William Farndale was 10; Mary Farndale, 9; Teresa Farndale, 8; John Farndale, 5; Charles Farndale, 3; John Farndale, 15, male servant; Matthew Farndale, male servant, 12; John Malburn, 25, male servant; Thomas Shirt, 15, male servant; Mary Disson, 24, housekeeper.

By 1851 John George Farndale lived in Skelton, aged 14, where he was a printer’s apprentice, lodging with Timothy Robinson. This was the same year that his father, John Farndale who later became an author, was made bankrupt.

At some point John joined the army. It is probable that he did so under a false name. If he had not completed his apprenticeship, then the army would have been bound to hand him to the responsible authorities. There may also have been family disapproval at him joining the Army. He appears to have joined the Army with a fellow apprentice, Thomas Hind.

John George Farndale was a soldier in the Crimean War. He may have initially joined the Coldstream Guards when he would have been aged about 15, and then joined the 28th Regiment of Foot. He wrote letters home from the Heights of Sebastopol and a substantial record of his experiences in the Crimea is told in a separate webpage.

There was a Pte John Farndale, discharged from the Grenadier Regiment of Guards on 25 May 1872, of very good character. This doesn’t match the date he went to Canada, but it is possible that he went to Canada a little later, after he was discharged. John George Farndale was promoted to Lance Corporal in January 1855, so if this was him, he had lost his rank after the Crimean War, which might have been a provisional wartime promotion.

Ontario

John George Farndale, went to Canada in 1870 and there is an un-substantiated story that he went to Australia first. He lived the rest of his life in Ontario and we have met him and his family in Act 24. John George Farndale visited England twice in 1890 and in 1901.

John George Farndale, aged 43, married Elizabeth Sanderson aged 27, the daughter of Richard and Martha Sanderson of Vaughan, Ontario, at Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada on 24 March 1880. Both were methodists. The witnesses were Thomas and Jane Sanderson. The Reverend J Thompson officiated. Etobicoke is now a district of Toronto.

By the following year, 1881, John G Farndale was a labourer in Vaughan, to the north of Etobicoke, also now part of Toronto, with his wife Lisebeth. By 1881, when John and Lisebeth Farndale settled there, the population of Etobicoke township was 2,976.

On 21 May 1881, John and Elizabeth had their first son, Charles Farndale. John was still working as a labourer and they had taken Lot 18 in Vaughan. Their second son, George Farndale, was born on 20 December 1882 at Vaughan. Then Albert Farndale was born on 5 May 1884. By this time, John was described as a farmer of Lot 18, Con 10 at Vaughan. Mark Farndale was born on 6 December 1885. Then on 3 December 1887, the first girl of the family, Martha Teressa Farndale, was born. By 1887, John was still a farmer, at Elders Mills PO.

This photograph is of John George and Elizabeth Farndale and their family taken in about 1887 in Canada. The children left to right are George, Teressa, Mark, Charles and Albert

Annie Maria Farndale completed the family and was born on 25 October 1889 at Smithfield, Etobicoke, York, Ontario. At this time, their medical practice was at Woodbridge, Ontario. John, still a farmer, had Canadian citizenship by this time.

In 1891, he was described as a farm labourer again, living at Etobicoke, York West. John was then 52 and living with him were Elizabeth Farndale, 39; Charles Farndale, 10; George Farndale, 8; Albert Farndale, 7; Mark Farndale, 5; Martha T Farndale, 3; Anne M Farndale, 1; Jonathan Farr, 25, domestic, and Sarah B Farr, 22, his wife.

John’s wife, Elizabeth died in 1893.

The 1901 Census for Peel District, Chinquacousy listed John Farndale, 64, a farm labourer and widower, with an hourly wage of 300, boarding with others.

John George Farndale died on 21 February 1909 at Chinquacousy, Ontario aged 72, a widower, and farm labourer. He was buried at Brampton Cemetery, Ontario with his wife Elizabeth and his daughter Martha Teresa, who died on 7 January 1986, aged 99, a spinster.

John George Farndale was buried at Brampton Cemetery, Ontario with his wife Elizabeth and his daughter Martha Teresa, who died on 7 January 1986, aged 99, a spinster.

Gravestone at Brampton Cemetery, Brampton, Peel Municipality, Ontario

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The webpage of John George Farndale includes a chronology and research notes.