The Abbotts

The Abbotts: a Devonshire immigrant family in Canada explores the history of a large middle class family who made the decision to emigrate from Devon, England to settle in south western Ontario in the 19th century. The choice to emigrate was not made lightly. The journey was arduous for the family with an expectant mother and 7 children, but the rewards of moving to the new Dominion of Canada were compelling. The book explores the ancestral history of the Abbott Family in Devon, the reasons they left, the settlement of the first generation immigrants in Ontario with their accomplishments, their challenges and their sorrows. It also focuses on the family's annual reunion which spanned 100 years. It will appeal to those interested in the ongoing immigrant experience in Canada as well as those who may reflect on their own family's journey to a new life in a new place. Ultimately, it is a well researched genealogical study of one family's experience, revealing so much about the immigrant experience of Canadians.

Gail Ferguson lives in Toronto, Ontario with her husband, Joseph Romain. Gail has been fascinated by family history since she discovered, as a young child, a family photograph among the cufflinks and tire gauges in her father's top drawer. This find informed many of her choices in higher education. With a bachelor's degree in History from the University of Toronto and a graduate degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Western Ontario, Gail became a librarian in the Canadiana Department and the Special Collections Department of the Toronto Public Library where she assisted experienced professional researchers and beginner family and local historians in the use of specialized genealogical collections. Gail is a member of several genealogical societies including the Ontario Genealogical Society, the Aberdeen and North-East Scotland Family History Society and the City of York and District Family History Society. Having researched genealogical records in libraries, archives and in virtual collections for more than thirty years, Gail has traced various lines of her family back several generations and created a compelling narrative of their lives. Her first published work, The Abbotts: a Devonshire immigrant family in Canada, was published in 2019. It tells the story of an immigrant family from Devon who settled in South-Western Ontario. Years of research have allowed her to write Cloth and Clay: a family history, a compelling in-depth story of the union of two immigrant families as they adjust to life in Ontario.