The History of the Graham Family

This is the title of an unpublished work by Irvine Henry Graham B.A., MA,  A.L.C.M.  He  wrote the booklet in remembrance of his mother and father, Noble and Kate Graham, and to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the marriage of his grandparents, John and Margaret Graham.  The booklet was distributed at a Graham family reunion near Rounthwaite, MB the summer of 1962.  It is from this book that I have copied all the following information.  There are no references quoted in the book, so I have no documentation for these quoted statistics.  I have not yet searched the records to confirm name and dates quoted.

My paternal grandmother was Mary Jane Graham, sister of Noble Graham, who was Irvine's Father.
Irvine's parents  both died in 1959, and, as Irvine wrote, their deaths, "...created a sort of  vacuum in my life.  Working on this history helped to offset the loneliness I had experienced".
The early history was told in a letter Irvine received in 1960, from Robert George Graham, Kelowna, BC.
Here are the recollections Robert wrote in that letter, written January, 1960.

Robert Graham of Drammack, near Lisneskea, Ireland, had only one son, William Graham.
    William Graham married    E. Wilson, from Casson House, Innismore, and they had a family of  nine children as follows:
        Jane Graham
        Robert Graham
        Noble Graham (Robert's father)
        Elizabeth Graham
        Mary Graham
        Annie Graham
        John Graham
        Emma Graham
        William Graham.


Noble married Dinnah Carter, from Portadown, County Armagh.  They had 11 children:
    William Wilson Graham
    Thomas Alfred Graham
    Emma Jane Graham
    Annie Eleanor Graham
    Robert George Graham b. Dec 26, 1866
    Noble Graham
    Mary Elizabeth Graham
    Marion Georgina Graham
    Agnes Arabella Graham
    Francis John Graham
    Charles Moore Graham

    When Noble (Sr.) died Drammach became the property of his eldest son, William Wilson Graham..  William remained single, died young and willed Drammack to his brother, Noble, Robert's father.  Charles died at age 45 and his wife sold Drammack to Charles' brother, Noble. After Noble's death Drammack was sold outside the family.
Francis John Graham (Frank) had a brilliant career as a Doctor in Australia.  He had a family of eight, of which five became Medical Doctors.  Frank was killed by a drunken driver in 1958, at the age of  77.  For those who remember the TV series "The Flying Doctor" filmed in Australia, it was thought to have been based on the life of one of the family.  I believe the lead character in the series was named Dr. Donald Graham.                                                                                                                            

    John Graham announced he would marry Margaret Grady.  Margaret worked on the Graham Estate (Drummack) as  one of the four dairy maids.  His family was not pleased, and he was sent away to a boarding school in County Fermanagh, and had his allowance cut.  Robert  said he returned to the Estate and drove off one of his father's prize cattle, and sold it on the market at Enniskillen.  In 1860, with the proceeds, he bought a ticket to Canada, where he took a job as a clerk.  Margaret joined him the following year, and they were married 1862, in Montreal.
    John craved adventure, and after the birth of their first child, they moved to Upper Canada.  They lived for several years at Stratford, ON where John did clerical work.  Again John became restless and they moved to Howick, ON, about 6 miles from Wroxeter, ON. where they establishd a home in the bush.
Early in the spring of 1878 they decided to move to Manitoba.  They travelled by train in a colonist car to St. Boniface, which was then the end of the rail line. John secured a Red-River cart, a team of horses and a wagon.  They loaded all their possessions into the vehicles and set off for Portage la Prairie.  They stayed 2 years on a farm near Portage la Prairie before setting out again for the homestead.  The rail line had been extended to Brandon, so they again loaded their belongings onto a rail car and travelled to Brandon, and then again travelled by horse and oxen to their homestead at Rounthwaite, MB.   It was here that they settled down and raised the family of 11 children.

Margaret was born 1844, died Feb 28, 1907,
John, born April 27, 1837, died in June, 1926 and was burried beside Magaret in the Rounthwaite cemetery.

John and Margaret had 11 children.   They were:

Robert  Graham; never married.

Noble Graham; married Kathrine Henry, and had children Irvine, Olive, Jack, Alice, Mona, James, Faith, and Patrick.

William Graham; married Marion Barager and had children Ward and Alma.

John Graham; married Elizabeth Dilworth and had children Ada, Edna, Francis, and John.

Mary Jane Graham; married John Doty and had children
Kathleen,
Wesley,
Elmer,
Pearl,
George,
Leona, and
Roberta.

Elizabeth Graham; married John Barager and had children Margaret, Douglas, Jean, Andrew, Charlie, Noble, Jessie, and Jack

Annie Graham; married Andrew Elder and had children Alexis, Wallace, Graham, Margaret (Peggy), and Andrew (Nephew).

George Graham; married Elizabeth Glass and had children David, Georgina, Wilson, Daisy, Jugh, Lillian, and Andrew.

Harry Graham; married Lena Dilworth and had children Milton, Norman, and Elmer.

Frank Graham; married Jane Taylor Elder and had children Amy, Donald, Helen, and Jessie.

Florence Graham; married George Hall and had children Edith, Florence, and George.       (Back to page 1)