Person:Thomas Shearer (16)

Thomas Shearer came to Canada and stayed with George Shearer's family for at least part of the time that he was in Canada. There is a Thomas Shearer who appears on the 1881 census...and then vanishes. A letter written from Poole to Scotland indicates that a cousin Thomas from Scotland was visiting at that time. A survey of the Thomas Shearer's who ought to have been living in Scotland at the time indicates that it was most likely this Thomas. Family stories have Agnes coming to Canada to bring "young John" out and then returning to Scotland. It is more likely that it was "young Tom" who made the trip with her but this is based more on conjecture than proof. Part of the conjecture is based on the age of Thomas at the time that John would likely have been making the trip. The 1881 census shows that Thomas was born about 1855 but It is more likely that he was born in 1854 since there is no Government record of his birth and mandatory registration begfan in 1855. At the time that John is estimated to have come to Canada, Thomas would have been between the ages of 5-10 years old. It is unlikely that Agnes would have left such a young child in Scotland to accompany an elder stepson.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Isa Cleland. Information that Isa researched on the Shearers. (This information was gathered by Isa until her death in 1999. Most is copied from the Shearer Family Tree.).