HistoryOwen King and his children Edward, Michael, Isabella and Patrick came to Canada from County Down Ireland in 1847. They settled for a time in Caledon Township, Peel County. At the Great Land Sale in September 1854, Owen and his 3 sons purchased 600 acres in the southwest corner of Culross Township, Bruce County. Isabella and her husband Michael Donnelly settled in neighboring Wawanosh Township, Huron County. The descendants of Michael King in western Canada and in the western United States have been holding reunions every 5 years for about 20 years. They have held reunions in Washington State, Colorado, Alberta (1990) and California (1995). Three grandsons of Michael's brother Edward (Owen, George and Joseph King) and 3 greatgrandchildren (Margaret King, Brenda Wilton and John Downs) attended the 1995 Reunion at Casa del Frutta near Hollister, California. Margaret and Brenda agreed that the Ontario Kings would host a Reunion in 2000 for all the descendants of Owen King and and his wife Mary Anne Maginn. As a first step, a Reunion was held in Formosa, Ontario on 27 July 1996. About 175 people attended, mostly descendants of Edward. One of Michael's greatgrandchildren (Eileen Moore and her husband Dick) and three of Patrick's descendants (Grandson Dave King, greatgrandaughter Pam King and greatgrandson Jim Martin and his wife Pat) also attended. Most of the attendeees were from Ontario but Jim and Marianne Alter attended from Detroit. A second Reunion was held in Formosa in 1998. The attendance was down slightly but there were more attendees from the Pat King family. Reunion 2000LocationThe 2000 Reunion will be held in Walkertoon and Teeswater, Ontario from 21-23 July 2000. The principal location will be at the Walkerton Community Centre but events will be held in the surrounding area and we are planning a bus tour of the King historical sites. If there is sufficient interest a tour may be arranged in Peel County. A tentative agenda follows. Please feel free to make suggestions to the email or postal addresses below. Tentative AgendaFriday 21 July 2000
Saturday 22 July 2000
Sunday 23 July 2000
Tuesday 25 July 2000
Email comments and suggestions to Patrick.King@ec.gc.ca |