Cuddington Family

Family Tree

• b- ?
  
• d- ?
  
• Father of James Cuddington (1853-1901) when James was married, William Cuddington
  
• Shown as Father and a Brewer's Foreman as occupation, on his son James Wedding Certificate
  

photo taken in Montreal before coming west, age abt 46

• b- Nov 6, 1853 in Brighton, Sussex, England
  
• d- Dec 28, 1901 in Steelman, NWT (SK), Canada
  
• buried in Alemeda SK Cemetery
  
• married Charlotte Amelia “Ruth” Langley Nov 12,1872, at Saint Nicholas Church, Brighton, Sussex, England
• Both buried in Alameda Cemetery, Alameda, SK.
  • Charlotte Amelia “Ruth” Langley
    • 
      
    • b- Nov 22, 1853 in England
      
    • d- Mar 22, 1916, Rocanville, SK
    • 
      
    • daughter of Thomas Langley, a Policeman in Brighton, Sussex, England
      
      • Thomas Langley
      • 
        
• 1881 census- 47 Jubilee St, Brighton, Sussex, England
  
  • James age 27, occupation- Carriers Clark
    
  • Charlotte age 27, born in Brighton as well
    
• 1891 in Brighton Directory, shown as Cuddington, James & Son, Furniture Removers, at #70 James St.
  
• The first page in his Family Bible supplied exact dates above
  
• Per Margaret, “We know he was with the Cheal family at the time of the 1871 census - Charles and Martha Cheals ”
  

Most or perhaps all of the Cuddingtons in Western Canada are descendants of James and Ruth Cuddington. See his history below, written by Margaret Cuddington sent to me Apr 11, 2011, with thanks

James Cuddington (1853 – 1901)
Life Story
written by Margaret Cuddington

James Cuddington was born in Brighton (?), Sussex, 6 November 1853. His father’s name was William. In spite of in-depth research done by various persons, we do not know his mother’s name or whether he had brothers or sisters. We suspect he may have been born out of wedlock and his birth was not registered.

In the 1871 census, when he was 17, he was living with the Charles Cheal family at 47 Jubilee St. in Brighton. He was listed as a servant and as a clerk, working for Mr. Cheal’s moving business.

James was married 12 November 1872 to Ruth Langley. On the marriage certificate their ages were given as 21 and 19 and his occupation was accountant. Actually their ages were 19 and 18. (There may have been a minimum age of 21 for a man’s marriage?) Since their first son, James Charles, was born 28 June 1873 there was some urgency about the marriage.

James and Ruth, over the next 20 years, had 11 children. James continued in the furniture moving business as a carrier’s clerk and then as owner. He sold the business in 1894 and the family immigrated to Montreal.

Gordon’s information had told us “The exact date of their arrival is not known but they are listed in the Montreal directory of 1898-1899.” So I was excited when I searched the microfilms in the provincial archives and found their names as passengers on the SS Sardinian which sailed from Liverpool, Aug 2,1894, and arrived at Montreal, Aug 11, 1894.

Two of their children had died and were buried at Brighton. Seven other children were with them on the ship, all except the two oldest girls. I’m guessing the girls had come earlier to housekeeping jobs and that the rest of the family followed.

James had a moving business in Montreal and we know he spent some time in Toronto prior to coming west. The two eldest sons, James Charles and William, came west to homesteads near Steelman , in what was then the Northwest Territories, in 1900.

William Cuddington Homestead, SE Sec 12, Tsp 4, Rge 5, W2

James and his son Bert came in the summer of 1901. Two of the daughters, Nellie and Millie, had housekeeping jobs in Montreal and did not come west.

The earliest settlers in the southeast corner of what is now Saskatchewan came through the United States, then down the Red River and then across country with teams of oxen to their homesteads. However, by 1900 the CPR railway had been built and also the Souris line south from Brandon. The Cuddingtons came by train. Yet they were still pioneers whose first home in the northwest was a sod house. Some of James’ children remembered the gaps where the light shone through and the cold blew in.

After coming to the homestead in August, James was getting the house ready for the arrival of his wife and the rest of the family. Gordon recorded “Grandpa Jim had frozen his feet while shingling the house and had not had medical attention. His son Jim had gone to Oxbow for supplies and was storm stayed for three days. When he returned to the homestead his father was in the kitchen with his feet in the oven and was dead from gangrene in his feet”. James had died 28 December 1901, age 48. His wife arrived from the east on New Year’s Day and buried her husband a day or two later - a tragic story of early pioneer life. The death notice was printed in the Alameda Dispatch January 3, 1902.

Ruth continued to run the farm with the help of her sons and a hired man, Waid Wood. Waid and Ruth were married in 1904. Ruth was 50 and Wade was 35. Their relationship didn’t last very long. Waid moved to another relationship at North Portal.

Ruth died 22 March 1916 at 62 years of age. She died in Rocanville where she had gone to be with her son Bert and his wife Nell. Both James and Ruth are buried in the Alameda Cemetery.

Written by Margaret Cuddington – September 2004

(In the house where I grew up, there was a coal and wood stove in the kitchen. My Dad would sometimes sit with his feet on the oven door to enjoy the heat)

Most of the family tree above was submitted to me by Margaret Cuddington as well.
she attributes a lot of the research to John Anthony Cuddington, and Gordon Oliver Cuddington
I thank them all for sharing here.

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