Helen Rutherford Dies in Montreal

I'd always thought that William Rutherford Sr. was the only member of his immediate family to immigrate to Canada, but I came upon a death notice in a Scottish newspaper for one of his sisters yesterday, and apparently she died in Montreal.

The Southern Reporter, Thursday 16 June 1870.

"Deaths.  At Montreal, at the residence of her brother, on the 22nd ult. Helen Rutherford, wife of Mr. Joseph Boyland, and daughter of Mr. James Rutherford, Linthaugh, Jedburgh, aged 32 years."

A quick search on Ancestry revealed her death record:

Erskine Presbyterian Church, Montreal, 1870.  Helen Rutherford wife of Joseph Boyland, Carpenter, died 22nd May and was buried 24th May.  Witnessed by William Rutherford.

I wonder why she died at William's home and not her own?  At first I thought she may have been visiting, but the same church, Erskine Presbyterian, has a record of Helen and Joseph baptizing a child in Montreal in 1868, just two years before Helen's death:

October 11, 1868. Helen Paton Boyland, daughter of Joseph Boyland, of Montreal, Carpenter, and of Helen Rutherford his wife, born Sept 27, baptized October 11, 1868. .

There are two interesting things about this record:  firstly, it tells us that  Helen Rutherford lived in Canada for at least two years, and secondly, it is witnessed by a David Paton.  Now if we look at the family tree, the Paton family is only connected to the Rutherford family in Scotland (William Rutherford Sr.'s parents were James Rutherford and Helen Paton.)  Were there Paton cousins in Montreal that the family maintained contact with?  Who was David Paton?

And even earlier than that, in 1865, the Anglican St. Stephen church in Montreal has a record of Joseph Boyland and Helen Rutherford baptizing two sons, William Rutherford Boyland and Arthur James Boyland.  William Rutherford Boyland, whom Helen seems to have named after her brother, was born on February 17, 1865, and Arthur James was born on October 4, 1862.  They were baptized together on October 22, 1865.

In the 1881 census Helen Boyland, aged 13,  is living in the William Rutherford/Elizabeth Jackson  household.  I can't find either the Rutherfords or the Boylands on the 1871 census, which is too bad.  In the 1891 census Helen is no longer living with the Rutherfords.

Searching for the background of Helen Rutherford's life revealed that she and Joseph were married in Jedburgh, Scotland, in 1858.

Marriage record from the Parish of Jedburgh, County of Roxburgh.  Joseph Boyland, organ builder and bachelor, and Helen Rutherford, Lady's Maid and spinster.  Witnessed by Margaret and William Rutherford.

 Now here's where things get interesting.  There is a census record for a Joseph and Helen Boyland, both from Scotland, living in England in 1861.  The Helen Boyland in the census is the right age (23 in 1861) to be Helen Rutherford, the sister of William.  Joseph Boyland is an organ builder. Here is the record:

Joseph and Helen Boyland, living in Bath, England, in 1861.  No children.

So it looks like Helen and her husband moved to England at some point before they moved to Montreal.

I can't find any immigration records for the Boyland family, either into England, Canada or America. What eventually happened to Joseph and the children is a mystery.  There are family trees online which attribute two other sons, George Cecil and Thomas,  to Joseph and Helen, but I can't find original records for any more children at this point.  What is clear is that William Rutherford was eventually joined in Montreal by his married sister, who died shortly afterwards, leaving a husband and several children, including a daughter which William's family may have raised.