WALTER Verna Roscene

Verna — BIGGAR James Wilbert. James was born 6 Nov 1891; died 20 Apr 1965; was buried Apr 1965, North Glanford Cemetery, Hamilton ONT. [Group Sheet]

1. BIGGAR Margaret was born Yes, date unknown.
2. BIGGAR Lorraine

Richard married HEALY Maria Amelia 16 Apr 1884, Simcoe, Woodhouse Twp, Norfolk ONT. Maria was born 13 Jan 1859, Springford, Oxford ONT; died 18 Dec 1941, Simcoe ONT; was buried Dec 1941, Wesley United Church Cemetery, Jarvis ONT. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Baptism: 23 Feb 1817, Bradworthy DEV
• Census: 6 Jun 1841, 'Lymscott', Soldon DEV; : 20y
• Immigration: 1857, Jarvis, Haldimand ONT

Notes:

Richard and Ann WALTER came to Canada West, (Upper Canada) against the wishes of their families in England. Ann's brother Abel MOORE, had earlier emigrated to Canada and had cleared land and built a home on land granted to him in Alma, Pilkington Township, Wellington County, Canada West. Encouraged by his success and others praising the opportunities of low cost and abundant farmland, they decided to leave England and together with their four children they sailed from Plymouth on 14 Apr 1857 on board the ship, 'Gipsy Queen'. Recent information has come to light that Richard's second cousin Mary and her husband, John MAY were passengers on the 'Gipsy Queen' at the same crossing. They were on their way to Goderich to take up farming in Goderich, where Mary's older brother Charles WALTER, had previously come to live.

Ship arrival records indicate that the 'Gipsy Queen' did not arrive at Quebec City until the 2 Jun 1857. There is no record of the ship being quarantined or docking at any other port, so they must have been on board for 47 days. This crossing obviously took an unexpected length of time because the 'Gipsy Queen' was scheduled to be back at Plymouth on the 12th. of June. It is quite likely that they were not prepared for the cold of the North Atlantic or the unexpected length of time that it took to make the trip. Records indicate that the weather conditions in the North Atlantic caused many delays because of ice, fog and rough water. It is speculated that these conditions, combined with an outbreak of scarlet fever, caused the death of their youngest child Ann, who was buried at sea off the coast of Newfoundland on the 15 May. Charles E. WALTER is quoted stating that "they were only one day sailing from sight of land when his baby sister died".

The family spent the first year with Ann's brother Abel MOORE, who had earlier came to Canada and owned a farm near Alma in Wellington County, Ontario. The following spring they purchased a one hundred-acre lot with a house and barn. This property was located, in Townsend, Norfolk, north of Talbot Road near the source of Black Creek, 5 miles west of Jarvis. They had sailed from England aboard the 'Gypsy Queen' with a member of the IVEY family and it is believed, that they became friends and maintained correspondence after they arrived in Canada. The IVEY family owned a farm on the Talbot Road, (later known as # 3 Hwy.) near Jarvis, which seems likely to have been the reason that Richard decided to live in this area. It took all of Richard and Ann's resources to finance the purchase of this property and when winter came they ran out of money and food. Payments for the farm were due, so they wrote to the family in England and asked for help but the urgency of the request was ignored. Richard's parents returned a letter which offered only this popular advice, "Don't grab a bull by the horns unless you can hold him." It is not clear, if this was in retaliation for Richard leaving home against his parent's advice but they definitely misunderstood the seriousness of the request because they were in danger of losing the farm.

It was Easter Sunday when John IVEY came to call on them and discovered their desperate situation. He returned the following day to bring food and informed them that he had personally, guaranteed the loan against their property. A second letter was sent to the WALTER family in England explaining the severity of the situation. Money was eventually sent, but that appears to be the last correspondence they had with Richard's parents. Apparently, they believed that anyone with that amount of low cost, good farm land should become wealthy if they applied themselves to farming. They couldn't understand how anybody could be hungry, living on a one hundred-acre property. Charles E. WALTER is quoted as stating, "on the day John IVEY came to visit them, the only food they had left was three potatoes."

John IVEY's family later moved to Port Dover and began a green house business, growing and marketing roses. Ivey's Roses, became a successful company that survived until 1992. With financial assistance from the family in England and a loan guaranteed by John IVEY, Richard and Ann managed to plant grain and in the summer of 1859 and they harvested a good crop. After four or five years of successful farming they were able to repay their debts and decided to relocate to a larger property. In 1864 they sold that farm and purchased a one hundred and fifty-acre parcel of land approximately three km., east of Jarvis on the south side of the Talbot Road (#3 Hwy.). It was recorded that they paid $3,600 for the farm which they called "Elm Grove Farm". They lived there until Richard died and their youngest daughter Clara, and son-in-law James DAVIDSON, purchased the farm. The house was enlarged in 1913 and is still there as of this date in 2010, although the barn is gone and power lines from the Nanticoke power plant occupy some of the original property. The last member of the family to live in Elm Grove Farm was Charles E. DAVIDSON who died in 1966.

(This information was kindly provided by Charlie WALTER a great grandson of Richard and Ann WALTER)

Richard married MOORE Ann 12 Jan 1848, Bradworthy DEV. Ann was born 5 May 1830, South Worden, Bradworthy DEV; died 22 Jan 1904, Jarvis, Haldimand ONT; was buried Jan 1904, Wesley United Church Cemetery, Jarvis ONT. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Immigration: 1857, Jarvis, Haldimand ONT

Notes:

Daughter of John MOORE and Grace PERKIN.

Other Events:

• Occupation: Yeoman Farmer of 'Lymscott'
• _UID: 7D2B37FBD9294A85B0EA6E6CC9E5BA2AB19D
• Baptism: 13 Mar 1788, Kilkhampton CON
• Census: 6 Jun 1841, 'Lymscott', Soldon DEV; : 50y

Charles married WALTER Emm 29 Dec 1814, Bradworthy DEV. Emm (daughter of WALTER William and BRIMACOMBE Ann) was born Abt 1797, Bradworthy DEV; died 31 Mar 1880, 'Lymscott', Soldon DEV; was buried Cal Apr 1880, Lana Wesleyan Chapel Cemetery, Pancrasweek DEV. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Emma WALTER
• _UID: 48D1BDF145F3454BA6B4B0A6A7D679F126CF
• Baptism: 29 Jun 1797, Bradworthy DEV
• Census: 6 Jun 1841, 'Lymscott', Soldon DEV; : 40y