C1905 - Harriet Strickland b.1888 - Joyce's Maternal Grandmother prior to her marriage to George Nelson Joyce (see photo below). Hattie's family moved from Burgeo, Newfoundland to Lingan, Nova Scotia C1886. At the age of 5, she was orphaned and separated from her older siblings coming by train across Canada with an aunt and uncle, Harriet and William Anderson, to settle in Victoria, BC.
Right: C1900 - My maternal Grandfather, George Nelson Joyce b.1877 - his siblings, Gilbert, Cloria, Sparkes, and mother, Mary Evely-Marshall-Joyce. They were from Freshwater, Newfoundland and came to Victoria, BC C1900. Top L to R, George Nelson Joyce and Gilbert Joyce. Bottom, Clara aka Clora (mar. Darius George House), Gilbert and their mother, Mary Joyce.
Hello, my name is Joyce Hope SANDILANDS and welcome to our Family Genealogy Page. My husband is bestselling Canadian author, J. (John) Robert WHITTLE, and we live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest on Vancouver Island ... more precisely, in Victoria, BC Canada. Before I became the editor and publisher of my husband's historical novels in 1998 and in 2000, an author myself, my passion was genealogy. Somewhat sadly, editing, writing and publishing (my new passions) leave me little time for genealogy but I hope to return one day soon.On this page, I have briefly documented the research both my husband and I have achieved on our separate families in case it will assist you with your own research. Please do not write to me until you check the information and see the detailed listing in this TABLE.
A. Joyce
I was named JOYCE after my mother, Dorothy Mary Joyce's Irish maiden name (my surname, SANDILANDS, is my Scottish maiden name). Tradition passed down in our family said that my JOYCE forefathers came from County Galway, Ireland. However, my research has not been able to substantiate this as a fact. The earliest of my Joyce ancestors arrived in Newfoundland, Canada C1790 when my g-g-great grandfather, Robin JOYCE appears in Freshwater, Conception Bay, Newfoundland.
At the end of the 1800's, the JOYCE family moved to Victoria, BC where my grandfather, George Nelson JOYCE was to meet my grandmother, Harriet Strickland, an orphan, whose family was coincidentally also from Newfoundland. Harriet (Hattie) was born in Lingan, NS soon after her family moved there from Burgeo, NF. Her mother, DEBORAH ANDERSON (Burgeo), apparently died soon after childbirth, having black measles, and Hattie's father, JOSHUA STRICKLAND (Burgeo), was drowned when his ship went down on the Grand Banks.
Here's a YouTube link to a great little song about Burgeo today with lots of pictures. The producers are no doubt from Burgeo by the song lyrices ... their names are ANDERSON and STRICKLAND ... no doubt relatives of mine!! OMG, found some more fabulous NL pics:
Old Newfie Fisherman Old Burgeo Burgeo Iceberg Carbonear Conception Bay Tip: Search YouTube for 'Burgeo' for moreIceberg2 (Greenland's Disko Bay) too amazing to miss!
Except for being able to locate the descendants of Gma. Harriet's sister (Susan Strickland-Petite) in Newfoundland and Ohio, I have no other information of that era. In Victoria, BC, the Joyce Family seemed to congregate on Davie and Duchess Streets near the Jubilee Hospital with Sparks and Nelson Joyce building a house on Duchess in early 1900s. In 1910, Nelson and Harriet married and they moved into another of Nelson's houses on Graham Street where their first children were born.
My mother, Dorothy Mary JOYCE, and 4 of her 5 brothers were born in Victoria (Stan was the only one born in Dawson City, Yukon). In the 20s they followed the crops looking for work and settled in Everett, WA for a few years. The two older boys (William & Herbert) married and stayed in Washington State after the family returned to Victoria in the late-20s. Dorothy, Donald and Stanley remained on Vancouver Island with the boys leaving in 50s and 60s and Don's family staying there. James lives in Vancouver area and Herb is still in Everett area.
(Note: A fictitious Joyce Family is featured as west coast whalers in my husband's fourth novel Bound By Loyalty published in Nov. 2001. In actuality, my grandfather Joyce and his brothers were whalers and sealers on the east coast in the late 1800s near Newfoundland.)
**If you are interested in Newfoundland genealogy** there is a wonderfully researched book featuring many of the old families of this area. The author is now working on Book 2. These books are only available through the author when they are in print.
"They Lived By The Sea" (Book 1) is a remarkably well researched 400 page coil-bound book (so it will lie flat while doing research) written by M. Elizabeth Squires. To quote promotional material: "there are 111 individual Taylors, 104 Bemisters, 83 Joyces, 46 Footes, 43 Guys, 36 Peaches, 36 Pikes, 29 Penneys, 28 Parsons and many Camerons, Forwards, Udells, Maddocks, Hopkins and Goulds, as well as members of other families."
For more information: Please contact:
M. Elizabeth Squires, 32 Woodwynd St., St. John's, NL A1A 3C9 (709) 753-5088
B. Sandilands
The SANDILANDS Family is a Sept of the Douglas Clan and while researching my family history back in 1900, I happily discovered I was a direct descendant of Robert The Bruce (King Robert I of Scotland), the famous Scot whose story goes that while hiding in a cave during the 14th century Wars of Independence, he was visited by a spider patiently weaving its intricate web. That spider apparently gave The Bruce the strength to carry on his later successful battle for the rights of the
Scottish people. go here (select "R" for Robert I BRUCE) (Note: that King Robert II was The Bruce's son-in-law as he married Bruce's 2nd daughter, Marjery BRUCE.) The Sandilands ancestral home is Calder House in Mid-Calder, near Edinburgh. In 2002, I took this photograph of a beautiful stained-glass window in Calder House. It depicts the Coat of Arms of the Lords of Torphichen of Sandilands.
I have discovered that my paternal ancestry originated from many of the great Scottish clans -- MacLEOD, MacLEAN, BRUCE, STEWART and DOUGLAS (Sandilands is a Sept of Douglas). I found such notables as already mentioned, Robert the Bruce and Robert II, the Lords Torphichen, as well as The Knights Hospitallers in my direct lineage. Scottish history suddenly become much more appealing to a budding genealogist and with the encouragement of my English history-buff husband, Robert Whittle, for several years in the early 1990s I was consumed by the genealogy bug! See my table for more details.
C. Whittle / Whittall
Robert's WHITTLE family etc., are from Yorkshire, England. His son, their families (w 1 grandson and 2 ggchildren) live in W. Australia and his daughter, her family (w 2 granchildren) live in BC., Canada. His 6 remaining siblings and their families, live in England and Australia. See his table below for more details. To read more of Robert's own personal history, go to Bob's Bio.
We used to love dabbling in our family research but I am afraid that our busy careers as writers, with a wee bit of health consulting added to the mix, sadly leave no time for this fascinating hobby. In April 2002 Robert escorted my mother and I on a fabulous trip to the UK (our first). We spent 4 exciting weeks touring Scotland, England and Wales, and visiting with family and friends . . . and hereditary castles and historical sites when we combined business and pleasure on a whirlwind trip. Now I can't wait to go back one day, especially to find more of my roots in Scotland. I would also love to take trip to Newfoundland and the Yukon.
We wish you success (and great fun!) with your research and hope you'll find something of value here.
Joyce Sandilands and J Robert Whittle
Joyce's Surnames: