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My Somervilles have been traced from Dufferin, Wellington and Halton Counties in Ontario to Carstairs, Scotland and to Normandy, France before that. I am the daughter of Orval John Somerville (b.1929 in Orton, Ont.), his father was Lionel Somerville(b.1885 in Hillsburgh), his father was James Somerville(b.1853 in Hillsburgh), his father was a Canadian pioneer named, James Somerville, born in 1814 in Carstairs, Scotland.(he emigrated to Canada and bought land in Wellington County in 1838) His father was Thomas born in Carstairs, Scotland in 1780. Some branches of the family have been found in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. The Somerville family owned Cowthalley Castle near Carstairs Scotland for about 300 years, betweeen the 1400's and the 1700's. There are records of visits from royalty and nobility to the castle during that time. There has been an initiative for the Somervilles all over the world to purchase the land that the castle ruins now sit on with the intention of restoring and preserving them as ruins, with a historic plaque.
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