INTRODUCTION: In the year 1819 James Dent Weatherley came to Canada. He was a retired Captain in the British Army, and was offered a position as resident magistrate, and a land grant in recognition of his service.. His property was in a military settlement on the banks of the Ottawa River in March Township. The location is now Pinhey's Point, and is designated as an Historical Site by Parks Canada.
The following information has been gathered over the past decade or so by Daniel and Gwen Fish. Gwen is the gr-gr-granddaughter of James Dent Weatherley. This story details the history of the family as it descends from JDW in the Ottawa Valley. With particular emphasis on the Weatherley family in March Township, Carleton County Ontario. We owe a great deal to numerous people who have assisted in compiling the story of James Dent Weatherley as we look at his activities here in Canada, and in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, U.K. Our thanks to, Dalton & Marge Read, Don Lowe, Judy Scott, Pam Stokoe, Dr. Bruce Elliott *, Jackie and Goldie Emerson. All these people have an interest in, or have ties to the Weatherley family.
* Bruce. S. Elliott obtained his BA in Canadian History at Carleton University, his MA in English Local History, at University of Leicester, England and his Ph.D. in Canadian History at Carleton University. Presently he holds the position of Professor and Graduate Supervisor, Department of History, Carleton University. He is also the Director of the Centre for the History of Migration, an organized research unit in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Its purpose is to advance and facilitate scholarship on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century migration and settlement, and on later immigration from the British Isles, within a Canadian context, at Carleton University. His research interests include English emigration to Canada in the century following the Conquest (1760-1860); Irish Protestant immigration, emigrant letters and the gravestones and gravestone carvers of Prince Edward Island.
NOTE 1: If you are a Weatherley, Wetherley, Weatherly, or any other variation of the spelling of the family name or you are related to this family, and you can add to, or correct any of the information you read here, please get in touch with Rachel Fish at < rachelmf12@hotmail.com >
NOTE 2: The following is an update of the information on James Dent Weatherley. Much, if not most of the information contained in the book "Men of Mark", by the author Welford, a Newcastle historian upon which we based our initial information was incorrect, and has proven to be somewhat unreliable.
This information is courtesy of Pam Stokoe who has been researching her connections to the Weatherley family. She is in the UK and had made many trips to Plymouth and Newcastle to gather information on the family.
James Dent Weatherley (info. as of 7th March 2005) Parents: Robert Weatherley and Elizabeth Rowlands married 31 October 1774, St. James' Westminster. (IGI) (doesn't have a copy of parish record) Devon Libraries website.
James Dent Weatherley was b. Oct. 6, 1777. James's second name, Dent, was no doubt after his maternal great grandfather, George Dent of Finchley (d.1775), whose daughter Sarah (?) Dent was the mother of Elizabeth (Rowlands) Weatherley, James Dent's mother.
WEATHERLEY, Robert. Letterpress and copperplate printer. Nut Street 1774; > Plymouth 1785. Mentioned in a list of provincial booksellers 1759. Married: Elizabeth, daughter of lames Rowlands Esq. of the Exchequer.
Advert 8/8/1766 4d. Agent for magazine The Whisperer 3/5/1771 . Printed theater playbill 1774. Published A new form of prayer 1778. Royal Exchange insurance policy 78245
Guildhall Lib. ms 7253/5. Advert for medicine 11/8/1780 .
Agent for lottery tickets 27/10/1780 Id. Imprints: 1769: Alcock, Huxham, Musgrave; 1770: lanes (2); 1775: Curtice, Entertaining; 1776:
Carpenter; 1782: Candle auction 30/11/1782 (PRO: HO 42/1 fo.410); 1790?: Smith, E. Sources; Plomer; Goulden; Dredge p.82; Attwood p.13 7; Notes & Queries, 11 ser., v. 1, p.364.
Children of Robert and Elizabeth
Baptisms at St Andrew's, Plymouth (info. Judy got from Devon List)
1. 30 Aug 1776 Elizabeth Rowlands Weatherley
2. 6 Oct 1777 James Dent Weatherley.
3. 20 June 1780 Robert-born 15 March 1779
4. 20 June 1780 Edward-born 12 April 1780
5. 31 Oct 1781 Mary Ann
6. 3 Nov 1784 Sarah Gray
Robert's marriage to Elizabeth Longridge July 1805, St Andrews, Newcastle has Robert of the Chapelry of St Andrew in the town and county of Newcastle upon Tyne'. Their children's baptism entries have Robert of St. Andrew's, Plymouth, Master Mariner
Elizabeth Rowlands Weatherley, sister of JDW, b. Aug. 30, 1776. (Elizabeth was a witness at the marriage, in 1798, of John Hedley and Frances Lawes in Ovingham Parish, Northumberland.) Elizabeth married Cuthbert Ridley two years after the marriage of John Hedley and Frances Lawes, on Aug. 6, 1800, also in Ovingham Parish, Northumberland (IGI). Elizabeth was 24 at the time of her marriage to Cuthbert Ridley .
An interesting note from Judy Scott, reports that she came across the following information in the 1851 England Census. [ Living at 55 New Bridge Steet, Newcastle were the family of William Graham. His mother-in-law was living with the family at that time. She was Elizabeth R. Ridley. William's wife was Jane, maiden name Ridley. She and William had four children, a son named Cuthbert, likely after his grandfather, Jane's Dad, and three daughters. The first daughter was Elizabeth, likely named after her grandmother, Jane's Mother. The census lists Elizabeth's birthplace as Plymouth, Devonshire. And as we see from the family of Robert Weatherley above, all the children were born in Plymouth. ] So we know that the Ridley's had at least one child, and that Elizabeth Rowlands Weatherley wound up living in Newcastle, on the same street, New Bridge as her brother James Dent Weatherley.
Robert Weatherley, brother of JDW. b. March 15, 1779 (christened June 20, 1780). Robert married Elizabeth Longridge, who was baptized July 27, 1783 in Newburn, Northumberland (IGI), the daughter of William Longridge and Ann Mason. Robert Weatherley and Elizabeth Longridge were married (by License) July 1, 1805 at the Chapelry of St. Andrew in the town and county of Newcastle upon Tyne. Marriage witnesses were Dorothy Longridge and William Longridge. Robert was listed as Robert Weatherley "of the Chapelry of St. Andrew in the town and county of Newcastle upon Tyne."
When Robert and Elizabeth's three children were baptized, at St. Mary's, Gateshead, their father was listed as "Robert of St. Andrew's, Plymouth, Master Mariner." Elizabeth (Longridge) and Robert Weatherley had three children:
1] Ann Mason Weatherley, b. April 14, 1806 (baptized March 15, 1809)
2] Robert Weatherley, b. Sept. 7, 1808 (baptized Oct. 11, 1808)
3] Elizabeth Rowland Weatherley, b. Dec. 15, 1810 (baptized Jan. 9, 1811, St. Marys, Gateshead)
Note from Pam Stokoe, UK
"Painting of JDW by Stephen Humble, mentioned in 'Men of Mark' , which hung in the RV Asylum for the Blind has not been traced. Have asked Marie-Therese and Tyne and Wear Museums cannot trace it. Checked the last minutes of the Asylum and it is not mentioned. The minutes show that some items were sold and others went to various institutes within the health service in the Newcastle district."
Death Certificate Reg District Marylebone 3 January 1864, 10 Wellington Terrace James Dent Weatherley Male 87years Retired Captain 60th Rifles. Natural Decay. Present at Death, John J. Weatherley of Pick Hill near Thirsk
Newcastle Daily Journal Wed Jan 6, 1864 (Newcastle City Library) At S1. John's Wood London, on the 3rd inst. in the 88th year of his age, James Dent Weatherley, Esq. Late Captain 60th Royal Rifles, and late of Newcastle upon Tyne. Friends will please to accept this intimation. (announcement)
Various Northumberland Directories mention JDW including one which has him as a director of one of the Newcastle banks along with his brother-in-law, George Edward Sawyer.
Captain James Dent Weatherley
Captain JAMES DENT WEATHERLEY played a pivotal role in the lives of John and Frances Hedley and their family. Through his sponsorship, the John and Frances Hedley family emigrated in 1819 from Ovingham in Northumberland, England to the Ottawa Valley in Canada. It is not clear whether the Hedleys were actually related to James Dent Weatherley, but John Hedley's mother was Martha Weatherley, the daughter of William and Frances Weatherley of Gunnerton. Additionally, the sister of James Dent Weatherley, Elizabeth Rowland Wetherley, was a witness at the marriage of John Hedley and Frances Lawes in Birtley Parish on June 9, 1798. Frances Lawes, the bride, was born at Woodside in Ryton Parish, Durham, which is just outside Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where the family of James Weatherley had close family connections, so the connection of James Weatherley to the Hedleys could have been through Frances Lawes or through her husband John Hedley, or perhaps through both. James Dent Weatherley was born October 6, 1777 in Plymouth, Devon Co., England, the first son (second child) of Robert Weatherley, a Plymouth printer and publisher and Elizabeth Rowlands, b. Oct. 22, 1749, daughter of James Rowlands, Esq. of His Majesty's Exchequer, Westminster (finance ministry) and Sarah Dent (first name requires confirmation), daughter of George Dent of the Parish of Finchley, Middlesex County. Robert Weatherley and Elizabeth Rowlands, the parents of James Dent Weatherley, were married Oct. 31, 1774 at St. James' Westminster (London, England) (IGI). They had six children, all of whom were baptized at St. Andrews, Plymouth:
An obituary in the Newcastle Courant in 1794, may refer to the death of the father of the above family, although this has not yet been confirmed: "Mr. Robert Weatherley on Saturday April 5, 1794 of Field House near Gateshead of a tedious painful illness which he bore with manly fortitude and Christian resignation to the divine will."
Twenty six years later, an announcement of the death of Mrs. Robert Weatherley stated the following: "Jan. 17, 1820, Weatherley, aged 70, Mrs. Weatherley, relict of Mr. Robert Weatherley, formerly of Field House, Gateshead."
Much of the following account is drawn from the article "James Dent Weatherley, A Peninsular Hero," in the book, "Men of Mark Twix Tyne and Tweed" by Welford (pages 589-592). A photocopy of the article was sent to Daniel Fish of Waterloo in 2003 in response to his request to the main library in Newcastle upon Tyne for information concerning James Weatherley.
The book states, contrary to fact, that James Dent Weatherley was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, "the son of John Weatherley, of Willington House and Howden" who was the local agent and "straithman" for the Killingworth coal mine. Although John Weatherley was not the father of James Dent Weatherley, John may have been his uncle, as it appears that the above John had three brothers (one of them Robert), sons of Mary (McGill) and Edward Weatherley, who were married in 1728. (The assumed fraternal relationship between Robert, father of James Dent Weatherley, and John Weatherley of Willington House and Howden requires further confirmation.)
Although it is unclear how the childhood of James Dent Weatherley was spent, the Welford article mentioned above states that, "At the age of seventeen he entered the 60th Rifles (the Duke of York's regiment) as ensign, and served in Holland throughout the campaign of 1799, was promoted lieutenant soon afterwards, went with his regiment to Egypt, and served upon the Neapolitan frontier and in Sicily and Calabria."
A search of the British Army Lists at the National Archives in Kew by British researcher Pam Stokoe did not reveal a James Weatherley on the Army Lists in 1806 or 1807.
Army Lists (searched at the National Archives, Kew)
1806 and 1807 no Weatherley's
1808 James Weatherley Ensign 61st (S. Gloucestershire)
1809 James Dent Weatherley Lt. 87th Reg. of Foot (Prince of Wales Own Irish) date of seniority 5 May 1808
1810 and 1813 same as 1809
1814 James Dent Weatherley Capt. 60th Reg. date of seniority 7 Nov 1813 1815 and 1817 same as 1814 James Dent Weatherley Capt. 60th Reg. 25 Dec 1818 to half pay
1819 and 1820 same as 1818
Note: JDW resigned from the army in 1818, and came to Canada in 1819, so his half pay might have continued till 1820
In the year 1793 Louis VI of France was executed, his wife Marie Antoinette was beheaded, and France's "reign of terror" began. When revolutionary France declared war on Britain, Holland and Spain, James Weatherley, according to Welford, served in Holland throughout the campaign of 1799. Shortly after, he was promoted to the office of lieutenant and went with his regiment to Egypt, which Napoleon's forces attacked as a means of striking at Britain. He also served in Sicily and Calabria in the "toe"of Italy.
In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself "Emperor" and amassed an invasion fleet to attack England. James Weatherley fought under Wellington in the Peninsular War (1808 -1814) as Wellington repulsed Napoleon's forces at Busaco in 1810, liberated Badajos, Spain in 1812 and fought French forces in the Pyrenees. Welford concludes, "Indeed, throughout the Peninsular War and up to the peace of 1814, wherever danger was the greatest, and daring most needed, Lieutenant Weatherley was found. For his services during this long and arduous campaign he received the Peninsular medal and clasps. Having risen to the rank of captain, he retired on half-pay in 1818, married Miss Sawyer, a lady of means, and went to Canada where he had obtained an appointment as resident magistrate." (from "James Dent Weatherley, A Peninsular Hero" by Welford)
Actually, James Dent Weatherley did not marry Miss Sawyer immediately upon his release from the army. As reward for his services to his country, James, along with other young retired officers, was given Crown grants of land in Canada, along the Ottawa River. To help him in the development of his land grant, James Weatherley took with him to Canada in1819, as indentured servants, the John Hedley family of Ovingham Parish, Northumberland. According to records of the March parish, the first Church of England services in March were held in a building which Captain Weatherley had built for a home (Carlton Saga references - James Dent Weatherley). His original land grant later became the site of "Marchmount the riverside mansion constructed in 1872 by the Berry family at the Ottawa River terminus of Berry Road, now owned by the Marshall family, who have recently made attractive renovations to their home. It was probably on this original estate of James Weatherley that the family of John and Frances Hedley worked for three years, clearing the land and constructing dwellings. It is also likely that Frances, their eldest daughter, worked there as housekeeper for Capt. Weatherley. In 1822 she gave birth to their son Thomas James Weatherley. Apparently Frances remained in the household of James Dent Weatherley at least until their son Thomas was of school age.
Excerpt from "The Carleton Saga," by Harry and Olive Walker, 1968, p. 245:
The little colony (on the Ottawa River) even patterned its homesteads along the
English country estates. Something of a strong fiber of social caste was dominant
in the March colony. They refused to compromise in the slightest degree with
anything that might tend to reduce them to a common denominator, socially,
with other settlers..... Temperamentally they could not forget that they belonged
to an aristocracy transplanted in the wilderness; that they had traditions to
maintain, and that they had a background of breeding and culture not possessed
by the colonials..... A typical manifestation of this occurred in the matter of the
location of the church.....It cropped out again in the matter of the school. One
of the ladies had started a school for the children of the gentry. There was some
question as to whether the son of the housekeeper of Capt. Weatherley was
socially eligible to go to that school. The boy's mother was anxious that he
should commence his education, and apparently endeavored to enlist the
influence of Hamnett Pinhey in that direction.
During the 15 years that James Weatherley was in Canada, he acquired several properties in addition to his original grant, including the land on which Rideau Hall now stands and properties in the Crown Point area that still bear his name, such as "Weatherley Estates" and "Weatherley Farms." Before departing Canada in 1834 James Weatherley sold some of his properties. After returning to Newcastle, he placed in the Newcastle Courant, on March 10, 1836, an advertisement for the sale of one thousand acres within the present boundaries of the city of Ottawa; property "delightfully and advantageously situated in a genteel and populous neighborhood, on the banks of the Ottawa River..."
Ed Note: The picture of the newspaper advertisement refers to land
in Ottawa on the Ottawa River. In the mid 1800's these thousand acres
would comprise what would become the village of Rockcliffe.
JDW Returns to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
Upon his return to England, about the time of the great Reform Bill, (1831), James Dent Weatherley took up residence among his friends and relatives in Newcastle, and in 1834, at age 57, married 49-year-old Harriet Sawyer. A local Directory for the year 1834 shows him living in Newcastle, at No. 6 New Bridge Street, facing the Carliol Tower and the fields adjoining
Newcastle St Andrew, Parish Register (MF 285 Tyne and Wear Archive Service- TW AS)(Photocopy taken) "Marriage of James Dent Weatherley of this parish Bachelor and Harriet Mary Sawyer of this parish Spinster by Licence 5 February 1834 Witnesses: Nath Walton?, Robert Moses Dinsdale, Jane Sawyer, Geo Edwd Sawyer "
1851 Census Newcastle (TW AS) (Photocopy taken) 6 New Bridge Street James D Weatherley Head Married 73 late Captain in the Army Devonsh Plymouth
Harriet M Wife Married 66 Birmingham.
plus 2 servants Sarah and Margaret Forster
Becoming interested in municipal administration, he sought to enter the Town Council of Newcastle, and with that object contested South St. Andrew’s Ward in November 1839. The following year he tried again and was successful. His experience as a soldier in the Peninsula and a resident magistrate in Canada inspired the Council with confidence, and in 1848 they made him the Sheriff of the town. The duties of the Shrievalty were performed with such grace of manner that the following year they elected him Chief Magistrate.
Newcastle Journal Sat Nov 11 1848 Page 3 (Newcastle City Library) The Election of Mayor and Sheriff The Town Council of this Borough met on Thursday last in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Reform Act, to elect a Mayor and Sheriff for the ensuing year. As will be seen by the subjoined report of the proceedings there was no contest for either office, that the Mayor having been assigned to Captain Weatherley, as we intimated some weeks ago it would, and that of Sheriff to Nathaniel Grace Lambert, Esq in both cases unanimous.
Newcastle Journal Sat Dec 23 Page 2 (not copied verbatim)(Newcastle City Library) General Soup Kitchen At a public meeting held at the Guildhall, Newcastle upon Tyne on Friday the 22nd December, 1848 James Dent Weatherley Esq Mayor in the chair resolved to re-open the soup kitchen.
Captain Weatherley’s Mayoralty was rendered memorable by the visit of the Queen and Prince Consort to open the High Level Bridge. The local press gives a graphic account of the part which the Mayor played on the occasion: - “On a raised platform in the center of the bridge were stationed the guard of honor, together with the Right Worshipful the Mayor of Newcastle, the Sheriff, the Recorder, Town Clerk, Magistrates, Mayor of Gateshead, etc.”
The Mayor presented the loyal address of the Corporation which her Majesty kindly condescended to receive, repeatedly smiling and bowing to his Worship. Her Majesty, casting her eyes Westward, observed to the Mayor that the view here must be very fine, it was raining, and also that is was a most beautiful bridge.
His Worship immediately replied by saying, “I am very sorry that the day is so wet and gloomy; but I trust your gracious Majesty will have leisure on some other occasion to renew your visit when the day may be brighter and more propitious”, upon which her Majesty smiled and bowed so graciously to his Worship as to favor the hope,” etc, etc.
The Prince of Wales here appeared at the carriage window, and was received with loud cheers; and the Mayor, addressing her Majesty said, “I hope your Majesty will allow me the honour of shaking hands with the Prince of Wales.” Her Majesty graciously assented, and the Prince at the same time freely extended his arm and gave his Worship a truly English shake of the hand. Then the train took its departure, and the Mayor hied back to the Guildhall to disrobe, and so on.
In honour of the great occasion, medals were struck by Messrs. Lister & Sons, the Newcastle silversmiths. One of these medals in the possession of Mr. William Norman, Newcastle, shows on the obverse a design of the bridge, with the Castle, St. Nicholas’ Church, and the old bridge in the distance. The inscription on the reverse reads thus: - “First pile driven 24th April 1846; last arch closed 7th June 1849 final opening Jan. 16th 1850.
Another medal also in Mr. Norman’s collection bears this inscription: - "J. Dent Weatherley, Esq., Mayor of Newcastle; George Hawks Esq., Mayor of Gateshead. Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and the Royal Family passed through Newcastle upon Tyne, Friday 28th September, 1849, received addresses on the High Level Bridge from both Corporations.”
A year after his retirement from the Mayoralty, Captain Weatherley was elected an alderman. The remainder of his municipal life was uneventful. Although a Churchman, he took his seat every Sunday in Hanover Square Chapel, under the ministry of his friend the Rev. William Turner, and after attending to his duties in the Council Chamber and on the bench of magistrates, gave the rest of his time to the charitable institutions of the town. With the management of one of these, the Royal Victoria Asylum for the Blind, he was closely identified, and in the music room of that institution hangs a souvenir of his life and labors in Newcastle, his portrait, painted by Steven Humble. He was also the chairman of the School of Design in Newcastle, and on intimate terms with its gifted teacher, W.B. Scott, in whose “Autography” he is described as “An amiable man, with a noble simplicity of character.”
Subscriptions: The Mayor of Newcastle William Bell Scott-Autobiographical Notes (Durham University Library)(photocopy taken 'My chairman was an old Peninsula captain who had been mayor, an amiable man with a noble simplicity of character. Such being the head of it, the committee itself might be guessed at. 'One of the street characters about Newcastle at that time was a brother of John Martin, the inventive painter of "Belshazzar's Feast": not the one who set fire to York Minster-a third brother, quite as mad as the incendiary, but more innocent. he was habitually to be met in the principal thoroughfares, generally with a pamphlet in his hand, which he was willing to dispose of.
He quickly recognized me as a stranger, and offered me the chance of enlightenment, in such a way, however, as did not make me respond; but a few weeks later, walking with the Peninsula hero, my chairman (who had become very friendly with me, as he found me a good listener), we encountered the well-known figure in his extraordinary skull-cap decorated with tortoise-shell, and a military surtout ( coat ) closely buttoned to the throat. Captain Weatherley, as his manner was, received him in the friendliest way, and listened to the information that Martin's claim to the invention of the High-Level Bridge then building over the Tyne -a railway scheme designed, if I remember right, by Stephenson the younger-was now in print, and would be forwarded to the Queen tomorrow! He then introduced me as a great London artist come to educate the people of the north, when Martin, with exaggerated politeness, drew his feet together, bent forward, lifted his tortoise-shell hat high in the air, and answered, "Gratified to meet you sir!"...
William Bell Scott's Letters to Wm. Ed. Rosetti (Durham University Archives)(photocopy taken) Letter dated Newcastle 28th March,...'And the good Ambrose Poynter! never more shall we see him wagging his head at our honoured board! Never more shall the honest old Captain our chairman, express the heretical doubt "whether these visits of Mr. Poynterare really of much use!"...
In November 1856, he left Newcastle to reside in St. John’s Wood, London, where attended by his faithful kinsman, Captain J. Jopling Weatherley, of the 6th Dragoon Guards, and Northumberland Militia, he died the 3rd of January 1864, aged 87 years.
James Dent and Harriet Weatherley left Newcastle in 1856 at ages 79 and 72 to reside in St. John's Wood, London.
1861 Census (Family Record Center, London)
10 Wellington Terrace, Parish of Marylebone
James D. Weatherley, lodger, married, 83, retired Captain in the Army, b. Devonshire, Plymouth
Harriet M, wife, married, age 77, born in Birmingham
Newcastle Daily Journal Wednesday January 6, 1864 (Newcastle City Library)
At St. John's Wood, London, on the 3rd inst. in the 88th year of his age,
James Dent Weatherley, Esq. Late Captain 60th Royal Rifles, and late of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Friends will please to accept this intimation. ( accept this announcement)
Death Certificate; Registration District Marylebone
3 January 1864; 10 Wellington Terrace
James Dent Weatherley, male, 87 years, Retired Captain 60th Rifles
Natural Decay; Present at Death: John J. Weatherley of Pick Hill near Thirsk
Appendix: John Jopling Weatherley, who faithfully attended James Dent Weatherley in his later days in St. John's Wood, London, was probably a relative. He may have been the son of ship owner Robert Weatherley (b. April 29, 1777; d. Aug. 21, 1851 in Howden) and his wife Elizabeth, who died three years later, in 1854. John Jopling Weatherley had a sister Emma.
So this is our ancestor, the man who started our family in Canada.
For years we were unable to make a connection between JAMES DENT WEATHERLEY and THOMAS JAMES WETHERLY, who is buried in St. John’s Anglican Cemetery in South March. The cemetery plot at St. John’s was purchased by JAMES DENT WEATHERLEY.
THOMAS was married to MARGARET MOONEY.
Thanks to Don Lowe for the following:
Descendants of WILLIAM MOONEY
1. William MOONEY was born about 1790 and died in Jul 1880, about age 90.
General Notes: He came over from Tipperary with the Talbot Party in 1818,
originally went to London, Ontario, then moved to Huntley township, Carleton
County.(2)
WILLIAM married 1. CATHERINE "Kittie" HODGINS 1821 or 1822 in Richmond, ON, CAN.
Catherine died between 1826 and 1829
One of the children from this marriage was:
1. MARGARET MOONEY was born on 14 Jan 1823 died on
Jun 1st. 1913 at age 90, and was buried in South March, Ontario,CANADA.
MARGARET married THOMAS WEATHERLEY son of Capt. James Dent WEATHERLEY and Frances
HEDLEY in 1849. Thomas was born in 1822 and died on 22 Oct 1899 at age 77.
WILLIAM married 2. ELIZA STANLEY
General Notes: Excerpt from "Hodgins Family History"
"THOMAS HODGINS, While still in Ireland Tom had married Mary Ann (surname unknown) and they had a family of four. Mary Ann died before he came to Canada. When Tom came to Canada he brought his family with him and took property in the Carp Valley near the present village of Carp. Registration of his property title was one of the first in the region, leading to the speculation that his holdings were a soldier's grant of land and therefore cleared more quickly than most titles. It was then a part of Upper Canada.
His second wife, ELIZABETH CAVANAGH, was a daughter of a family already settled in the area. He was working on the Rideau Canal project in 1826." One of the children of this second marriage is ADAM HODGINS, my great-great-grandfather.
"When THOMAS ( of Carp ) died, his estate was willed to his eldest son, Richard, from his first marriage. By this time ADAM, was married to ELIZABETH (Eliza) MOONEY . She was a daughter of WILLIAM MONEY and his second wife ELIZA STANLEY. When the estate went to Richard, Adam and his wife Eliza with their first couple of children, set out to make a new life for themselves by settling up in the Danford hills (near Danford Lake, PQ), which they called God's country, and where the rest of the family was born. Adam, his wife Eliza, and their son Cyrus, are buried in the Holy Trinity Anglican Church cemetery in Danford Lake, PQ."
Ed Note: This information from Don Lowe regarding the Mooney/Hodgins family gives us a brief look at the history of Margaret's family
"The Mystery is Solved"
The church records at St. John’s ( South March ) were destroyed in two fires that burned the church, therefore we could not find any written evidence that THOMAS was baptized or married. Either one of these documents might have identified his father and mother. It wasn’t until February of 2003, while I was surfing the web looking at the Hedley family website that I came across their genealogy page and found Mrs. Jacquie (Hedley) Emerson in London Ontario. It is important that we include some information here about the Hedley family, as this family plays a very important role in our story.
The following two paragraphs are from the HEDLEY family history pages
Our thanks to Jackie Emerson [Hedley] and David Hedley.
1. On June 19, 1798, JOHN HEDLEY married FRANCES LAWES in the Church of England in Ovingham, Northumberland. JOHN was 24 and FRANCES 20. Witnesses at their wedding were ELIZABETH WETHERLEY ( JDW's sister ), and THOMAS HUMBLE. During the next seventeen years John and Frances Hedley had seven children. Thomas, Frances, John, Martha, Hanna, Nicholas and William.
2. In 1819 John and Frances with their children ranging in age from 4 to 21 made the decision to create a new home for themselves in Canada. They came to the banks of the Ottawa River as indentured servants on a five-year contract with Captain James Dent Weatherley, a 35 year old unmarried officer recently retired from the British Army. Captain Weatherley had received a Crown Grant of land along the scenic, although yet undeveloped banks of the Ottawa River. Captain Weatherley and several fellow officers arrived on the Ottawa River in 1819. Other young officers arrived the following year and soon an elite community grew on the Ottawa River.
John and Frances Hedley
Secure Their Own Land
By 1823 John and Frances had obtained property of their own in the swampy, mosquito infested "backwoods" of March Township where many of the workers of the large riverfront estates eventually settled.
The SE1/2 of lot 18 on Concession 4 March Township was officially registered in the name of John "Headley" on April 2, 1828. Ironically, this area proved to have better agricultural land than the thinly top soiled estates along the river, chosen for their scenic and transportation advantages.
The Belden Illustrated Historical Atlas of Carleton County states that the census taken in 1823 listed JOHN HEDLEY as "head of household", living on concession 4 of March Township, one of only 49 families living in the township at that time.
In that year John Hedley would have been 49 and Frances 45. Their youngest child, Mary Ann, born after their arrival in Canada, would have been 2, the first child of European descent born in March Township and the first member of the John Henry Hedley family born in Canada. William and Nicholas were 8 and 9, Martha 15, John 19 and Frances 22. Around that time, Thomas, their eldest son, was drowned in the Ottawa River. His place of burial is not known. John and Frances had six surviving children and eventually over 50 grandchildren.
As I mentioned, we had no way to connect THOMAS to JAMES DENT, but, looking again at the HEDLEY family history pages, we discover the following;
John and Frances Hedley become Grandparents
Frances Hedley (their eldest daughter)
In 1823 FRANCES HEDLEY, aged 22, gave birth to a baby boy fathered by DENT WEATHERLEY. The child was named THOMAS JAMES WETHERLEY, keeping his father's last name, although he was raised by the Hedleys.
THOMAS WETHERLEY appears in the 1851 Census for March Township, living in a log house with his wife MARGARET MOONEY and twins James and Catherine born in 1848. The 1861 census shows Thomas and Margaret Wetherley, both 38, and their six children: James and Catherine, both 12, attending school, Frances, 10, also attending school, William, 7, Benjamin, 5, Thomas 2. Catherine, born in 1848, married Edward William Logan, born 1851, the son of Jacob Logan and Jane Morgan, daughter of Martha Hedley.
Frances, born in 1853, the daughter of Thomas and Margaret Wetherley, was married in 1874 to Louis Duego who was born in 1842 in Fitzroy Twp., Carleton Co. Frances died in 1913 and Louis died in 1925.
FRANCES HEDLEY [Thomas James Weatherley’s mother], the eldest daughter of John and Frances, married Judge Walker Dawson of Ottawa and had six more children: Nicholas Dawson, Francis Dawson who married Beatrice Scharf, Mary Dawson who married George Thompson), Charles Dawson who married Ann Johnson, John Dawson who married a Johnson, and) Thomas Dawson who married Margaret Marney.
So now we have the connection all the way back to JAMES DENT WEATHERLEY. THOMAS JAMES WETHERLEY was his son born to FRANCES HEDLEY in 1823.
The HEDLEY web page is a marvelous site and you really should visit it to learn about the maternal side of your ancestor's line through Frances Hedley, who gave birth to Thomas Weatherley. You will find the site at;
