Cole: An Irish Palatine Family's Timeline

One of the biggest challenges I have encountered in my family history research has been tracing my Irish Palatine ancestors.

While many Irish Palatine families are well-documented, the Cole family is not one of them. Combined with the unique challenges facing those researching their Irish roots, gathering reliable and verifiable data has been problematic.

The following timeline summarizes key details I have pieced together of the Cole family's journey from Germany (possibly Assenheim) to Canada, with a later focus on Canadian family line founder Henry "Harry" Cole (abt 1790-1849).

1709 (Emigration from Germany)

Several thousand Palatine immigrants (Lutheran faith) fled Germany and arrived in London, England.

• Four candidates for my family's first Cole ancestors arrived in these waves of immigrants:
• Henry Kolb (May sailing), who arrived with his unnamed wife and three daughters along with a younger man named Arnold Kolb.
• Johan Kohl (May sailing), aged 24 and unmarried.
• Jacob Kolb (6th sailing, July), who travelled with two children.
• Hans Jacob Kölle (6th sailing, July), although little is known about him this is the preferred candidate identified in family research inherited from my uncle.

1720 (Southwell Estate in Limerick)

By this date, the Palatine immigrants had settled in three different areas of the United Kingdom:

• England, where they assimilated into English culture; and

• Two regions in Ireland, mainly Wexford County in the east and Limerick County in the west.

In Ireland, they lived in small cultural communities on landowners' estates where they worked as tenants. By 1720, 130 families had settled on the Thomas Southwell estate in Limerick County and a Nicholas Cole (anglicized version of the name Kolb/Kohl/Kölle) is recorded as living on this estate at that time.

1770-1775 (From Southwell to Barker Estate)

The Palatine families' farming skills were widely recognized as very effective. During this time, William Barker of Tipperary County enticed some of the Southwell Palatine families in Limerick to leave, inviting them to farm his estate and promising incentives.

• Several families including the Coles took up the offer.

• By 1772, my Cole ancestors were living in Bawnlea, Kilcooly, Tipperary.

1820-1835 (Immigration to Canada)

By this time, a combination of economic and social hardships led many Palatine families to look to North America for new opportunities. By 1825 my family's first Cole ancestors - brothers Henry and Peter Cole - arrived in Upper Canada.

• At this time a Henry and Peter Cole each applied for land grants in Toronto Township.

1837-1838 (Military Service)

Henry Cole served in the military and fought on the side of the government during the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions. I am still trying to confirm what regiment he served in, but there is some evidence that it could have been:

• the 3rd Royal Quebec Volunteer Artillery, from 29 Nov 1837 to 30 Apr 1838; or

• possibly the Dundas Militia, in 1838.

1839 (Prison)

During this time, there is a report that Henry Cole was in prison (the location is currently unconfirmed, but possibly in Toronto Township in Ontario). The specific charge is also not verified, but he was accused of being a "Town Line Blazer," a possible reference to the local Orange Order. For a time, membership appears to have been illegal.

• It is worth noting that early meetings of the Orange Order Lodge in Ontario are said to have taken place in Henry Cole's home near Streetsville, Ontario.
• Nearly 700 men from Peel and Halton counties, some of Irish Palatine descent, signed a petition for Henry Cole's release from prison.

1849 (Death)

On 21 Oct 1849, Henry Cole died after being run over by his wagon near his home. Rumours handed down within the family have whispered about the possibility of murder. Given Henry Cole's activities with the Orange Order, support for the government during the Upper Canada Rebellion (and it would seem logical, a lack of popularity with government reformers), such a rumour at least appears plausible, although still unconfirmed.

• Henry Cole was buried in Streetsville, Ontario in the Scotch Burying Ground (also known as St. Andrew's Cemetery or Streetsville Memorial Cemetery).

Sources:

Brant-LeComte Family Tree research on Ancestry.ca
Conversations with Adam Ireland (a Cole cousin)
Irish Palatine Genealogy (Facebook Group), various posts
Jones, Henry Z. Irish Palatine Families. (1990) [Internet Archive e-library]
Knittle, Walter Allen. Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration. (1937) [University of Illinois Internet Archive]
Ontario Genealogical Society-Irish Palatine Special Interest Group. “Palatine List” and “London Lists.”
Smeltzer, Marjorie R. The Smeltzers of Kilcooly and their Irish-Palatine kissing cousins. (1981) [Internet Archive e-library]