New Developments in the Elliot/Darragh/Dillane Project

The 14 Day Research Like a Pro Challenge may be over, but the work goes on. There have been several developments since I finished up my project to discover if Joanna Elliot was the mother of Dorah Darragh, a third great-grandmother. 

 

New Developments 

I connected with a Dillane descendant on Ancestry via their messaging system. My theory is that Dorah Darragh's mother was Joanna Elliot, and that Joanna was a Dillane, accounting for the close connection between their families. I contacted my new friend after noticing that he had the Elliots, Darraghs, and Dillanes in his Ancestry family tree. He is a descendant of John Dillane, Charles Dillane's brother. My new collaborator held many of the same theories and conclusions that I had come to regarding these families. 

 

He also corrected one relationship that I got wrong: The Esther Dillane living with Edward and "Georgina" Elliot  in 1861 was not Charles and Mary Dillane's daughter, but the daughter of another brother, William Dillane. That two Dillane brothers named daughters Esther points to a possible family naming pattern—another puzzle piece. I shared my challenge report with him and gave him access to my Ancestry tree so that we can hopefully work together on this family.

St. Mary's Catholic Church staff contacted me—literally, the day after the challenge ended. Church staff are busy caring for the living and don't always have time to devote to looking through historical records. Patience is the key. Recall I had inquired about a marriage record for Dorah Elliot and John Darragh and Catholic death records for Dorah and Joanna. Staff informed me that the church does not have any records before 1856; Dorah and John likely married about 1848, so their marriage is not recorded there. She did not find any record for Joanna Elliot or Dorah in their death registers either. Disappointing, but now I know. But...

...she gave me a staff contact for St. Stanislaus Catholic Cemetery and I emailed him. He plans to search the cemetery archives for Joanna Elliot and Dorah Darragh's burial records next week. Fingers crossed for that elusive connection, stay tuned. 

More on Edward Elliot's Land Grant

Though not yet confirmed, my theory is that Edward Elliot is Dorah Elliot's father and my fourth great-grandfather. I'm researching him to document their connection. 

One piece of that puzzle was discovering that he received a Crown land patent in July 1849. With Ken McKinlay's help, I now have his grant document. But what does it say?

Edward received a free 50-acre grant.¹ Free grants could have administrative charges depending on the petitioner's circumstances. Edward's grant was classified as a AA type or "Gratuitous," which were "free grants to individuals who were a) judged destitute by a government board and/or b) had all administrative fees waived."²

Edward settled in Sullivan township, along the relatively new Owen Sound Road (also referred to as the Garafraxa Road), the the main artery between Guelph and Owen Sound. 

In The History of the County of Grey, I learned what was required to obtain a patent in that area: 

"As early as 1842 number of settlers came into the township by way of the Garafraxa Road and settled on the free grant lands, The condition of settlement were actual residence and to clear and crop one-third of the land within four years, when the patent would be given. Non compliance with condition forfeited the lands. One party could only get one allotment of fifty acres free. However, the locatees on these grant lands, had the preference of getting employment on the line of road being opened, from which source they could earn more land adjoining their grant." As required, Edward's document states, "Patent free" and "Settler duty performed."³

This history tells me that Edward Elliot may have come to the area as early as 1845. Edward's settlement date along with the fact that he received a free grant leads me to wonder if he and his family were Famine immigrants to Canada who needed to start over again.

 

Map of Edward Elliot's Land

A fabulous 1851 patent plan map of Sullivan clearly shows Edward Elliot's land along the "Owen Sound Road."⁴ (View the entire map here: https://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/Ontario/PatentPlans/PatentPlansOntario/PP.html#sullivan). 

The map snip below gives some important context to my family's story. Dorah Darragh's children, Jane and Daniel Darragh, were inexplicably living with an Arthur White family in 1861.⁵ Dorah had died five years prior; their father, John, was working in Owen Sound when counted on that year's census.⁶ The map shows the land owned by their possible grandfather, Edward Elliot, and possible uncle, Charles “Delain,” in Division II, Lot 3, 1st Concession (green). Arthur White is a near neighbor in Division II, Lot 3, 2nd Concession (pink). 

Until I saw this map, I could only imagine where the White family lived and how distant it might have been from Jane and Daniel's family. The Arthur White land is very close to the Dillane and Elliot lots. Jane and Daniel were not so very far away from these proposed family members when they lived with the Whites. The proximity of the group may suggest a close, possibly familial, relationship between them.

The Owen Sound Road (sometimes called the Garafraxa Road), ran along the east side of Charles Dillane and Edward Elliott's properties, shown in green.

 

I've got lots more work to do to connect all the dots on this project. Every new piece of information helps build the bigger picture. I'll share more as I learn it.

Until next time...

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2026. All rights reserved. 

 

NOTES

 
¹ Ontario Crown Lands Department, Sullivan, grant issued to Edward Elliott, Lot 1, Concession 3, DATE ; imaged, “Township papers, ca. 1783-1870's," FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSY9-GCR4 : accessed 16 Jan 2026), citing Archives of Ontario, Ottawa.

² "OLRI Fields and Codes," Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/olri-fields-and-codes-2025 : accessed 7 Feb. 2026), Transaction Types and Type of Free Grant.

³ E.L. Marsh, A History of the County of Grey (Owen Sound, Ont. : Fleming Pub. Co., 1931), 136; imaged, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/localhistory_2HO/page/n499/mode/2up : accessed 7 February 2026); citing University of Toronto.

⁴ Crown land patent plan, Sullivan Township, Grey County, Canada West, 1851, Div. 2, Lot 3, 1st Concession, Edward Elliot; imaged, Archives of Ontario (https://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/Ontario/PatentPlans/PatentPlansOntario/PP.html#sullivan : accessed 22 Jan. 2026; citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto. 

⁵ 1861 Canada Census, Grey Co., Canada West, Township of Sullivan, p. 3, line 48, Jane Darragh and Daniel Darragh in Arthur White household; imaged, "1861 Census of Canada," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1570/images/4391552_00032 : accessed 29 June 2025); citing Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa. 

⁶  Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/249195133/dorah-darragh : accessed 25 June 2025), "Dorah Darragh" (1820-1856) memorial created by A.W. Bauer with headstone photo by Marilyn Hamilton Irish; citing St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Cemetery, Chatsworth, Grey, Ontario, Canada. Also, 1861 Canada Census, Grey Co., Canada West, City of Owen Sound, p. 1, line 15, John Darragh, wheelwright; imaged, "1861 Census of Canada," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1570/records/795386457 : accessed 25 June 2025); citing Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.