John2's wife’s name was Bridget Hart.   She was born about 1819, as her age at her death on 11th May 1896 is given as 77. The death certificate of her son Rev. Peter3 confirmed her surname, since Australian certificates include the mother's maiden name.  The Harts (or Hartes, both spellings occur even for the same person) were a well-established family with many branches along the Leitrim-Longford border. 

 

Though we cannot be certain which branch of the Harts Bridget belonged to, there are a number of cues that point to Clooncose, just a few miles from Corglass (though it’s in a different parish, county and even province!).

• There were a few Hart families there in the mid 1850s. In Griffith’s Valuation,  Patrick, James, Myles and Daniel Hart are listed as occupiers of property.

 

• John Boyle, almost certainly Bridget’s son John3, is recorded as a witness (‘best man’) at the wedding in 1874 of Thomas Hart (b.1839) and Mary Hart (b.1854). To be invited to take such a role, it’s highly likely that John3 was related to one or other of the couple, most probably the groom. Thomas’ father was Patrick Hart of Clooncose and Mary’s was Denis Hart of Drumkeerin. There is also record in the parish registers of the death of a Patrick Harte of Clooncose on 18 February 1852, though we cannot be sure it’s the same one.

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• When John himself was married in 1890, his best man was Pat Harte. The only Pat Harte locally who fits the profile of  best man is the son of John Harte and Mary Reynolds, born in 1872. John is likely to have been a brother of Thomas, above.

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• The custom of naming the second son after the maternal grandfather also points to Bridget’s father being Patrick, as that was the name she gave to her second son (1857-1890).

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• There is the intriguing and almost illegible entry in the Dromard parish records of the baptism of a child of John Boyle and Bridget Hart on 4th September 1843.  Unusually, the child is not named, and this date does not coincide with the birth dates of any of their known children, The sponsors (godparents) are named as William McNamee (probably a relation of John2’s mother) and Catherine Hart (Bridget’s mother?)

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• Finally, when her grandson Terence4 Boyle went to Canada in the early 1920s, he tried to make contact with a successful businessman and politician, a ‘cousin’ John Hart, who had been born in Clooncose in 1879. His father was also John Hart and his mother was Mary Reynolds, and he was the youngest of their nine children. His grandfather was Patrick Hart, possibly the same Patrick who was Thomas’ father, and who may have been a brother of Bridget. While firm evidence for this relationship does not exist, a thorough search of the civil and church records does not reveal any better alternative explanation.

John Hart 1879- 1957

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The John Hart that Terence4 sought out had indeed become successful, and even more success was to come. He emigrated to Canada, arriving in Victoria, British Columbia in 1898.  His uncle, Michael Hart had prospered there as a cannery owner, and John’s sister, who had looked after Michael until his death, was still there.  He got a job as a finance clerk at $10 a week and within 10 years he had become a successful financial agent and broker.  He was for many years president of Gillespie, Hart and Todd Ltd. 

 

He was elected a member of the British Columbia Legislature in the Liberal landslide of 1916 and was Minister of Finance in the Liberal government from 1917 to 1924.  He retired temporarily from political life, but he was re-elected to the legislature in 1933.  As Minister of Finance, he restored British Columbia's badly damaged credit and put its finances on a sound footing.  In 1941 he became leader of the Liberal Party, formed a coalition with the Conservatives and until 1947 he was Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.  He was the first Roman Catholic to be Prime Minister of BC. 

 

He is remembered for his financial ability and sound common sense. He is one of those rare politicians whose reputation for administrative competence, financial integrity, straight dealing and personal charm was well deserved and remained intact long after his retirement.

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A more detailed biography is available on the website of the Irish Embassy in /Canada at https://www.ireland.ie/en/canada/ottawa/news-and-events/news-archive/hart-hon-john/

 

Though he was proud of his Irishness, he seems not to have sought to support his more distant relations. Given his reputation for financial probity and straight dealing, perhaps the most charitable explanation is that as Minister of Finance at the time Terence4 visited him, he could not afford to be seen to do any special favours for his poorer relations. In any case, he declined to receive Terence3, his second cousin, who soon made his way to Ne w York instead.