William Weld (1824 - 1891)

Born 10 Dec 1824 in Berwick St John, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Agnes (Johnstone) Weld — married 1845 in Delaware, Ontario, Canada

Descendants

Died 3 Jan 1891 at age 66 in London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada

Biography

Religion: Anglican.

Occupation: Farmer & publisher.

Note: Came to Canada 1843; of Delaware, ON. and London, ON. Proprietor and founder (1866) of the 'F. WILLIAM WELD The third son of and Elizabeth Eleanor Weekes and the Rev.Joseph Weld, William, was born on Dec.10, 1824 at Berwick Wiltshire and died on Jan.3,1891 at London, Ontario, Canada. William left England, at the age of nineteen, for Canada. Here is his own account: 'In 1843 I landed in Hamilton, took my gun and bowie knife and walked to Galt and Guelph, chopped down my first tree at St.Marys, proceeded to Goderich, then to London and Delaware; then through Oneida to Fingal and Col.Talbots, thence to Port Stanley, St.Thomas and Woodstock, staying in this vicinity for three weeks; thence to Brantford and Hamilton.' 'The beautiful scenery, the luxuriant corn crop, the gigantic trees, the beautiful cool springs, running streams and healthy reports of Delaware, caused me to retrace my footsteps to that township where I purchased land and received my iniatory lessons of life in the woods.' William took up a hundred acre bush lot on the river Thames, in Middlesex county, about fourteen miles southwest of London Ontario. From the huge black walnuts growing there young William cut out a farm. Although government land re-distribution once irked him to the point of an exploratory trip to Pennsylvania, Delaware held him for the duration of his farming days. In 1845 he married Agnes Johnston, a Delaware girl the daughter of Mary Paterson and Henry Johnstone. She was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland on March 4,1827 and true to pioneer tradition raised a family of eleven children, nine sons and two daughters. Agnes, who died on Sept.19,1898 aged seventy-one, was one of three sisters, Agnes, Jane and Ann who married three Weld brothers, William, Stephen and Octavus. William was a progressive and scientific farmer. He grew good crops and built up fine herds of Shorthorn and Ayrshire cattle as well as excellent flocks of Lincoln and Leicester sheep. His famous stallion 'Anglo-Saxon' won many prizes and 'travelled' Western Ontario for many years. From his Canadian Agricultural Emporium, he sent out new and improved varieties of grain. He brought the first Fyfe wheat into Delaware, went to Ohio to procure Democrat wheat and had the Lost Nation wheat brought from the Maritimes. These were but a few of his important seed importations. Later under the ownership of his son, Henry, and J.S.Pearce the Emporium became one of the most important seed houses in Canada. Twenty-one years of successful farming was merely a prelude to a greater career, for he saw that a practical agricultural journal was very much needed. Consequently in 1866, William commenced the publication of the Farmers Advocate. This first journal was published on Jan.1, 1867 and started as a three column four page sheet with a circulation of less than five hundred copies and a yearly output of about five thousand. By the late eighties the circulation had a minimum of sixteen thousand and the total annual circulation of two hundred and twenty five thousand copies. All his theories on agriculture were tested (prior to publication) on his own property which he had set up as an experimental farm in 1864. As the paper took increasingly of his time, he was eventually forced to hand over the running of the farm at Delaware to his two eldest boys and move to London, Ontario. In his day he was known as 'Crazy' Weld - 'crazy' because he was progressive beyond the understanding of his contempories; 'crazy' because he had the courage to risk his substance in demonstrating the soundness of convictions that were regarded as being radical beyond all reason. Had he been a lesser man, his temerity would probably have brought him to an obscure ruin. As it was he left a legacy of achievement that entitles him to be ranked among the fathers of scientific agriculture in Canada. William died in a tragic drowning accident in his own home whilst doing some sort of plumbing repairs on Jan.3, 1891. William and Agnes: A memorial window exists in Christ Church Delaware, east side, for William and Agnes. 'In memory of William Weld, died 3rd Jan 1891/ and Agnes his wife, died 19th Sept. 1898.'.

Baptism: 04 JAN 1825. Berwick St. John's, WIL, ENG.

Census: 1841 Westwell Cottage, Tenterden, Kent, England. ^[1] 1861 Delaware, Middlesex, Canada West. ^[2] 1871 Delaware, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada. ^[3] 04 APR 1881. Ward 2, London, Middlezex, Ontario, Canada. ^[4]

Buried 07 JAN 1891. Woodland Cemetery, London, ON, CAN. ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Source: #S929 Note: Westwell Cottage Joseph Weld45MClerk in ordersNot born in county Elisabeth Weld40FNot born in county William Weld16MNot born in county George Weld14MNot born in county Eleanor Weld13FNot born in county Samuel Weld11MNot born in county Stephen10MNot born in county Octavious8MBorn in county Thomas5MBorn in county John3MBorn in county James1MBorn in county
2. ↑ Source: #S1662 Note: Weld, Wm.FarmerEnglandC of E36 M M Weld, AgnesScotlandC of E34 M F Weld, StephenU.C.C of E14 M Weld, JosephU.C.C of E12 M Weld, EleanorU.C.C of E10 F Weld, HenryU.C.C of E8 M Weld, Jno.U.C.C of E6 M Weld, MaryU.C.C of E4 F Weld, EdmundU.C.C of E2 M Johnston, AnnU.C.C of E29 F Brick house 1-1/2 storey single family.
3. ↑ Source: #S1663 Note: Weld, WilliamM 46 MEnglandC of EEditor Weld, AgnesF 44 MScotlandC of E Weld, StephenM 24OntarioC of EFarmer Weld, JosephM 22OntarioC of EFarmer Weld, EllenF 20OntarioC of E Weld, HenryM 18OntarioC of EFarmerSchool Weld, JohnM 16OntarioC of EFarmerSchool Weld, MaryF 13OntarioC of ESchool Weld, EdwardM 11OntarioC of ESchool Weld, OctaviusM 9OntarioC of ESchool Weld, ThomasM 7OntarioC of ESchool Weld, CharlesM 4OntarioC of E Weld, CorbinM 2OntarioC of E
4. ↑ Source: #S2395 Note: Weld, WilliamM 56 MEnglandEpiscopalPublisher Weld, AgnesF 54 MScotlandEpiscopal Weld, HenryM 28OntarioEpiscopalCom Traveller Weld, MaryF 23OntarioEpiscopal Weld, EdmundM 21OntarioEpiscopal Weld, OctaviusM 19OntarioEpiscopalUniversity Student Weld, ThomasM 17OntarioEpiscopalFarmer Weld, CharlesM 14OntarioEpiscopal Weld, CorbinM 12OntarioEpiscopal
5. ↑ Source: #S35

• Source: S1662 1861 Census of Canada Record for Mary Weld, Url: http://search.ancestry.ca/browse/view.aspx?dbid=1570&iid=4108145_00260&pid=794580381&ssrc=&fn=Mary&ln=Weld&st=g
• Source: S1663 1871 Census of Canada Record for Mary Weld, Url: http://search.ancestry.ca/browse/view.aspx?dbid=1578&iid=4396676_00112&pid=1916215&ssrc=&fn=Mary&ln=Weld&st=g
• Source: S2395 1881 Census of Canada, London, Url: http://interactive.ancestry.ca/1577/31229_C_13270-00246/371789?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.ca%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgss%3dangs-c%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gsfn%3dOctavius%26gsln%3dWeld%26gsln_x%3dNP_NN_NS%26MSAV%3d1%26msbdy%3d1861%26msb
• Source: S35 Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid, V. 5, February 1996
• Source: S929 1841 Census, Tenterden - Ancestry.com, Url: http://content.ancestry.ca/iexec/?htx=view&r=5543&dbid=8978&iid=KENHO107_475_477-0290&pid=15956656&ssrc=&fn=Thomas&ln=Weld&st=g