Hallett-Butson-Johnston-Gibson-Hallett: an interconnection of 3 pairs of cousins in Pickering, Reach and Whitby Townships, Ontario, Canada from about 1850 to 1920?

Research Note by Wesley Johnston (last updated 11 May 2012)

It may be the case that three pairs of cousins intermarried, providing multiple connections between the three families: Hallett, Butson, and Johnston/Gibson. I am not certain of the Hallett connection, but there is one tree that supports it, so that it may be correct.

Butson Cousins

Rebecca Jane Butson's (1867-1943) father Robert Keam Butson was the brother of Emma Butson's (1854-1897) father Henry Butson.

1 - Emma Butson married John Johnston 24 May 1876 in Reach Township.

2 - Rebecca Jane Butson married widower William James Hallett 9 Sep 1914 in London, Ontario. She had been his servant since at least as far back as 1901.

Johnston/Gibson Cousins

Strictly speaking, John Johnston (1847-1892) and James Gibson (1858-1919) were not cousins, but they were raised as cousins. John's father Thomas Johnston married the widow of Christopher Gibson who was the brother of John Gibson who was James' father. So John's Gibson half brothers and sister were first cousins of James. The two families (Thomas Johnston and John Gibson) lived side by side in the 1851/2 census.

3 - James Gibson married Sarah Jane Hallett 26 Apr 1893 in Orillia Township in Simcoe County.

Hallett Cousins

This is the part that I am not sure of, since I have not verified it. But it is supported by the Ancestry member tree of Paul Coolidge, where William James Hallett is at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/21320353/person/1065129858 and Sarah Jane Hallett is at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/21320353/person/1065127190. If Paul's research is correct, then William James Hallett's father John Hallett was the brother of James Hallett who was the father of Sarah Jane Hallett. This would then complete the circle of the interconnections of these families.