Henry William Searle, the son of Joseph Searle and Mary Ann Trim, was born in Hope Township, Durham County, Upper Canada on June 8th, 1845. After the death of his mother between 1850 and 1852, Henry's family moved to the Guelph area in Wellington County. While Henry's father Joseph is listed as having performed statute labour in Guelph in 1852 and 1853, Henry's half-sister Mary Isabella Searle was born in 1855 in Maryborough, in the Township of Minto. Henry may have moved around with his father and second wife Isabella during the 1850s, however, it is also possible that he remained in Guelph during that time, living with his maternal grandparents, Francis Hooper Trim and Rebecca Wonnacott. By 1861, at the age of 16, Henry was living on his own and working as a labourer in Guelph.
On November 18th, 1867, Henry and Margaret Cahill were married by a Roman Catholic clergyman in the City of Guelph. Margaret Cahill was of irish descent and was the daughter of Thomas Cahill and Mary Sullivan. She was born in Toronto on July 15th, 1843, and moved to Guelph with her family before 1860. It is probable that Henry and Margaret met through her sister Elizabeth: on January 7th, 1867, Elizabeth Cahill married Barnabas "Barney" Gibson in Guelph, and Henry Searle of Guelph was one of the witnesses. In 1871, Henry was working as a labourer and the young couple, along with their first two children, Elizabeth (1869 - 1943) and Joseph William ("Joe", 1871 - 1955), lived in Guelph next door to Margaret's sister Elizabeth and her family.
The following year, Henry started farming and it appears that he and the family would move from farm to farm, leasing them as they went, throughout the 1870s to 1920s; the family never owned their own farm.
In 1872, Henry moved the family to one of the farms owned by D. Allan on the east side of Guelph. By 1874, they moved onto the farm of William Hawkins, located in Eramosa, and stayed there until at least 1878. In the Fall of 1880, Henry Searle was charged with using abusive language towards a neighbor and fined $2 plus $4.45 in costs. This altercation with his neighbor may have spurred the family to move to a different farm; in 1881, they were living in the Township of Pilkington, north of Guelph near the Donald McKay and Hugh Wallace farms, and had 5 more children living with them: Mary Mildred (1873 - 1920), Emerentia ("Emma", 1874 - 1912), Cecelia Marie (1876 - 1940), Margaret Josephine ("Maud", 1877 - 1946), and George Henry ("Harry", 1879 - 1957). The following year, they welcomed their youngest daughter Rose Matilda (1882 - 1960).
Between 1882 and 1884, the family moved to the Marden area in the Township of Nichol and leased one of the John Heffernan farms. They stayed there until early Fall 1887. While living in the Township of Nichol, Henry and Margaret had another son, Arthur Samuel Thomas Searle, born on November 17th, 1884. The children of Henry and Margaret that were old enough attended the Roman Catholic Separate School in Nichol, along with the children of John McGinn and Isabella Healey. At the end of September, 1887, Henry started leasing the farm of John McGinnes; this farm was located in Marden near the McGinn, Armstrong, and Lillie farms. Henry and Margaret's last child, John William Leo ("Bill", 1889 - 1956) was born in 1889. The family continued to live in Marden in the 1890s but moved back to Pilkington by 1901.
In 1904, Henry, Margaret, and their adult children Joe and Maud, started farming in the area of the Bruce and Rawson farms northeast of Guelph, near the south end of Nichol. They remained at this farm until Henry's death in 1925. In October 1912, their daughter Emerentia died shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Mildred Emmerentia Moran. Mildred was taken in at some point afterwards by her grandparents and she made her home with them until adulthood.
Margaret Searle (Cahill) died at home on March 12th, 1920 after a severe illness of two months, "borne with Christian patience and fortitude". Margaret was described as having "a kindly and loving nature, deeply devoted to her home and the welfare of her family". Her funeral was held at her home before leaving for Requiem Mass at the Church of Our Lady in downtown Guelph. Margaret's funeral was largely attended and she received many spiritual offerings: a testament "to the popularity of the deceased". Following the funeral, Margaret was laid to rest in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in Guelph. The pallbearers were her sons William, Joseph, and either Harry or Arthur, as well as her daughter Rose's husband James McCann, and her grandchildren Edward and Carleton Moran.
On May 31st, 1925, Henry Searle passed away in his home following an illness of 5 months. He was one of the oldest and most highly respected residents of the district at the time, and had a "kindly and home loving nature". His funeral took place on June 3rd at the Church of Our Lady in downtown Guelph. Henry was buried alongside Margaret in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in Guelph.