The Flynns of Emily Township: research report (October 2026)

Subject: John Flynn (c. 1801-02, Co. Cork, to after 1861) and Ann (Anne) Murray (c. 1809-14, to 1883), of Emily Township, Victoria County, Canada West, the parents of James Murray Flynn (1846/47-1921) and great-great-grandparents of Jerome Edwin Dwyer (1939-2015). Nothing in the archive was edited.

Evidence tiers: [D] documented (primary record, or an index or transcript of one), [C] compiled, [I] inferred, [T] tradition.

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Summary

1. Famous kin: nothing notable found. No person with a Wikipedia article or a documented public role could be traced as a descendant of John Flynn and Ann Murray, or of William Flyn (d. 1826). Every notable Flynn turned up was a namesake with no linking evidence (listed at the end).
2. The Peter Robinson question: probable, and much stronger than before. Land and assessment records put a John Flynn, a Peter Robinson settler, on the south half of lot 11, concession 10, Emily, from 1825. William Flyn held the north half of the same lot. In January 1846 John Flynn of Emily obtained William's half-lot through the Heir and Devisee Commission. The 1851 census household of John Flynn (about 50, farmer, born Ireland), Ann, and their children including James is placed on lot 11, concession 10. The archive now has this link as "possible"; probable is justified. It is not yet proven, because no record seen states in words that this John was William's son. The claim file would.
3. New family facts. The 1851 and 1861 censuses (read here from the Library and Archives Canada images) list the household and give the other children: William (c. 1834), John (c. 1836), Mary (c. 1840, born in the United States), Elizabeth/Eliza (c. 1845) and Margaret (c. 1850), as well as James. Two new questions for the archive:
   • The censuses, his enlistment age and his baptism all suggest James was born in August 1847, not 1846.
   • William Flyn's death date is 12 September 1826 in the settler list, against 12 October in the Ancestry tree.

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1. Famous kin

No candidates. No line from John Flynn and Ann Murray (or from William Flyn) to a person with a public footprint could be built.

What was searched:

• WikiTree API.
  • By surname with birth or death in Emily, Victoria, Peterborough, Cork, Ontario, St. Joseph MO and Fairfield NE.
  • The Peter Robinson settler categories.
  • Result: the only Emily Flynns on WikiTree are the family of Thomas Flynn (1822-1895) and Hanora Herlihey, of concession 10, lot 15. They are unrelated (see the last section).
• Wikipedia (search was rate-limited, so partly done through web search): Flynns born in Emily, Downeyville, Omemee or Victoria County. None found.
• Kirkconnell, Victoria County Centennial History (1921), including its section of notable natives of the county (archive.org full text, victoriacountyce00kirkuoft). The only notable person born at Downeyville is Fergus Patrick McEvay (1852-1911), Archbishop of Toronto. He was the son of Michael McEvay and Mary Lehane (Dictionary of Canadian Biography), so there is no Flynn link. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mcevay_fergus_patrick_14E.html
• Nebraska and Missouri: web searches for the Flynns of Clay County, Otoe County and St. Joseph, and for James M. Flynn's children (John Henry, Thomas Lafayette, Maud Margaret, Paul Ignatius). Nothing notable was found.
• Descendants of the children of John and Ann (William, John, Mary, Elizabeth, Margaret): none could be traced past 1861 with the records reachable from here. This is the main gap.
• Daniel Flynn (probably William Flyn's son; see section 3): his farm, concession 9, lot 10, was still held by the family in 1921 (Kirkconnell p. 219). His descendants were not traced.

Relationship framework, for any future find:

Person	Relationship to Jerome Dwyer
John Flynn and Ann Murray	His 2nd great-grandparents
Siblings of James M. Flynn (children of John and Ann)	His 2nd great-granduncles and aunts
Their grandchildren	Third cousins of Jerome's grandfather, William Clifford Flynn
William Flyn (d. 1826), if the link holds	His 3rd great-grandfather
Daniel Flynn, if the link holds	His 3rd great-granduncle

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2. The Peter Robinson question

Verdict: probable

John Flynn, husband of Ann Murray, is very probably the John Flyn, 24, who came on the Brunswick in 1825 as a son in the family of William Flyn of Mallow.

The evidence, step by step

1. The ship list, 1825 [D, transcript].

• Brunswick, from Cove of Cork to Quebec.
• William Flyn, 60, "died 12 Sep 1826, Emily Twp.", with John 24, Daniel 20, Mary 16, Johanna 13 and Nancy 11.
• The same ship carried an unrelated party: Cornelius Flyn, 43, of Douro Twp., and his family.
• Sources:
  • Olive Tree Genealogy, from Robinson's lists: https://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/canada/PeterRobinsonListBrunswick1825.shtml
  • kennytree.com, citing the Peterborough Centennial Museum, which has "FLYN, William | Died in Emily 12 Sept./26": http://old.kennytree.com/links/peter_robinson.htm
  • The typed list "List of Irish immigrants who came in the Peter Robinson immigration scheme of 1825" (University of Toronto copy; the IGP source): https://archive.org/details/localhistory_2eg
  • "Reduced farmer" and Mallow come from the IGP/IrelandXO transcriptions. The IGP page (igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/islandwide/emigration/irish-emigrants-canada.htm) now returns 404; IrelandXO node 553138 says the same (https://irelandxo.com/node/553138, a JavaScript page, read only from its search snippet).

2. The surgeon's journal, 1825 [D, transcript].

• John Tarn, surgeon of the Brunswick, recorded two of the family as sick on the voyage:
  • "John Flynn, aged 24, put on sick list 8 June 1825, discharged 11 June 1825"
  • "Johanna Flynn, aged 13, put on sick list 10 June 1825, discharged 21 June 1825"
• Source: UK National Archives ADM 101/13/8, extracted at https://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/canada/PeterRobinson-Brunswick1825.shtml

3. Peter Robinson land locations, Emily, 24 November 1825 [D, index]. From the Ontario Archives Land Record Index (1979 fiche; "PR" = Peter Robinson immigrant; RG 1 C-I-4 = location registers):

Land	Locatee	Located	Later entry	Reference
N½ lot 11, con. 10	William Flynn	24 Nov 1825	Order-in-Council in his name, 14 Aug 1846 (RG 1 C-I-3, vol. 154 p. 25)	RG 1 C-I-4, vol. 20 p. 256
S½ lot 11, con. 10	John Flynn	24 Nov 1825 (also listed "1826c", vol. 20 p. 40)	Order-in-Council 21 Apr 1834 (RG 1 C-I-3, vol. 154 p. 8)	RG 1 C-I-4, vol. 20 p. 256
N½ lot 10, con. 9	Daniel Flynn	24 Nov 1825	(also "1826c", vol. 20 p. 40)	RG 1 C-I-4, vol. 20 p. 255

• Index copies: fiche 22, pp. 4712-4716, https://archive.org/details/olri_township-index_022_elizabethtown-emily (PDF pp. 241-245); fiche 23, p. 4773, https://archive.org/details/olri_township-index_023_emily-essa (PDF p. 33).
• Code key: Archives of Ontario guide, https://webresources.oxfordcounty.ca/umbraco/documents/history/Archives_Ontario_Land_Records_Index_sm.pdf
• A father with his two grown sons, each on a neighbouring Robinson half-lot, is the pattern of the 1825 locations [I].
• Discrepancy: the Nine Ships 1825 table (from Peter McConkey, Trent Valley Archives) gives "Flynn, William, Mallow, Cork, Emily, S-11, con. 10, 6 persons"; the index has William on the N½ and John on the S½. https://nineships1825.com/peter-robinson-settlement-by-township/

4. The assessments, 1826-1830 [C]. Michael Stephenson, The Early Settlement of Emily Township (thesis, 1995), Appendix One, abstracts the Newcastle District census and assessment rolls by lot. Its entries for "FLYNN/FLYNNE JOHN, con. 10 lot 11 S/2, settled 1826, Robinson settler":

Year	Household	Cleared	Notes	Thesis page
1826	6: 3 males over 16, 1 female over 16, 2 females under 16	5 acres		p. 145
1827	3	2 acres	1 cow	p. 147
1828	1 male	4 acres		p. 150
1830	4	2 acres	marked as not at the lot at the next census (1841)	p. 153

• The 1826 household is exactly the Brunswick family [I]: William, John and Daniel; Mary, 17; Johanna, 14; Nancy, 12. William was still alive until September 1826.
• Images: https://www.ontariogenealogy.com/earlysettlementofemilytownship.html (for example .../emilytownshippioneersettlement/page145.jpg).
• In 1841 no Flynn is assessed on lot 11, con. 10. A John Flynn ("settled 1840", household of 2, Robinson settler) is on E½ lot 8, con. 8 (p. 157). He may or may not be the same man.

5. The Heir and Devisee Commission, January 1846 [D, index].

• Index entry: "EMILY, N1/2 11, conc. 10, Date ID 2 (Assignment), 184601, FG, COMM, FLYNN JOHN, Residence EMILY, RG 1 C-I-3 vol. 092 p. 005."
• COMM = the Heir and Devisee Commission, which heard claims by the heirs, devisees and assignees of the original nominees.
• So John Flynn of Emily took over William Flynn's located half-lot in 1846. Seven months later the Order-in-Council for that half-lot issued in William's name.
• This is the strongest single link: John was William's successor in title, almost certainly as heir [I]. The index does not say which of heir, devisee or assignee he was; the claim file will.
• The Upper Canada land petitions index also lists petitions by John Flynn, Victoria, 1842 and 1846 [D, index]: https://www.ontariogenealogy.com/uppercanadalandpetitions/f_landpetition.html
• The same compiler's Victoria County settler index lists "FLYNN JOHN, WILLIAM 1840 .. EMILY TOWNSHIP" (subscriber-only content): https://www.ontariogenealogy.com/uppercanadaontariopioneerlandsettlementrecords/victoriacountypioneersettlers/victoriacountypioneerlandsettlement.html

6. The 1851 census, Emily (taken January 1852) [D, image read]. This is the household of Ann Murray's husband (see section 3). The agricultural data in Stephenson's thesis (1851 table, p. 163, row 167) place "FLYNN JOHN" on con. 10, lot 11, Robinson settler, with 50 acres cleared and 9 acres of wheat yielding 130 bushels [C].

• Its "settled 1846" date fits the 1846 claim.
• Its family counts (7 males, 5 females, 12 persons) do not match the 8 persons of the personal census, so the thesis may have merged two households.
• The 1851 agricultural schedule itself should be checked.

7. The 1861 census [D, image read] has John Flinn, 60, born Ireland, with Ann and James, 13. James is the son of John Flynn and Anne Murray by his 1847 baptism (already in the archive).

Why "probable" and not "proven"

What matches:

• The name.
• The age: 24 in May 1825; 50 in January 1852; 60 in January 1861. All give a birth about 1801.
• The county of origin.
• The township and the very lot.
• The 1846 succession to William's land.

What is missing: no document seen says in words that John, husband of Ann, was William's son. Two other gaps:

• The family is absent from lot 11 in 1841. Mary was born in the United States about 1840, which suggests the family was away for a time.
• The 1830 assessment marks John as gone from the lot.

So a second John Flynn on the same lot cannot be excluded by a document. It is unlikely, given the 1846 succession and the 1851 location [I].

What would settle it

1. The Heir and Devisee Commission claim for N½ 11, con. 10, Emily, c. January 1846: the index reference is RG 1 C-I-3 vol. 92 p. 5; the claim papers are with the Commission's records (Archives of Ontario, RG 40). Such claims normally state the claimant's relationship to the nominee.
2. John Flynn's land petitions of 1842 and 1846 (Upper Canada Land Petitions, Library and Archives Canada RG 1 L3). LAC's search is behind a Cloudflare check here and could not be read.
3. The 1851 agricultural schedule for Emily (LAC images), to tie the personal household to lot 11 directly.
4. The abstract index for lot 11, con. 10, Emily (OnLand, Victoria County registry): later sales by John Flynn and his heirs.

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3. The Flynns of Emily: facts for a life story

The voyage (1825)

• Embarkation. The family embarked at Cove of Cork on the Brunswick in early May 1825: 101 emigrants came aboard on 3 May and 241 more on 4 May. The ship sailed at 5 am on 11 May (the list's "departed 5 May" is the embarkation week).
• Arrival. It reached Quebec on 12 June. The emigrants were moved to the steamboat Lady Sherbrooke for Montreal (16 June), carted to Lachine, and on 21 June went up the St Lawrence in 13 bateaux, reaching Prescott on 27 June.
• Sickness. John (24) and Johanna (13) were on the surgeon's sick list in June.
• Source: Tarn's journal, ADM 101/13/8, via Olive Tree [D, transcript].
• Onward. The 1825 settlers went on to Peterborough by Cobourg, Rice Lake and the Otonabee (kennytree / Peterborough Centennial Museum [C]). They camped at Peterborough from September to November 1825 (Nine Ships 1825, McConkey map [C]).
• Land. Emily locations were handed out in October and November 1825 (https://www.kawarthalakes.ca/explore-play/arts-culture-and-heritage/moments-and-memories/peter-robinson-settlement/ [C]). The Flynn tickets are dated 24 November 1825 [D, index].

The land

• William: N½ lot 11, con. 10. John: S½ lot 11, con. 10. Daniel: N½ lot 10, con. 9. Each half-lot was 100 acres [D, index].
• In 1826 the family of six had 5 acres cleared [C].
• William Flyn died in Emily on 12 September 1826, about a year after arriving (Robinson list [D, transcript]). The Ancestry tree's "12 October 1826" disagrees.
• John's half-lot was confirmed by Order-in-Council on 21 April 1834 [D, index].
• In 1846 he succeeded to William's half as well [D, index].
• Daniel (probably William's son, the only Daniel among the 1825 Flynns [I]):
  • Located on N½ 10, con. 9 in 1825; assessed there in 1830 [C].
  • Kirkconnell (1921, p. 219) lists "Daniel Flynn, IX 10" among the Emily pioneers whose Crown farms were still held by their families in 1921 [C].
  • The S½ of the same lot was Michael Flynn's (see the unrelated list).
  • https://archive.org/details/victoriacountyce00kirkuoft

The household of John Flynn and Ann Murray

1851 census, Canada West, Victoria County, Emily [D, image read].

• Enumeration district 1, which covers the northern concessions ("from the 8th to the 1[4]th concession inclusive"); page 33, lines 29-36.
• LAC item e002370238: https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1851&op=img&id=e002370238 (image https://data2.archives.ca/e/e095/e002370238.jpg).
• Reading the ages: on this page the age and sex columns are written one line higher than the names. The sex marks only fit the names once matched one line down. On the same-line reading, John would be a 38-year-old female and Ann an 18-year-old male. The household with the columns realigned:

Name	Occupation	Born	Religion	Age next birthday
John Flynn	Farmer	Ireland	Roman Catholic	50
Ann Flynn		Ireland	Roman Catholic	38
William Flynn	Labourer	U. Canada		18
John Flynn	Labourer	U. Canada		16
Mary Flynn		U. States		12
Elizabeth Flynn		U. Canada		6
James Flynn		U. Canada		4
Margaret Flynn		U. Canada		2

1861 census, Canada West, Victoria County, Emily [D, image read].

• Enumeration district 4, page 58, lines 36-43.
• LAC image 4108348_00256: https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1861&op=img&id=4108348_00256 (image https://data2.archives.ca/1861/jpg/4108348_00256.jpg).
• The 1861 page does not mark household breaks. Michl Flinn, 65, Ireland, and Cornelius Flinn, 33, Ireland, follow on lines 44-45. They are most likely the separate household of Michael Flynn of Kilbolane, who was 30 in 1825.

Name	Born	Age
John Flinn	Ireland	60
Ann Flinn		47 (written over another figure, possibly 44)
Wm Flinn	U. Canada	26
Mary Flinn	U. States	21
Eliza Flinn	U. Canada	16
James Flinn	U. Canada	13
Margaret Flinn	U. Canada	11
Cath. C[anten?]	Ireland	21 (surname unclear; perhaps a servant or a daughter-in-law)

Son John (16 in 1851) is not in the 1861 household.

Children [D for presence in the household; parentage I, probable]: William (b. c. 1834, U.C.), John (b. c. 1836, U.C.), Mary (b. c. 1840, United States), Elizabeth/Eliza (b. c. 1845, U.C.), James Murray (b. 1846/47, Emily), Margaret (b. c. 1850, U.C.). The censuses give no relationships. William and John may be from an earlier marriage of John's, since Ann was about 20 at William's birth [I]; nothing shows it either way.

Ann's birth. About 1813-14 by both censuses. Find a Grave's 1809 and the trees' Cavan origin (Graghadragh, Mullagh) remain unsourced; nothing was found for the Cavan parents.

After 1861.

• John and Ann were not found in the part of the 1871 Emily census examined (LAC images 4396304_00510-00548, Emily division 4 and part of another). That was not a full search of the township.
• James enlisted at St. Louis in 1865, and Ann died in 1883 in Missouri or Nebraska (trees), so the family, or part of it, went to the United States after 1861 [C/I].

The parish

Source: Lindsay paper, 1895, transcribed at https://www.ontariogenealogy.com/Victoria/downeyvillechurchhistory.html; and Kirkconnell 1921 [C].

• Until 1851 Emily had no resident priest. Mass was said at "stations" in settlers' cabins by priests from Peterborough: Father James Crowley from 1828, Father Butler from 1835.
• From June 1840 the Lindsay priest served Emily. Father Hugh Fitzpatrick built the first St Luke's, a log church on the present cemetery site, a mile west of the present church.
• Father McEvay was pastor at Lindsay from September 1844 to October 1848. James's baptism on 26 September 1847 falls in his time [I]; the register entry itself would name the priest.
• The first resident priest, Father John Bourke (Burke), came in November 1851.
• Father Bernard Coyle built a frame church at "Downey's Cross" in 1858, on land bought from Bartholomew Downey, a Robinson settler (con. 9, lot 6). It was bricked in 1894-95.
• The hamlet of Downeyville grew around the church. "Downeyville" as a place of birth in 1846/47 is the later name.

James's birth year

Several records point to 1847:

• The 1851 census: 4 at next birthday.
• The 1861 census: 13 (census day 14 January 1861).
• His enlistment at 18 on 16 October 1865, which means he was born after mid-October 1846.
• His baptism, 26 September 1847.

All fit a birth on 21 August 1847 better than Find a Grave's 21 Aug 1846 [I]. The baptism image (FamilySearch 1:1:6ZJF-9X2F) may give the birth date and settle it. Raise this with the user rather than change the date.

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4. Checked: unrelated or unproven

• Michael Flinn/Flynn, 30, of Kilbolane, Co. Cork, ship Elizabeth 1825 (wife Elizabeth 28, children Thomas 6 and Connor 2, sister Mary Casey 32).
  • Located on S½ lot 10, con. 9, Emily, next to Daniel Flynn's half.
  • His farm was still in the family in 1921.
  • Unproven kinship. He came from a different parish and ship, and nothing links him to William.
  • Sources: https://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/canada/PeterRobinsonListElizabeth1825.shtml and the Nine Ships table.
• Thomas Flynn (c. 1820-1895) and Hanora Herlihey, of S½ lot 15, con. 10, Emily (Canada Company sales to Michael Flynn 1840 and "Flyn Thos" 1854; fiche 22, p. 4716).
  • Probably Michael Flynn's son Thomas (6 in 1825) [I].
  • Unrelated to John and Ann on the evidence: a separate household and a separate Robinson family.
  • WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Flynn-4604
• Cornelius Flyn, 43, and his widow Margaret, with James 24, Ebby 17, Mary 12 and Cornelius 5.
  • Same ship (Brunswick), settled in Douro.
  • Nine Ships has a James Flynn of Buttevant in Douro, E½ lot 5, con. 5.
  • Unproven: same ship and neighbouring parishes in Cork, but no linking record.
• Terence Flynn, of Emily (land petitions 1836, 1838; an original patentee per Kirkconnell). Unexamined namesake.
• Fergus Patrick McEvay (1852-1911), Archbishop of Toronto, born at Downeyville/Lindsay; son of Michael McEvay and Mary Lehane. Unrelated (same place only).
• Harry Joseph Flynn (archbishop; born at Schenectady, NY): unrelated namesake.
• Michael and Bridget Flynn of Clay County, Nebraska (1880; she was a native of Dublin; he died at Yuma, Colorado): unrelated namesakes.
• Richard Flynn of Valley County, Nebraska (born Ohio), and John Flynn of Custer County, Nebraska (from Iowa): unrelated namesakes (Compendium of History, Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska, usgennet.org cmp0871, cmp1039).
• Matthew James Murray and Mary Anne Crowley of Graghadragh, Mullagh, Cavan (the trees' parents for Ann): no source found; still unsupported.

Sources that could not be reached

• Library and Archives Canada Collection Search: a Cloudflare check blocks the search pages. The census images themselves were downloaded directly.
• automatedgenealogy.com: returned 403.
• Find a Grave: returned 403.
• The IGP page: now 404.
• ontariogenealogy.com's 1851 Emily agricultural census PDF: subscriber-only (401).
• IrelandXO: a JavaScript application whose API was not reachable.
• The Wikipedia API was rate-limited (429).