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Walter Fletcher (abt. 1793 - 1869)

Walter Fletcher
Born about in County Leitrim, Irelandmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 76 [location unknown]
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Profile last modified | Created 4 Dec 2013
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Biography

Walter was born sometime between 1790 and 1795 in County Leitrim, Ireland. He and his wife, Patience, came to Upper Canada probably in the early 1820s.

Leitrim is a county in the Republic of Ireland that just touches on the border of Northern Ireland. The Normans invaded in the 13th century. In 1620 much of the land was confiscated and there was a plan to settle the area with English settlers. Given that the name "Fletcher" is of Norman origin, it is assumed that Walter Fletcher is descended from Anglo-Norman stock who moved over to Ireland at some point (?probably in the 17th century).

"Leitrim today is a sparsely populated region of bogs, hills and lakes, with a lonely beauty all its own. It is difficult to imagine how it must have been in 1841, before the Famine, when it had a population more than five times the present level, the vast majority living in the most abject poverty."

So there is a good chance that Walter was not a wealthy man when he made the decision to come to Upper Canada.

Walter married Patience (surname unkown) in Ireland and they then emigrated to Upper Canada. They had acquired land and settled by 1826.

They were the original settlers on lot 8, concession 9 Vaughan Township. This was just to the north of the current Toronto city limits. Or, to be more precise, the homestead was just east of the old Highway #27, four lots north of Highway #7. It was situated roughly where Medallion Boulevard and Nickel Gate road intersect with the Highway #27.

In the mid-1820s Vaughan Township was sparsely populated (the population of Vaughan only hit 4,300 by 1840) so it is quite likely that the Fletcher's lived a relatively isolated existance in their log house and few acres of cleared land when the originally settled. The township itself, which was not incorporated until 1850, was named after Benjamin Vaughan, a British commissioner who signed a peace treaty with the United States in 1783.

In the 1851 census, Walter and Patience are living in a log house on their farm in Vaughan and they have four children: Robert (22), Sharlet (19), Pierce (17) and Edward (15). It is pretty certain that Walter and Patience had one other daughter -- so she has either left home by 1852 (the 1851 census was conducted in 1852) or perhaps she died.

The 1861 census shows Walter and Patience still living on the farm with two unmarried sons, Robert and Edward. They now have a brick house. Living with them is their second son, Pierce, and his wife (Mary Nattress) and two grand-children. In addition, there is a 40-year old servant "girl" (census taker's words) and her five-year old daughter.

So given the brick house, the servant and four males who are all working the farm, the family appears to be doing fairly well. The family's religion in both the 1851 and 1861 census is shown to be Wesleyan Methodist.

He died in 1869 at the age of 79 Walter & Patience Fletcher are buried in the “Old Methodist” cemetery in Woodbridge (lot 8, concession 7).


Sources

[1] The notes from Garnet Lansdell Nix (1920-2016), the great-grandson of Walter, were the start of this biography. These were prepared in 1942 and were based mainly on the memory of his Aunt Sarah Baldock (1861-1947). These notes refer to the father of Pierce Fletcher (c1835+1894) as another Pierce Fletcher who was born in Ireland. This was incorrect (Pierce Fletcher's father was Walter) so bear this in mind in reading the following: "Pierce Fletcher and his wife were born in Ireland but moved to Canada when quite young. They had a family of five. Pierce died when eighty-five years old."

[2] "History of Toronto and county of York, Ontario" By Charles Pelham Mulvany, Graeme Mercer Adam, 1885: "Edward Fletcher lot 9 concession 8 was born on the lot on which he now resides His father the late Walter Fletcher was an early settler in the township having located here in 1826 He was a native of County Leitrim Ireland and after settling on his farm in Vaughan remained there until his death in 1869 at the age of seventy nine years Edward was born in 1837 and is the youngest son of his father's family which consisted of three sons and two daughters Mr Fletcher is unmarried He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and in politics is a Conservative."

[3] current description of County Leitrim: From: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/connacht/index_le.htm

[4] History of Vaughan, source of name: Wikipedia

[5] 1851 census, Ontario, York County, Township of Vaughan , pg 321-322, lines 4-9: Walter Fletcher (56), farmer, born Ireland, ; Patient (60), born Ireland; Robert (22); Sharlet (19); Parse (17); Eward (15); All children were born in Canada; the family’s religion is shown as W. Methodist [Wesleyan Methodist]. The family is living in a 1.5 story log house and the words “Con 9” [Concession 9] can be read but some other words (the Lot number) are illegible. The spelling of family names is problamatice (eg, "Parse" for "Pierce" or "Eward" for "Edward" or "Patient" for what we think should be "Patience.")

[5] 1861 census, Ontario, York County, Township of Vaughan, pg 145, lines 25-28: Walter Fletcher (68), born Ireland, farmer; Patience (68), born Ireland; Robert (27); Edward (23). The family’s religion is shown as “W. M.” [Wesleyan Methodist]. The two sons were born in Canada. The family lives in a 2-story brick house. Separated by one family in the census record, the next family is Pierce Fletcher (25) – this is Walter and Patience’s other son. Actually, from the way the census information has been entered, the two people between the two Fletcher families – A Nancy (?) Gurley (4) and a Mary Gurley (4) are more likely servants of the Fletcher family (the words “S. girl” have been entered for occupation) and the two Fletcher families actually live together in the 2-story brick house: lines 31-34: Pierce Fletcher (25), farmer; Mary (27); Isaac (3); Jonathon (2). Nancy Gurley was born in Ireland and is “R.C.” [Roman Catholic]; her daughter, Mary, was born in Canada.


Acknowledgments

Thanks to Fred Nix for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Fred and others.





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Categories: York Region Settlers