The children of Lieutenant-Colonel John Handfield & Elizabeth Winniet

WILLIAM -- Born at Annapolis Royal September 8th 1732, Ensign 01 December 1745 in the 40th Regiment; Lieutenant - 01 September 1749; Adjutant - 04 July 1758; Captain 05 May 1762. After 1763 he probably left the Army as we find his commission as Captain renewed 15 August 1775, but this time he was in the 38th Regiment, instead of the 40th which had returned to Ireland in 1765. He became Assistant Quarter Master General in 1777, Major on 29 August 1777, and, finally, Lieutenant-Colonel. He died at Chester, England, 22 October 1810.   The picture of him is from an original miniature painting of my collection.

William's first wife, Grace Jackson of Boston, America, bore him three children, two daughters named Grace Kilby and Catherine and a son William, only Grace Kilby survived and married, May 25th 1785 in St-Oswald Church of Chester, Edward Ommaney Wrench watch manufacturer of Chester. Three years after the wedding of his dauther, William married Catherine Skelhorn, which brings him a dowry of 12,000 pounds on June 26th 1788. After 1793, he gets married for a third time to Martha Greenway who died in 1809, one year before him. William and his daughter Grace are buried in Chester Cathedral, and the surname Handfield has disappeared from this branch of the family.

THOMAS -- Born at Annapolis Royal 6 January 1741, was to engender a descendancy that would ensure continuation of the large number of Handfields who live in Montréal and its surrounding area. His military career and life in Québec after the Seven Years' War will be discussed in detail later.

EDWARD -- Born at Annapolis Royal 16 January 1742, Ensign - 02 December 1759 in the 22nd Regiment; Lieutenant - 02 April 1762. In 1765 Edward was in Louisiana with this regiment; Captain - 07 June 1775. His name appears on the Army lists up to 1781.

GEORGES -- Born at Annapolis Royal 4 August 1747, Ensign 13 September 1760 in the 40th Regiment. Lieutenant - 08 April 1762. Left for Ireland in 1765 with his regiment. He married Elizabeth, only daughter of Reverend Sir William Smith Bart of Hill Hall, County of Essex. They had one daughter, Catherine Elizabeth, who married on 04 June 1804 William George Monckton Arrundell, 5th Viscount Galway. They were the grandparents of Viscount Galway, who was Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand up to 1941. The newspaper, La Presse of Montréal of Thursday, 20 February 1941, shows a photo of this Viscount Galway, who had stopped at Québec during his return trip to England.

CHARLES -- The youngest son of the family was born 27 December 1752 at Annapolis Royal NS. He became an Ensign -- 01 October 1769; Lieutenant -- 30 September 1772 in the 22nd Regiment; Adjutant - January 22nd 1776; Captain - October 15th, 1780; Major -- 18 November 1790. On December 3rd, 1793, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in the 89th Regiment; and Colonel on January 29th 1797. June 09, 1778, Charles married in America, Margaret Ashford Winslow at Newport, Rhode Island, and they had 12 children, five of them, boys. He was Commissary General in Ireland until 1822, living at the Hermitage, near Dublin, where he died on 16 April 1831. The illustration is taken from an original painting in the possession of Mary Handfield of Melbourne, Australia

These officers, who served in the English Colonial Army had all left the United States before 1790, for in the census of 1790 we only found the names of Joseph, Gidion and Lydia Hanfield (sic) who resided in Salem, Massachusetts. They have no close relationship with our family.

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