My Family Tree

NO PROVEN LINK WITH THIS BRANCH OF THE MCARTHUR FAMILY.

Very little is known about Barbara McArthur, Humphrey Dyment's first wife. McArthur family trees place her with the family of Malcolm McArthur and Ann McDougall, born 1815 - which would make her the sister of Effie McArthur Dyment and Hugh McArthur. Certainly, it wasn't unusual to have brothers and sisters from one family marry into another. However, none of the McArthur or Dyment family trees cite a baptismal record, and I have not been able to find one.

In any case, a date of birth between 1805 and 1820 would fit with her being married twice, and being young enough to have children in the mid 1840s. The only source we have for her place of birth is her son Thomas' answer on the 1891 census, that his mother was born in New Brunswick.

Barbara was a widow from Lot 16 when she married Humphrey in May 1843, so it is possible that McArthur was a married name. I have seen family trees that give the name of her first husband and a daughter, but on checking further, that Barbara lived in Scotland and the dates do not fit, so it is probably not her. However, many women of Scots descent kept their maiden name on records, so it is just as likely that this was her maiden name. McArthur was the name on her son Thomas' death certificate and George's death record; George's marriage record just had her first name.

The one marriage that might fit for Barbara is the marriage of Donald Ramsay to Barbara McArthur Oct 24 1833. Donald could be the son of John Ramsay and Mary McGougan who was alive in 1835, but was not named as a surviving son in Mary's will of 1843. The History of Hamilton, Pathways to the Present said that Donald was from Oyster Cove. This would fit with Barbara, a widow, marrying Humphrey that year.

Humphrey and Barbara had two sons, George Locke and Thomas E. Some people add a daughter Alice, but the Alice described is Thomas' and Mary Matilda's daughter. If there was a daughter, Alice or otherwise, she left no record. (The name Alice would be unusual for the McArthur and Dyment families, but not for Mary Matilda's family)

Barbara died between August 1848, when George was born, and 1860, when Humphrey, a widower, married Nancy McDougall. Unless Humphrey had a wife between Barbara and Nancy, it was unusual for a farmer with children to stay single long.

Barbara's name does not appear on Humphrey's gravestone - perhaps she was buried beside her first husband. I was unable to find a gravestone for a Barbara McArthur in the area's cemeteries. I was further unable to find a death notice in the Island newspapers that are online, in transcriptions of birth/death/marriage records, in David Johnson's New Brunswick newspaper index, or in PEI Archives' Master Name Index under Dyment or McArthur. These sources cover the dates in question.