4 Hedley & Grierson - The Torbolton Hedleys
Chapter 4
 JOHN HEDLEY 1804-1866
& MARGARET GRIERSON 1807-1886
Generation (ii)
- The TORBOLTON HEDLEYS, 14 children
Pedigree
Descendancy

John Hedley, born August 29, 1804 in Ovingham Parish, Northumberland, England was 16 when his family came to the Ottawa valley. In 1825, John, age 21, the eldest surviving son of John Hedley & Frances Lawes, married Margaret E. Grierson, 18, daughter of Lieutenant John Grierson, retired British Royal Navy Officer (born in 1783) and Ann Grinton. The Grierson family, Presbyterians, had come from Edinburgh, Scotland in 1822, three years earlier. Lieutenant John Grierson worked as a surveyor, laying out some of the earliest roads in March Township, Carleton County. He later joined his brother Lieutenant James Grierson in developing the Crown Point area of Torbolton Township. After 1833, when steamboats travelled the Ottawa River, the large Grierson home on the Ottawa River served river travellers as both inn and tavern.
 March Township
Carleton County
Griersons home on the Ottawa River
Torbolton Township, North Part

John Hedley and Margaret Grierson  eventually settled in the Crown Point area of Torbolton. In 1832 John Hedley was elected Assessor for Torbolton Township, and in 1839 he was elected Collector. In 1865 he served as Reeve
 

Torbolton Township, Ontario

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Torbolton is an historic township originally part of Carleton County in eastern Ontario, Canada.
Torbolton was located in the western part of the county, bordered to the southwest by Fitzroy Township, to the southeast by March Township and to the north by the Ottawa River.
The township was established in 1821. Although white pine was harvested from the forests of this area from the beginning of the 19th century, the first permanent settler is believed to have been David MacLaren in the 1820s. In 1974, the township was amalgamated with Huntley and Fitzroy to form West Carleton. In 2001, West Carleton became part of the new city of Ottawa.
Torbolton took its name from the village of Torbolton in Ayrshire, Scotland. Lord Torbolton was one of the titles of Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, who was Governor General of British North America from 1818 to 1819.
Reeves

1850  David MacLaren
1852  James Grierson
1856  John Buckham
1865  J. Hedley
1866  John Smith
1878 James Mills		 1880 James Grierson
1887 James Mills
1890 James Grierson
1891 W. Newham
1892 C. Buckham
The 1842 Census for Torbolton Township in Carleton County shows John Hedley, a resident of Ontario for 23 years, farmer of 100 acres (40 “improved”), head of a household of 11, including himself and his wife Margaret and 9 children. The census also discloses the productivity and worth of the agricultural activities of the John Hedley family during  the previous year:100 bushels of wheat; 350 bushels of oats; 10 bushels of pease; 500 bushels of potatoes; 60 pounds of maple sugar; 17 cattle; 4 horses; 24 sheep; 5 hogs; 30 yards of “fulled” cloth manufactured in the domestic way in the family (“fulled” indicates woolen cloth that is shrunk and thickened by moistening, heating and pressing); 50 yards of flannel or wool (not fulled); and 67 pounds of wool procured during last year.

Nine years later, the 1851 Census for Torbolton shows the family living in a log house with their 13 children:   
1851 Census for Torbolton Township, Carleton County, Ontario, Canada
Hedley
John,  47,  farmer, born in England, Church of England


Margaret,  44, born in Scotland,   Presbyterian

1  John, 25, labourer, b. in Huntley Twp.  Church of England

2 Ann, 23, b. in Torbolton Twp.  Church of England

3 Thomas, 22, b. in March Township, labourer, Church of England

4
 see note 2
  5 Nicoles, 17,    labourer, b. in Torbolton Twp., Church of England

6 James Wm., 15,  b. in Torbolton Twp., Church of England, attending school

7 William, 13, b. in Torbolton Twp.,  Church of England, attending school

8 Alexander, 13, b. in Torbolton Twp., Church of England, attending school

9 Anthony K., 11 b. in Torbolton Twp.,  Church of England, attending school

10  Edwin Albert, 9,  b. in Torbolton Twp., Church of England, attending school

11 Victoria, 7

12 Elizabeth F., 5

13 George Nelson, 5 

14 Robert R., 1

note  -  A daughter, Margaret, who would have been 18 or 19, appears to be missing from the family census. Since "Margaret, born 1832"  was included in Anne Storey's family list, it is assumed that Margaret may have been working outside the home. Margaret could possibly be the “Judy Headley,” listed in the 1851 Bytown Census, 18 years old, single, working as a servant/maid for the Lattimer family (shoemaker, b. in Ireland, Wesleyan Methodist, 3 children.)

Evidence that the family consisted of 14 children is also found in a letter from Thomas Hedley in Australia, dated Oct. 8th, 1913,  to his sister Elizabeth in Manitoba. In his letter Thomas recalls his last evening with the family, over 60 years earlier: "There was16 of us sat down to supper and there is only four left, James, George, you (Elizabeth) and myself.” (see Chap. 4,3).

Ten years later, in the 1861 Census, the seven older children were no longer living at home: John, 34 and Ann, 33 were married with families of their own; Thomas, 31, was in Australia, and Nicholas had recently married; James, 24, was working outside the home. Margaret, who would have been 28  is still absent from the family in the 1861 Census. Edwin Albert, who would have been 18, is also missing, as is Robert R. who would have been 11:
The family, except for John’s wife Margaret, changed their religious affiliation from Anglican to Methodist as a result of the influence of the "Gabie Religious Revival" in the early 1860's.

1861 Census, Carleton County - Torbolton Township

Hedley  
John,
56,  WesleyanMethodist

Margaret , 53,  Church of Scotland

Alexander,   22, Wesleyan Methodist

William, 22, Wesleyan Methodist

Anthony, 20,
 Wesleyan Methodist

Victoria, 15,
 Wesleyan Methodist

Elizabeth, 14,
 Wesleyan Methodist

George, 1,
 Wesleyan Methodist


John Hedley died in 1866 at age 62. His grave is in St. John's Anglican Cemetery, South March.
According to the 1868 Directory of Ottawa/Torbolton  (named Carleton West in 1974)  the family of John and Margaret Hedley was living in the Crown Point area, on Lot 17, Concession 4 of Torbolton Township. Margaret lived another 20 years.

The 1871 Census for Torbolton Township lists Margaret as "Mrs. Hedley", age 63, b. in Scotland, Canadian Presbyterian.  Five of the six children who were living at home in 1861 were still with her, but Elizabeth had married and started her own family.  Robert R. and James, the two youngest children on the Census, are Margaret’s grandsons, born in Michigan, the children of her son James, whose first wife Mary Ulmstead Rorison died when the children were ages 2 months and 2 years.

1871 Census for Carleton Co. - Torbolton Twp.

Hedley  Mrs.,  63,
  b. in Scotland, 
Presbyterian,  Origin Scottish

William, 32,
  b. in Ont.  
Presbyterian,  Origin Scottish

Alexander,  32,
  b. in Ont. 
Wesleyan Methodist,  Origin Scottish

Anthony, 30,
  b. in Ont. Wesleyan Methodist,  Origin Scottish

Victoria, 26,
  b. in Ont. Wesleyan Methodist,  Origin Scottish

George, 21,
  b. in Ont. Wesleyan Methodist,  Origin Scottish

Robert R., 4,
  b. in USA
Wesleyan Methodist,

James, 1,
  b. in USA


Ten years later, in 1881, Margaret (Grierson) Hedley was living in the household of her daughter and son-in-law, Victoria and William Dickson and their two young children:
1881 Census for Fitzroy, Lanark County (North)
Dickson, William, Ethnic Origin Scottish, age 41, Birthplace Ont., Farmer, Presbyterian

Victoria,
 Ethnic Origin English, age 35, Birthplace Ont., Presbyterian

Robert W.,
 Ethnic Origin Scottish, age 3,
 Birthplace Ont., Presbyterian

Margaret E.,
 Ethnic Origin Scottish, age 1,
 Birthplace Ont., Presbyterian
Hedley
 Margaret, Widow
 Ethnic Origin Scottish, age 73,
 Scotland,
 Presbyterian

About 1885 Margaret went to Kansas to visit her son James and his third wife, Emma, and their young son Frank. James and Emma’s  household also included the four children, by then in their teens,  from James’ previous two marriages. Margaret remained with the family for a year, but fell ill and died on August 1, 1886, one month after the birth of her granddaughter Ethel Hedley. Her grave is in Black Jack Cemetery, Baldwin, Kansas.
   
The Fourteen Children of John Hedley (II) and Margaret Grierson
1
  John Hedley (III) b. 1828, Huntley Twp; m. Anna Amelia Wheeler; 
d. 1912, Woodlawn, Torbolton Twp., Carleton County : 8 children
2
 Ann Hedley b. 1829, Torbolton; m. John Hay Grierson; 
d. 1873, Crown Point, Torbolton; 11 children
3
 Thomas Hedley b. 1831, March Twp; went to Australia in 1853, mining engineer and inventor,
d 1916 in Australia; m. Catherine Whitford in 1856. She d. 1909, Yackandandah, Victoria, Australia; 11 children
4
 Margaret Hedley b. 1832, Torbolton; further information lacking at this time
5
 Nicholas Hedley b. 1835, Torbolton; m. Christina Grierson; 
d.1889, Woodlawn, Torbolton Twp.; 6 children
6
 James William  Hedley b. 1837 in Torbolton;
m1 Mary Ulmstead Rorison of Fitzroy Twp. in 1864; 2 children 
m2 Harriet A. (Wood) Nickerson of N.Y. in Charlevoix Co. Michigan in 1870;
      1 child
m3 Emma Hays of Butler, Pennsylvania in Michigan in 1878; 3 children
      James lived in Michigan, Kansas and Morris, Man.; d.1925 in California.
7
 William Hedley II
 b. 1839 (twin), Torbolton; m. Eliza Ann Willis of  Fitzroy Twp.; 
d.,1878 (struck by lightning);  Crown Point, Torbolton; 2 children who died at a young age
8
 Alexander Hedley b. 1839 (twin), Torbolton;
d. 1876 of "spinal disease" at age 37. No children
9
 Anthony Humble Hedley Anthony Humble Hedley b. 1840, Torbolton;  went to work in gold/silver/copper mines of Butte, Montana in 1880 and filed several claims; m. Emma L. Slipp of New Brunswick in Butte in 1895; d. date unknown, buried in USA (Butte, Montana?) but Emma d. in 1909 in Cal. No known children.
10
 Edwin ‘Albert’  Hedley b. 1843, Torbolton Twp. (does not appear on Ont. Censuses after 1851)
11
 Victoria Hedley b. 1844, Torbolton; m. William Dickson of Pakenham, Ont.; 
d.1911, Arnprior, Refrew Co., Ont.; 5 children
12
 Elizabeth F.  Hedley b. 1846, Torbolton; m. John Dickson of Pakenham; lived in Galetta, Ont. before moving to North Dakota and finally to Morris, Manitoba; d. 1923; 6 children 
13
 George Nelson  Hedley b. 1846, Torbolton; m. Ann Grierson; farmed in Torbolton at least  until 1881 then in Okotoks, Alberta; d. date unknown; buried in Okotoks; 6 children (4 d. in scarlet fever epidemic in White Lake, Ont.)
14
 Robert R. Hedley Robert Ralph Hedley b.1851, Torbolton Twp. (does not appear on Ont. Censuses after 1851)

Thanks to Doris Hope for revisions in this chapter.     

this page was updated Feb. 7, 2006
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