James Bonnar and Mary Annie Good, New Brunswick

Today I am writing about another sibling of great grandfather Thomas Bonner. I will tell you what I know about James Bonnar, the third child of James Bonnar and Margaret Chalmers. James Bonnar was born in 1836 in New Brunswick, Canada. His two older siblings, William and Matilda were born in Ireland and so were his parents. As I began organizing the information I had about James and his family, I thought I didn't have too much. But as the day went on, I gathered a good deal more information.

I would like to suggest to anyone researching ancestors in New Brunswick, Canada that the Provincial Archives of New Brunwick is an excellent resource. In the section they offer on vital statistics, when you search a name you get all birth, marriage and death records for that person. Today I found more Bonnars that I could ever imagine. I changed the spelling of the name to Bonnar for the search. I used only the surname and the results were amazing. The results of that broad search showed 69 birth records, 50 marriage records and 17 death records. Everyone one of the records were for Bonnars who are descendants of James Bonnar and Margaret Chalmers. In addition, there were records under the name Bonner and Bonar. It pays to be flexible in altering the spelling somewhat. You can also search the files and request a soundex for the name you are searching. I didn't use the soundex option. The dates that are complete dates mentioned in todays blog were verified at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick site.

James Bonnar married Mary Annie Good. Mary Annie and James were neighbors. The Bonners lived on lot #31 in Upper Durham and the Good family lived on lot #34. Mary Annie's brother James Good married Annie, the sister of James Bonnar. I don't have a date for the marriage of James Bonner and Mary Annie Good, but here's what I know about their children. They had nine children: John, William, Maggie, Annie, Alice, Lucy, James, Edward and Herbert and all were born in New Brunswick.

Children of James Bonnar and Mary Annie Good:

1. John Bonnar was born in 1862 and he married Louise Smith who was born in 1824. They had four children that I have identified. Alfred James Bonnar was born 11 April 1888. Margaret May Bonnar was born 28 Sept 1890 and she married Lewis Tims in 1908. John Medley Bonnar was born 13 March 1893.

2. William Bonnar was born in 1864 and he married Harriet Amelia Thomas who was born in 1870. It was indicated on one of his children's birth certificates in 1898 that William was a fireman at a mill. They had ten children.

Children of William Bonnar and Harriet Thomas

Thomas James Bonnar who was born 17 Jan 1888. He was noted on his marriage license to be a railway worker. Thomas James Bonnar married Florence Jane Phillips in 1910. They had two children, Ethel Lucille Bonnar and Ora Bertram Bonnar. After Florence died, Thomas James Bonnar married Sadie Alberta Bonnar in 1949. Sadie Alberta was the widow of Bertram Roy Bonnar who was the brother of Thomas James Bonnar.

Bertram Roy Bonnar. Bertram was born 17 Jan 1890 and he died 16 Sept 1948. Bertram married Beatrice Webster in 1911. After Beatrice died, Bertram Bonnar married Sadie Alberta Wilkins in 1940. On their 1940 marriage certificate, Bertram is listed as a widower and was age 50 and Sadie Alberta was age 31.

Annie Gertrude Bonnar who was born 26 Dec 1891. Annie Gertrude married Martin Carten in 1910.

Helen May Bonnar who was born in 1894. Helen May married Bert Banks in 1914.

Vera Hazel Bonnar who was born 5 April 1896. Vera married Frank Byers McMinniman.

Mary Emma Bonnar who was born 7 Feb 1898 and she married Joseph Toner.

Harriet Beatrice Bonnar who was born in 1901 and married Gordon Cumming.


William Herbert Bonnar who was born in 1902 and died in 1975.


Irene Eldora Bonnar who was born 31 May 1904.

Josephine Arabella Bonner who was born 23 July 1905.

Eldon Harold Bonnar who was born in 1911 and died in 1970.
(Children of William and Harriet Bonnar edited  14 March 2012)


3. Maggie Bonnar was the third child of James Bonnar and Mary Annie Good. Maggie married Bert Timmons. Nothing more has been found about Maggie.

4. Annie Bonnar was the fourth child of James Bonnar and Mary Annie Good. The only information found on her was her name appeared on the 1881 New Brunswick Census and she was 12 years old. She would have been born about 1869.

5. Alice Bonnar, the fifth child, was born in 1870 and she married James Pickard on 16 July 1892.

6. Lucy Bonnar was the sixth child of James and Mary Annie Bonnar and she was born in 1873. She married James Young.
7. James Robert Bonnar was born 1 Aug 1876 and was the seventh child. James was first married to Elizabeth, last name unknown 5 March 1906. He then married Bessie May Manzer. Bessie was previously married to Edwin Oldenburgh. James Robert Bonnar died 25 Oct 1938. After his death, Bessie May married Andrew Andrews in 1946. James Robert Bonnar served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during WWI and was in Regiment #817975.

8. Edward Franklin Bonnar was born 29 Jan 1879 and he died in 1950. Edward served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during WWI and was in Regiment #817893. After the war, he married Elizabeth M. Humphrey 21 June 1919.

9. Herbert Bonnar was born 25 July 1883 and he died 15 Oct 1917. Herbert was killed in France during WWI and he is buried there. He served in Regiment #817974 with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Herbert married Jennie Helena Manzer before 1906. They had three children. Alice Beatrice Bonnar who was born 4 Nov 1906 and she married Perley Harkness Lewis on 24 Dec. 1925. Mabel Helena Bonnar was born 27 Oct 1908 and she married Lee Roy Lewis in 1931. Milster Carvell Bonnar was born 29 June 1912 and he married Annie Elizabeth Lewis.
After Herbert died in 1917, his wife Jennie remarried in 1919 to Bliss Alfred Lewis. It's interesting to see all of the Lewis spouses in this family. Annie Lewis who married Milster Carvell Bonnar was the sister of Bliss Alfred Lewis. So, Milster Carvell married his step-aunt. Then Perley Lewis who married Alice Beatrice Bonnar and Lee Roy Lewis who married Mabel Helena Bonnar are brothers. Their father was Silas Lewis. I couldn't find a connection between Silas Lewis and Bliss Alfred Lewis.

All of the names, dates and relationships can get very confusing. I'll just keep working on it. The really good thing about learning all of this genealogy is that I am gaining more kinfolk every day. Just in this blog I have named my great uncle James Bonnar, 9 of his children and 16 of his grandchildren. Then, I must add in Matilda Bonnar Ross and her 8 children from the previous blog. That's 35 Bonnars whom I now know. I didn't even name all of the grandchildren of James and Mary Annie Bonnar or those of Matilda Ross. So, in the next blog I'll introduce you to some more of my newly found relatives.