It is said that the Pomeroy name is an Anglicization of Pommeraye, or Pomerai, as in Ralph de la Pomerai. The word is French for apple orchard. It is also the name of a village in the Calvados Region (known for its apple orchards and a kind of apple brandy) of Normandy and is Ralph's home town. He was a Norman and a direct descendent of Vikings.

Ralph de la Pomerai may have been at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but there is no definitive proof. He was, however at the Siege of Exeter in 1068 along with his buddy William, The Duke of Normandy (AKA William the Conquerer). Well, maybe they weren't buds, but Willy thought enough of Ralphy to give him a big chunk of Devon. This is recorded in the Domesday Book. The lands (apparently 58 'manors' plus some in Cornwall) were given for services rendered. Much of these holdings remained in the family until the castle at Berry Pomeroy was sold to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (you may remember Edward's younger sister Jane who lost her head to Henry VIII). At this point the family fortunes were in decline, especially when Sir Thomas Pomeroy, the last Pomeroy lord of Berry Pomeroy, placed himself at the head of the failed 1549 Western Rebellion in the reign of Edward VI.

Unfortunately the movements of the Pomeroys became somewhat muddied after the loss of the Pomeroy holdings. While we know that some came to The Americas there is no documented proof of their connection with the Pomeroys of Devon, Cornwall and Ireland. There are, however, some DNA hints.

Fast forward a couple of hundred years and we find John (son of William) and Hannah Pomeroy living in that part of the Province of Massachusetts Bay that is now known as the State of Maine. During this time many territorial disputes arose in the area, including the French and Indian War (1754-1763). John and Hannah Pearce were married in 1763 at Pownalborough (now part of the town of Dresden, Maine). In 1783 following the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War, they took 7of their 8 surviving children (including our forebear 3 year old John Jr.) and relocated to New Brunswick at what became Pomeroy Ridge, Charlotte NB (19 year old son William had moved to Aroostook county and did not move with them to NB). The most likely reason for their move was in response to retaliation for refusal to swear allegiance to the new republic (the Pomeroys have always been a stubborn lot) which made them what would become known as United Empire Loyalists.

Fast forward another century and we find Joshua, apparently left with 3 (now grown) children following the death of his wife Ellen (Stevens) still living in New Brunswick. He has remarried (Catherine Thornton in 1847 at Charlotte NB). However something in the allure of California has attracted him and by 1867 he and Catherine are living in San Mateo, California. Joshua's son James and wife Martha (Segee) have chosen to join him. Joshua's daughter Olive Ann and her husband, John James Nichols, have also succumbed to the California attraction.

Meanwhile our forebear Thomas Frederick (Joshua's younger son) has stayed in New Brunswick, but moved to St. John along with his wife Mary Matilda (Monroe). They were married at Canning NB in 1865. They were in St. John when their eldest son George Thomas was born. They were still in St. John when the Great Fire of 1877 occurred. Having survived the fire, but probably lost their home and employment they moved to Titusville, NB. Here they met the Matthews family and subsequently 3 Pomeroy children married 3 Matthews children. Sometime between the end of 1891 when William Thomas was born in St John and mid-1895 when Bertha Dora was born in Melrose, Mass., most of the St. John NB Pomeroy clan decided to move to Cambridge Mass. This was not an unusual move and was likely due to adverse economic conditions in NB. By 1910 both Thomas Frederick and Mary Matilda had passed away (Thomas Frederick due to a tragic workplace accident).

For reasons unknown (again, likely economic), William Benjamin and Lillian decided to up stakes and move to Toronto along with 4 of their children. The fifth child (Myrtle, actually their eldest) had married in Cambridge Mass. and stayed behind. Once in Toronto, son William Thomas soon met Dorothy Jane Collier who had recently emigrated from England with the help of her brother Tom, and as they say “the rest is history”.

Pomeroy Castle, Berry Pomeroy, Devon, England