Mary Amelia
McCarriston
25 April 1850 – 25 February 1923
Father
John McCarriston
1809 – 1870
Mother
Mary Arnold
1819 – 1903
Spouse
Joseph Scrivens
1854 – 1932
Siblings
John McCarriston, Margaret McCarriston
Children
Biography
Mary Amelia McCarriston was born on 25 April 1850 in Kingston, Ontario to Irish immigrants John McCarriston and Mary Arnold. She was baptised on the 14th of June at St Mary’s Cathedral, a building which, while open for services, had not yet been fully completed.
Mary Amelia had two siblings – John was born on 24 December 1853 and Margaret Ann on 19 August 1859. At the time of the 1861 census, Mary Sr was staying home to raise the three young children while John Sr worked as a labourer. By the time of the 1871 census, John had passed away and Mary was raising the family on her own. No death record has been located, so the exact date or cause of his death is currently unknown.
Mary Amelia met a farmer named Joseph Scrivens and at some point between 1871 and 1876 they were married. Their first child, Effie, was born on 27 November 1876. Their son Frederick John was born on 11 March 1879 and Margaret Ann was born on 14 April 1880.
On census records for the year 1881, there were a John and Annie Scrivens living with the family – we can safely assume that John was the brother of Joseph, but it’s not certain who Annie was as birthdates don’t quite match up. She could have been Joseph’s sister Ann, but it’s more likely she was Mary Amelia’s sister Margaret Ann, who married John in 1884 and would eventually help take over management of the family farm with her husband. Further evidence to prove this theory comes from Frederick’s birth record, which was filed by Margaret in 1935 and stated that she was present at his birth as she was living at the house at that time.
By 1891 Mary Amelia, Joseph and their three children had moved to Peterborough. The census records from that year show that a 25-year old dressmaker named Elizabeth Tucker was living in the same household. The family can’t be found on the 1901 census but the following year shows an Anna Scriven living with the couple at 447 West Marion Street in Toronto – this Anna is most likely Joseph’s older sister, who was born in England.
At some point between 1911 and 1921, the couple’s daughter Margaret Ann and her husband Stewart Price moved into the house on West Marion with their children James Arnold and Margaret.
Mary Amelia passed away on 25 February 1923 due to complications from influenza. She is buried at Park Lawn Cemetery in Toronto with her husband Joseph, their son Frederick, and their granddaughter Jean Amelia.
Gallery
Sources
“St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception: The Building”, https://stmaryscathedral.ca/tour/; © St. Mary’s Cathedral 2017. Accessed 23 April 2020.
Census of Canada, 1861, District: Frontenac, Canada West (Ontario); p. 19, Sub-district: Kingston, lines 1-5; Library & Archives Canada (accessed online April 23, 2020 via http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1861). Digital image.
Census of Canada, 1871, District #65 Frontenac, Ontario; p. 56, Sub-district: Kingston, family 206, dwelling 204, lines 9-12; Library & Archives Canada (accessed online April 23, 2020 via http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871). Digital image.
Census of Canada, 1881, District #115 Frontenac, Ontario; p. 12-13, Sub-district Kingston, family 55, dwelling 55, lines 21-25, 1-2; Library & Archives Canada (accessed online April 23, 2020 via http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1881). Digital image.
Marriage record for John Scriven and Margaret McCarriston; Ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library (Brampton, Ontario, Canada). Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010 (accessed 23 April, 2020). Original source: Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 46. Digital image.
Census of Canada, 1891, District #109 Peterborough East, Ontario; p. 31, Sub-district: Belmont, family 149, lines 3-7; Library & Archives Canada (accessed online April 22, 2020 via http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1891). Digital image.
Census of Canada, 1911, District #128 West Toronto, Ontario; p. 14, Sub-district #99 Toronto, Ward #6, family 161, dwelling 154, lines 40-42; Library & Archives Canada (accessed online April 22, 2020 via http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1911). Digital image.
Census of Canada, 1921, District #113, Parkdale, Ontario; p. 2, Sub-district #15 Toronto City, family 24, dwelling 28, lines 18-23; Library & Archives Canada (accessed online January 22, 2020 via http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1921). Digital image.
Death record for Mary Amelia Scriven; Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010 (accessed 22 April, 2020). Original source: Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1947 (MS 935, reels 1-694), Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 297. Digital image.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 22 April 2020), memorial page for M. Amelia McCarriston Sciven (1852–1923), Find a Grave Memorial no. 111826047, citing Park Lawn Cemetery, Toronto, Toronto Municipality, Ontario, Canada ; Maintained by Islington (contributor 47351667).
Family genealogy notes of James Arnold Price, Jr.; in possession of the Pytlik family. (Typed notes and family tree.)
Birth record for Frederick John Scriven; Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010 (accessed 23 April, 2020). Original source: Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Delayed Registrations of Births and Stillbirths, “90” Series, 1869-1911, 1913; Series: MS933; Reel: 7; Record Group: RG 80-2. Digital image.