The Warners

Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, where William Warner and Sarah Leitch were married in 1832

The Warners

February 25, 2020 / Paul Warner

This website is for the descendants of William Warner (1808–1845) and Sarah Leitch (about 1805–1893), and for anyone else interested in the history of the Warner family. It also tracks many of our more distant cousins, descendants of William’s paternal grandparents, William Warner (1753–1801) and Elizabeth White (1755–1807) of Howden, Yorkshire.

The mission is to research, preserve, and share our roots and our history, our documents, pictures, and stories, and to bring the family together.

If you’re new to the site, you may want to start with a look at our family tree. You can also search for a family member below.

Betty Warner, teenager, driving a tractor

Aunt Betty’s Wartime Service

June 11, 2026 / Paul Warner / 6 Comments

The Farm Service Force

I’ve been spending some time lately learning about the time my mother, Lorraine Parker, spent working in the Farmerette Brigade of the Farm Service Force. It was wartime, and the program recruited girls and young women, aged sixteen and up, to work on Ontario farms at a time when most young farm workers were overseas fighting the enemy.

In return for their service, the participants were typically allowed to graduate (they called it junior or senior matriculation then) without attending the last month of classes or writing their final exams.

My mother served during the summer of 1945. I’ll tell you about that in another post very soon. But what I’m excited about right now is my very recent discovery that my Aunt Betty, my father’s sister, also served.

Cover of the book "Journal of a Student at Ontario Ladies' College", showing a group photo of students on the steps of the college

Helen Price’s “Journal of a Student at Ontario Ladies’ College”

November 24, 2025 / Paul Warner / 0 Comments

Helen Price (1898–1967), my grandmother, attended Ontario Ladies’ College (now Trafalgar Castle School) during her sophomore and junior years (the school years 1912–1913 and 1913–1914). We don’t know where she had spent her freshman year, but we do know that she left O.L.C. in 1914 to spend her senior year back in Toronto, at Malvern Collegiate.

Remembering John Penelton

September 2, 2025 / Paul Warner / 0 Comments

May 1, 1931 — April 26, 2024

It was with much sadness that I recently learned of the passing of John Penelton in April of last year. He was my father’s first cousin and the only son of my grandaunt, Ruby Warner, and her husband, George Carman Penelton.

Little Helen’s Photo Shoot: Easter 1899

August 29, 2025 / Paul Warner / 0 Comments

Easter of 1899 wasn’t Helen’s first Easter, but it was the first one for which she understood, in her way, what was going on.

My grandmother, Helen Fredrica Price, was the fourth child and second daughter of Joe Price and Lizzie Leslie. She was born on January 5, 1898, making her three months old when Easter arrived on April 10, 1898.

By the time of her second Easter, on April 16, 1899, she was a precocious child of fifteen months.

A Sad New Chapter in Tom and Maria’s Story

May 27, 2025 / Paul Warner / 0 Comments

It’s been almost five years since I first told you the story of my great granduncle Thomas Benson Warner, an older brother of my great grandfather, Harold Warner. I told you how Tom seemed to drift from job to job, moving back and forth between Toronto and New York City, how his first wife Maria died tragically young, and how his right hand was crushed in a trainwreck (a life-altering injury for a typesetter, as Tom was).

Samuel Wells Video Available

March 7, 2024 / Paul Warner / 0 Comments

I was honoured to be asked to give this presentation to the Governor Simcoe Branch of the United Empire Loyal Society of Canada on March 6, 2024.

It tells the story of my Loyalist ancestor, my fifth great grandfather Samuel Wells of Brattleboro, Vermont. You can watch the presentation here, or read the story below.

Samuel Wells of Brattleboro

March 6, 2024 / Paul Warner / 2 Comments

The Life of a Loyalist in Vermont

This is the story of my Loyalist ancestor, Colonel Samuel Wells.

He ran an underground courier network, in the final years of the American Revolutionary War, that provided a vital communication link between the British commands in the cities of Quebec and New York.

Burial Record of Hannah Benson, widow of William Warner,

I’ve Been Searching for This for a Dozen Years

February 11, 2023 / Paul Warner / 3 Comments

New Information about William and Hannah, Our Fourth Great Grandparents

When you do family history, every so often you get that big breakthrough — the moment when you find a missing puzzle piece that has eluded you for years.

This, for me, is one of those moments.

The Farm

February 2, 2023 / Paul Warner / 0 Comments

In 1966, my parents (Joe and Lorraine Warner) bought a farm near Markdale, Ontario. Well, it wasn’t really a farm. It was half of a hundred-acre property in farming country.

Over the next fifty-seven years, it’s been a resort, a refuge, an activity hub, and a home for five generations of the Warner family.

Finding My Lunn Ancestors

January 8, 2023 / Paul Warner / 3 Comments

Another DNA Breakthrough

For almost three years, I’ve been posting articles about the Warners, my father’s side of the family. It makes sense, given the name of the website. This time, however, I’d like to talk about some people on my mother’s side.

Today’s story is about Sophia Lunn, my second great grandmother, and her family.

The Warners

The Warners

Aunt Betty’s Wartime Service

The Farm Service Force

Helen Price’s “Journal of a Student at Ontario Ladies’ College”

Remembering John Penelton

May 1, 1931 — April 26, 2024

Little Helen’s Photo Shoot: Easter 1899

A Sad New Chapter in Tom and Maria’s Story

Samuel Wells Video Available

Samuel Wells of Brattleboro

The Life of a Loyalist in Vermont

I’ve Been Searching for This for a Dozen Years

New Information about William and Hannah, Our Fourth Great Grandparents

The Farm

Finding My Lunn Ancestors

Another DNA Breakthrough

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