When & where did Mary Keam Butson die?

Research note by Wesley Johnston, begun 20 Sep 2015, last updated 26 Sep 2015

Context

Mary Keam BUTSON was born at Bedelva in the parish of St. Blazey, Cornwall. She was baptized at the parish church 17 Aug 1817. Soon after her family had arrived in Canada, she married Joseph HAMBLEY 18 Jul 1841 at St. James Cathedral in Toronto. She bore him three sons over the next several years, and at some date that is not yet known Joseph died.

Mary then remarried 21 Jan 1861 in Whitby (not sure whether the town or the township) with John SHERIM. His surname is spelled a variety of different ways (e.g. SHARAM, SHERIN, SHEREIN) in different records, and I do not yet know how his name was actually said.

By the 1871 census, Mary was again a widow, living with her two step-children (Mary Jane and Thomas SHERIN) and her daughter Sarah SHERIN in the home of her son from her first marriage, William HAMBLEY (a name that also is spelled in a variety of ways).

This 1871 record is the last record that I have found for Mary. At age 52, it is possible that she again remarried. But if she did, then I have not found a record of the marriage. In fact, I have found no record of her after the 1871 census.

So I know nothing of her later life. And in particular I do not know when nor where she died.

NOT the Mary Ann SHEARER who died 16 Nov 1899 in Toronto

A significant number of trees on Ancestry all give Mary's death as 16 Nov 1899, most placing it at Whitby. None give any supporting documentation for this.

In fact, it is based on the death record of Mary Ann SHEARER at Toronto. The image of this record can be seen on Ancestry at http://interactive.ancestry.com/8946/ONMS935_91-0052/1583242 where it very clearly shows that:

There is no other death recorded in Ontario for 16 Nov 1899 that has a name even remotely close to Mary SHERIM.

So Mary Ann SHEARER who died 16 Nov 1899 was NOT Mary Keam (BUTSON HAMBLEY) SHERIM, and Mary Keam (BUTSON HAMBLEY) SHERIM did not die 16 Nov 1899.
This can easily be seen by tracing the real Mary Ann SHEARER who appears with her husband Thomas SHEARER and their children in multiple censuses:
Where and when was Mary last living?
1871 Census
The last record of Mary is the 1871 census of Whibty East Township. She is a widow. She and her two step-children (Mary Jane SHERIM and Thomas SHERIM) and her daughter by her second marriage (Sarah SHERIM) are living with the family of her son from her first marriage (William HAMBLEY).

The family is spread across two pages, which can be seen at the following URLs:
- http://interactive.ancestry.com/1578/4396344_00640/161831
- http://interactive.ancestry.com/1578/4396344_00641/161831
 
After 1871
So where were the members of the 1871 household in 1881?
In the 1881 census, William HAMBLEY has moved his family to Reach Township (http://interactive.ancestry.com/1577/31229_C_13245-00026/3031429), and the family is only his own. Examining the birthplaces of his children, his daughter Mary Elizabeth HAMBLEY was born in East Whitby 13 Mar 1875, and his son John Thomas HAMBLEY was born in Reach 21 Mar 1878. So the move to Reach Township was in between those dates.
Mary's step-daughter, Mary Jane SHERIM, married Sidney BODEN 10 Dec 1872. Her family, which includes her widowed (but not really - his wife was just visiting her brother Thomas STERLING's family) brother Thomas SHERIM, appears in the US 1880 Census of the town of St Clair, Michigan (http://interactive.ancestry.com/6742/4241807-00392/22781109).
I have not been able to find Mary's daughter Sarah SHERIM nor Mary herself.
 
There is a partially legible 28? Oct 1884 death in Whitby East Township that might be Mary:
 
    http://interactive.ancestry.com/8946/ONMS935_38-0236/1666418
 
Number 18 on the page is a Mary whose surname is faint and only partially visible. What is there MIGHT be SHER... She was 64 years old, which would put her birth about 1820. She was born in England and died of old age. I cannot read the informant's surname with certainty. It is possibly Wm SHIMPSON or HAMPSON or something else. He was a yeoman of East Whitby.
 
Where was she buried? Where was her first husband Joseph HAMBLEY buried? Might she have been buried with him, since she was last known to be living with her son William HAMBLEY?
 
Questions but no answers yet ...