Robert Boles of Guysborough's Story

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Robert Boles was born in Clonmel, co. Tipperary, Ireland about 1780 the son of John Boles and Grace Woods of nearby Fethard. See John Boles of Fethard's Family Tree. His father was likely a shoemaker as at the time of his marriage Robert was the shoemaker in Fethard and we also know that his brother Charles was a shoemaker in Clonmel. The Compendium of American Genealogy vol. 4 pg. 608 shows Robert Boles married Rebecca Ryan in 1802. Their marriage bond shows that Rebecca's father, John Ryan, was a shoemaker in nearby Killenaule. Shortly after their marriage Robert enlisted in the Tipperary Militia in which he served in a full time capacity until 1823.

There are two good possibilities for the origins of Robert's family's line. It's possible that Robert's father John Boles is the Boles of Cork's John Boles born 1744 in Magorban, co. Tipperary (near Fethard which is just a few miles north of Clonmel townland and in fact is in Clonmel Parish). This John Boles had a brother Richard born in 1746 who later lived in Youghal, Tipperary and we know that Robert had a brother, Richard, who was a custom's officer in Youghal, Tipperary (ref: "INTRODUCTION OF THE BOLES FAMILY OF MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP" by John A Morrison). Admittedly there is at least a full generation between the two Richard Boles of Youghal but the similarities are notable enough to indicate a possible connection between the families. Alternatively, they may have been one of the Protestant families settled in Fethard by their Barton landholders after 1752. See The Bowles of Fethard

In Ireland Robert was a shoemaker with a shop in Fethard while his brother Charles was a shoemaker in Clonmel. From this we can suppose that their father, John, likely was also a shoemaker but this is not yet confirmed. Robert also served with the Tipperary Militia for 16 years and 7 months from 1806 to 1823.

The following information has been extracted from an article written by John Morrison which was published in The Guysboro County Advocate on Nov. 7, 1945 entitled "How The Boles Family Came to Guysboro":

Captain Ralph Cunningham, originally of Clonmel, co. Tipperary had served with the Loyal Irish Volunteers during the American War of Independence. Following the Declaration of Peace, Cunningham, along with other Loyalists, settled in Nova Scotia acquiring a lot of land in 1785. Some time later, Cunningham returned to Clonmel and visited Robert Boles who was also a retired soldier and who kept a store in Clonmel. He convinced Robert to move to Nova Scotia and agreed to sell him a portion of his land in an agreement which they signed in Clonmel in 1821. Text of the Agreement

In the summer of 1822, Robert Boles went to Nova Scotia to look over his property (note: this is the same year he obtained his discharge from the Tipperary Militia Discharge Record in the British Archives). He must have liked what he saw because he returned to Clonmel and made plans to move his wife and family to Nova Scotia.

The next summer (1823), they had their goods and furniture moved to the Cove of Cork where they embarked with Captain Leslie who was bound for New York via St. John's, Newfoundland. After 3 weeks they arrived at St. John's and transferred to Captain Lothrop Whitman's vessel which brought them to Guysborough. Robert and his wife later told their grand-children that they arrived on a beautiful Sabbath morning and the church bells were ringing as they sailed up the harbour, the surface of the sea was bathed in a flood of colours, the whole landscape was charming, the lovely harbour bounded by low hills with hardwood and firs on either side but they were glad to get ashore after the long voyage.

When they arrived there was some trouble with their occupying the land which they had purchased and Robert had to petition for a new land grant. In 1825 he filed a petition for land at Clam Harbour Lake within the reserve in Manchester, Sydney county (now Guysborough county). This petition gave his place of residence as Clonmel, Ireland from where he was on Leave of Absence from the Tipperary Regiment of Irish Militia in order to settle in Nova Scotia and that he was 45 and had a wife and 5 children.

In 1828 he petitioned for 300 acres of land in Sydney county again. In the petition he states that he had emigrated on April 10, 1822 and arrived at Guysboro in August of that year; that he was 40 years old and had a wife and 4 children; that he had served for 16 years in the Tipperary Regiment as a Sergeant and Quartermaster; that before leaving Ireland he had purchased a tract of land from Capt. Cunningham which was supposed to contain 450 acres but when he arrived he found that the land had been "reserved" and only 150 acres was left available to him and therefore he was requesting additional land. The ruling is not on file but apparently the petition was approved as he was awarded the land.

Their first task was to build a home on their new land. This house, which they called Beechmount for the Beech trees which surrounded it, stood for many years. In 1847 when they turned their farm and house over to their son, Robert Jr. part of the terms of the agreement was that he would provide them with rooms in the new house which he was building adjacent to theirs. This second house is presently occupied by one of their descendants. The remains of the original including it's central stone chimney were still standing within current memory. Robert passed away in 1853 and is buried in the St. Paul's churchyard in Boylston.

There are no known Boles descendants of this family currently living in Nova Scotia although they are many descendants of Robert's daughters. So far we have no record of their son, Robert, having any children and all but one of Charles' sons moved to Ipswich, Massachusetts where the spelling of the family name became Bolles and where it continues today.