Margaret Bonnar and Henry David Pond, New Brunswick Canada

Margaret Bonnar was the daughter of James Bonnar and Margaret Chalmers. Margaret Bonnar was born 24 May 1843 in New Brunswick Canada. She was the 7th child of James and Margaret Bonnar. Margaret Bonnar married Henry David Pond who was a neighbor of the Bonnar family. The Bonnars lived on lot#31 and Henry David Pond lived just four lots south and one lot west of them. His lot was listed as lot G East. The following information gives a little history of the Pond family. The source is the book, " And the River Rolled On...Two Hundred Years on the Nashwaak", published by Nashwaak Bicentennial Association in 1984 and found on page 50.

"Henry Pond born 1833, son of John and Naomi (Estey) Pond, was granted Lot G East, containing 40 acres, in 1898. This property adjoined the property that was granted to his brother Albert in 1892. It was located at the north side of the Upper Durham Road, and the two properties ran from the Sweeney Road to the Good Road.

Henry Pond married Margaret Bonnar, daughter of James and Margaret Bonnar, also residents of Upper Durham. Henry and Margaret had fifteen children. They built a large two-story house and lived in Upper Durham all their lives. Henry died January 18, 1922 and his wife Margaret died March 5, 1923. Their daughter Eva, who was never married, lived here after her parents deaths. She died in 1959 at the age of 93.

Hedley Pond, son of Henry and Margaret, lived on the Bolster Brook Road. He purchased part of Lot 11 from the Fowler family. Hedley married Gertrude MacElwain. They had three children. Hedley Pond served overseas during the first World War. Their son Gerald was killed in action during the second World War. Hedley Pond died June 18, 1956 and his wife Gertrude died July 18, 1965. They are buried in the Upper Durham United Church Cemetery. The old house where Hedley and his family lived was destroyed by fire and no one lives on this property at present. "

Children of Margaret Bonnar and Henry David Pond

Edward G. Pond was born in 1861. I haven't found anything about Edward. The fact that Margaret and Henry named another son Edward, suggests that this first child may have died at an early age.

Amanda Pond was born 12 April 1865. She married John Wesley McConnell and they had one child, Stella May McConnell. Stella was born 6 Nov 1885 and her mother Amanda died 0n 19 Nov 1885. Stella May McConnell married Herbert Alonzo Estey in 1906 and they had four children: Lawrence Herbert, Greta May, Roy Everett and a son Clair Mullen

Albert Edward Pond was born 20 April 1863. He married Agnes McArthur 20 Sept 1893 and they had five children: Agnes Evelyn, Beatrice Amanda, Leigh Clinton, Roy Edward and Mildred Margaret. Roy Edward Pond married Lulu Ellis in October 1930. On the 1901 York NB census, Albert Edward and his family are household # 127 and his parents Henry and Margaret Pond are household #129. I came across a Boarder Crossing record for Leigh Clinton Pond in 1917. He was immigrating at Detroit, Michigan with his destination Adams county, Wisconsin. He stated he was a Fireman for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad.

Eva Hannah Pond was born in 1866. As mentioned in the article above, Eva Pond remained on the Pond property and died there at age 93 in 1959. Eva is buried at the Upper Durham Cemetery.


Emma Pond was born in 1870 and she died in 1921. She married Caleb C. Estey on 10 June 1896. They had six children: Nelson, Lulu, Blanche, Marion, Harry and Cedric Estey.


Henry Allen Pond was born in 1871. Henry appears on the 1901 and 1911 census with his parents Margaret and Henry. In 1911, Henry Allen Pond is 38 years old. I found no marriage record for Henry Allen. He is buried at the Lower Durham Cemetery where his parents are buried.

Lemuel Hovey Pond was born in 1872. Lemuel died at age 27 on 4 June 1899. I found the name Lemuel Hovey to be unusual and looked back through the Pond family to see if another relative might have had that name. It was a bit confusing, but I found that Henry David Pond's aunt, Mary Eva Pond married a man named Moses Hovey. Mary Eva and Moses Hovey had a son named Lemuel Hovey. I am assuming that's where Margaret and Henry Pond got the name for their son. You have to believe there was a close relationship or family history that goes with their relative Lemuel Hovey. Lemuel Hovey Pond is buried at the Lower Durham Cemetery.

Frederick G. Pond was born in 1876. Frederick married Dora Estey

Mary Maude Pond was born on 6 July 1879. (Great grandfather Thomas Henry Bonner named one of his children, Mary Maude Bonner. ) Mary Maude married Samuel Johnston and they had five children: Samuel, Freda, Margaret, James and Inez Johnston.

Ella May Pond was born in 1881.

Alexander Pond was born in 1881. Young Alexander was 3 months old on the 1881 census and does not appear on any subsequent census.

Hedley Raymond Pond was born in 1882. He is the son mentioned in the above reference about the Ponds. He married Helen Gertrude McElwain. Hedley served in WWI with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Regiment #152620. On his induction paperwork, he mentions that his nearest relative is his mother, "Maggie" Pond. His mother Margaret is also referred to as "Maggie" on the 1901 York NB census. Hedley and Gertrude had three children: Gerald, Jean Elizabeth and Evelyn Gertrude Pond.

Gerald Randolph Pond born in 1920 was killed in WWII on August 10, 1944. Gerald was a Pilot Officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Gerald married Audrey Isobel MacBean on September 20, 1943, only about one year before Gerald died. Gerald and Audrey had one son. After Gerald's death, Audrey remarried to George Reeleder in 1950. Sadly, Audrey recently passed away on 10 March 2011 in Fredericton, NB. She was survived by the son that she and Gerald had, their son's children and his grandchildren. Additionally, she was survived by children from her second marriage.

Hedley Pond, his wife Gertrude and their son Gerald Randolph Pond are buried at the Upper Durham Cemetery. The military records of Gerald Pond suggest he was buried at Sofia War Cemetery in Bulgaria, but he is not listed on that cemetery's burial list. WWII burials at Sofia are said to be men who were shot down over Bulgaria near the end of the war. Perhaps Gerald is listed on a memorial at Sofia War Cemetery.

Roy Pond was born in 1883.

Lillian Pond was born in 1886. Lillian married Roy Charles Bird on 6 Oct 1910 in British Columbia, Canada. Roy Bird was from Birdton, NB. Birdton was settled in 1824 by members of the Bird family who were from Ireland.

Margaret Bonnar Pond and Henry David Pond are buried at the Lower Durham Cemetery, as are their children, Henry Allen Pond and Lemuel Hovey Pond. You can search the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick by surname to find the location of their burial. Another good source of information that I utilized in preparing this blog post is the site:
http://automatedgenealogy.com/ The site offers several New Brunswick census. You can compare your ancestor and family as they appear on the 1901 census with the 1911 census.

I know I will continue to gather information about the family of Margaret Bonnar and Henry David Pond and their children. In fact, yesterday I requested a copy of the death certificate of Margaret Bonnar Pond from the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. There is some chance that it will name her parents James and Margaret Bonnar and the location in Ireland from which they immigrated. So, the search continues for Bonnars.

(Addendum: May 14, 2011- I received the birth certificate of Margaret Bonnar Pond. It verifies that her parents were James Bonnar and Margaret Chambers rather than Chalmers who were born in Ireland. She was 78 when she died and the informant on the certificate was Eva Pond, daughter. Margaret died after having surgery for an inguinal hernia.)