| Note |
- Frederick James is on the home place in the census of 1851, but not in 1861. We know he died because this is mentioned in his father's will which was written Sept 4, 1882, and Mary was listed as a widow in the 1871 census. After he left home he took up land from the Canada Company in West Williams Twp (simply Williams at the time) under a Canada Company lease, number 4343. According to Canada Company records the land transactions took place June 27 1851. The census, showing both Fred and James at home would have been done in April of the same year. Frederick took up lot 16 con 19, 100 acres, and lot 18 con 20, 100 acres. Both leases were converted to sales in Dec 1859, Canada Company sale numbers 6317 and 6318. The sale of lot 16 con 19 from the Canada Company to Frederick Mallett is registered in Middlesex County as memorial no. 1143 dated Dec 24 1859. He paid Seventy Six Pounds, Eleven Shillings and three pence for the property. Memorial no. 1144 is a mortgage taken out by Frederick and Mary Ann on the same property to Solomon Curts for $600.00. It isn't certain what the purchase price of the property was in dollars, but obviously they didn't have the money. When this mortgage came due in 6 years time, they took out another mortgage in the same amount; this time to Jane McTaggart of East Williams Township, and then they paid off the first mortgage. It is probable that Mary Ann lost or sold the farm when this mortgage came due in 1871. She was still there in the 1871 census, but not 1881.
It's not clear if Frederick ever owned con 20 lot 18, because when this property was converted to sale, 4.6 acres went to the Grand Trunk Railway company (sale no. 6162 Mar 1859), and 95.4 acres went to William Dowker (sale number 6318?). In 1871 William Dowker lived on this property with his wife, but is not shown as owning it, only leasing. It isn't known who owned it at that time.
In the 1861 census Frederick and Mary Ann lived on lot 16 con 19 with 3 children. Frederick 34, Mary 27, Elizabeth 7, William 5, and Mary 1 (shown born in 1860). They live in a log house, no one is shown as going to school. Elizabeth was listed as born in England which isn't possible, and William was listed as a female.
In the 1871 census, Mary was a widow and head of the household with 6 children. Mary 37, Elizabeth 18, William 16, Mary 10, Tara (Lisa? can't make it out) 8, Ann 6, and Martha 3. Under "owner/tenant" there is an 'O' with a stroke through it. It isn't certain what that means. Several other entries that were examined were either an O or a T, no strokes through. There was a mortgage for $600.00 taken out on the property in 1866, so perhaps the stroke indicates that she did not own the property outright. According to the census, Mary and her family occupy only 3 acres; she had a tenant, David Mead, who occupied the rest. Mary had 1 horse, 2 milch cows, 1 other cattle, 14 sheep, 1 swine, and 1 hive of bees. 1 sheep and 3 swine were killed for slaughter or export. She produced 200 lbs of butter, 60 lbs of wood, 20 yards of homemade cloth, and some quantity of potatoes, apples and maple sugar which were not recorded. Her tenant produced a typical output of grains and animals and so on for a farm of the area.
Frederick died somewhere between 1868 and 1870. He was not listed in the 1871 census as having died in the last 12 months. Mary may have re-married. She was only given $10 in her father in law James's will in 1882, whereas his married daughters were given $200, and the one un-married daughter, Ann Eliza was given $800. James Frederick was given $300 and Henry William was given $400. William Henry was given all of the personal effects and whatever money was left over after paying the legacies. Perhaps the small legacy is an indication of a falling out between the father and son, or perhaps the old man felt she was now taken care of because she was remarried (if she remarried), and no longer part of his family. The small legacy seems odd. One would assume he would feel the same sort of obligation to her as to his own, especially to the grandchildren. Elizabeth was the first grandchild, and William was the first to carry the Mallett surname in his generation.
Frederick is buried next to a small country church in West Williams Township not too far from his farm. It is an active United Church today (1996), but when it was built it was Methodist. The stone is broken into two pieces and lies flat on the ground. Parts of it are difficult to read because it is in such poor condition, but the inscription is:
Frederick J Mallett
who died 21st Aug 1868
Aged 42 Yrs, 5 Mo., 12 D
A Native of Devonshire, England.
The church is just south of Sylvan, which is a tiny village west of Parkhill on highway 7. Traveling west on 7, turn left just as you come into Sylvan, just past the Sylvan sign, onto Sylvan Rd. There is a small book store (formerly a service station) on the corner. Go south on Sylvan Road for less than a kilometre and you will come to the Sylvan United Church on the right and the West Williams cemetery on the left. The cemetery is also called the Sylvan cemetery. Standing at the entrance to the cemetery, walk toward the far left corner. Frederick's grave is 2 rows immediately behind a large red granite monument to the JAMES family, which is located on the top of a rise. It is immediately behind DAWSON, in front and to the right of BROWN. According to the people who manage the cemetery, there are no other Malletts buried there. There are no Malletts in the Parkhill cemetery either.
Frederick's farm is located on the northwest corner of Elliot (E/W) and Rodick (N/S). Elliot runs into Parkhill, Rodick runs south to Hwy 7. Rodick dead ends at Elliot. The side rd was probably not put through because there is a deep ravine running across the farm. There is no evidence of any buildings at this corner, perhaps they had their buildings on the other side of the ravine, accessed from the side road which comes part of the way down beside Frederick's farm from county road 18 west of Parkhill. James's farm is right beside Frederick's to the west. Both farms are largely overgrown today. They are hilly and swampy in places, and the soil appears to be quite sandy. Not too far down the road, towards the lake, some tobacco kilns are evident, which is an indicator of sandy soil. It is not surprising that neither of the families stuck it out there as farmers. Imperial Oil owned both places in 1956. They had been purchased in 1952 by the Lakeridge Oil and Gas Prospecting Co. There was another oil company which owned them in between, too. What did the oil companies want with them? Perhaps there was oil there, it's not too far from Petrolia, but the oil boom in Petrolia was a long finished by 1952.
On Sept 18, 1872, Frederick's property is transferred to James Hayes in a complicated deal which had something to do with the fact that Frederick died intestate. "A petition filed in the court of Chancery in the matter of Elizabeth Ann Wright". The documents go on to explain that Elizabeth Ann Wright was the former Elizabeth Ann Mallett, daughter of Frederick who died intestate and so on. It seems to focus on Elizabeth but Mary Ann and all of the children are listed as petitioners to the court. They may have needed to sell the farm to pay off the mortgage but it's not clear why they would have to take such a drastic step; so maybe Elizabeth forced the issue by demanding her share. It is not certain who got what, but the farm seems to have fetched $2500.00, Mary Ann specifically was given $400.00, and the mortgage was paid off. The documents seem to indicate that the children shared the 2500, but that number also seems to be the total purchase price, so Mary Ann's 400 plus the 600 owing on the mortgage plus legal fees and so on would have had to have come out of that amount, so they would likely have wound up splitting less than $1500.00. The bottom line is, anyway, that they move away from the farm after this.
Elizabeth was living in Strathroy with her husband who was a Watchmaker. The Wrights were no longer in Strathroy in the 1881 census. Mary Ann and the rest of the family moved to Brussels, where in the 1881 census it seems William Henry supported the family. He was the only one listed with an occupation, which was also "Watchmaker". He must have learned the trade from his brother in law Robert Wright. In 1891 they were no longer in Brussels, but it isn't known where they went. I learned the full names of the children from this document. The information regarding the sale of the farm is contained in GS477, page 567, no. 2151.
1881 Census:
Mary Ann, 46, head of household, widow, born in England, C Methodist, no occupation listed.
William H, 25, single, born in Ontario, C of E, Watchmaker.
Minnie, 20, C Presbyterian.
Annie R, 16, C Presbyterian.
Martha E, 12, C Methodist.
Elizabeth was married before that business about the farm in 1872, Eliza Ellen got married in 1881, just before the census, Mary Jane got married in Dec 1881.
I found them in Brussels in 1881 because I found Eliza Ellen and Mary Jane in the marriage index. They are no longer there in 1891, and none of the others show up in the marriage index after 1881, which goes all the way up to 1914. By 1914 Mary Ann would be 79, William 58, Annie 49, and Martha 45. It's possible that none of them married, but not likely. I checked the death indexes too, which go up to 1924, and none of them show up. It seems quite possible that Mary Ann would have died before that date, because she would have been 89. Perhaps they moved out of the province, to Michigan maybe, or maybe they moved to Alberta like Henry did, or maybe they went to Iowa. James would have been well established by then, and could have helped them get started out there. I checked the 1881 and 1891 census for Brussels, as well as 1881 for Blyth, Mitchell, and St. Marys.
I checked the 1871 census for the families of McKee and Conboy, and found the future husbands of Eliza Ellen and Mary Jane living there. In the 1881 census for Shelburne I found Eliza Ellen and her new husband William McKee, but they are not there in 1891. Mary Jane had not yet married James Conboy at the time of the census in 1881, so I only checked 1891. They are neither in Erin Twp nor Erin Village.
I will check birth indexes for Wright Robert and Elizabeth A from 1871 onwards, and from 1881 onwards for McKee William and Eliza Ellen, and Conboy James and Mary Jane.
I learned Mary Ann's maiden name from the marriage record of Annie and John Matthews. I found that from the census of 1891 for Acton. I was looking for Mary Jane and James Conboy because I knew that their son Leyton V had died in Acton in 1894. I didn't find them, but I recognized the names of two McKee children, living in the Matthews household. I checked out the two names and birthdates and determined they were the children of Eliza Ellen Mallett and William McKee. From that I deduced that Annie Matthews was Annie Mallett and so on.
1901 Census
In 1901 Mary Ann is living with her daughter and son in law Annie and John Matthews in Acton. Her birth date is given there, as well as the date she emigrated from England: 1844. She is 67.
She would be with her parents in the 1851 census, perhaps West or East Williams Twp, or in Huron county in the Brussels/Ethel area, where she went after she left the farm. Easter Ann and Selina Mary Lake lived in Ethel. They were likely her nieces. I still don't know where she and the family were in 1891. Perhaps they moved out of the province for a while, and Annie didn't want to go, so she went to live with her sister in Shelburne.
The 1851 census shows no Lake family in East or West Williams Twp or Mcgillivray. I did find Mary's brother (I assume) William, in Grey Twp, Huron County. He is the father of Selina Mary and Easter (might be "Esther") Ann who stood up with the two Mallett girls when they got married. I'll follow up on that family in the census and marriage and birth indexes, maybe I can get a fix on their whereabouts today. I will also look at the 1851 census for Wilmot. If Mary came to Canada in 1844, It's a little too early for the Huron tract, so maybe Frederick met her in Wilmot before he went to Williams. Look for Mary Ann Lake in the death indexes.
Mary Ann's family is in the 1851 census for Wilmot. William, 44; Elizabeth, 33; Mary Ann, 18; William, 16; Elizabeth, 9; These were all born in England; Sarah Jane, 7; Thomas, 6; Hannah, 3; Caroline, 1; the last three are born in Canada. Also living with the family are Jane, Emmy and Eliza Cudmore, aged 11, 6, and 1. I don't know if there's a connection but there is a Cudmore living with one of the Smith families later. There is another Lake family in Wilmot, living with the family of William Jury: John, Mary, Nancy, and William; 30, 20, 3, and 1.
It's interesting, I think, that in the letters from James Sr to James Jr, the old man never mentions Frederick's family. In each letter he gives a status report on the other families, he doesn't systematically make reference to each family each time, but over the course of 5 letters, they are all mentioned, except Frederick's. Most of the letters were written from 1883 to 1885, almost 20 years after Frederick's death. They obviously did not stay in touch, and they weren't that far away, in Brussels as late as 1881.
I found Mary Ann's death cert and and place of burial (Ocean View cemetery in Burnaby, BC) quite by accident while in Vancouver looking for evidence that the Wm H Mallett Jeweller listed in the city directory was the one from this family. She is buried along with her grandson Bert R McKee. I can't explain how he got there. There is a different date of birth on the death cert: Jan 22 1832. I'm sticking with the one from the 1901 census in Acton because it would have been given by her and is likely more accurate.
I looked for evidence that some of the other families (McKee, Conboy, Wright) moved to Vancouver but found none. When Mary Ann died her address was given as 950 Keefer. I found James, Catherine, and William Bethune living at that address before and after 1920. I can find nothing to connect them to this family. It's possible William paid them to take care of Mary Ann, because he would not be able to by himself.
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1826 - 1868 (42 years)
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