Thomas Simpson

Thomas Simpson – New Information

Re-submitted by Helen Callaway

Early in the 1800s, one of the first immigrants to settle in the Kilbride area was Thomas Simpson. We have now learned much more about Thomas.

Thomas was from the parish of Aragill, County Tyrone. On May 2, 1809, at age 19, he enlisted in the 5th Regiment of the Dragoon Guards in Captain Brunshells Troop. From his discharge papers we know he was 5’ 7” in height, had grey eyes and a dark complexion. When he enlisted, his occupation was recorded as a weaver.

He was a decorated cavalry man and a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars (1799 – 1815). For his distinguished service he received three medals for his service with the Imperial Forces at the battles of Salamanca (Spain, July 22, 1812, Vitoria (Spain, June 21, 1813), and Toulouse (April 10, 1814, France).

Those same discharge papers record his rank as Private and that he was slightly wounded in the right arm in Llerena, Spain on April 11^th, 1812. At age 27, he was rendered unfit for further service and discharged on February 3, 1817. At that time, he was given his ‘just demands of pay, clothing, etc.’.

Some of the folklore about Thomas is that he was one of the first settlers in the Kilbride area to have a horse. As the Dragoon unit he was in was a mounted unit, it was surmised that he was given his horse on his discharge and brought it over with him to Canada. Unfortunately, there is no record of a horse on his discharge papers.

On coming to Canada, he petitioned to receive a Crown grant specifically for Lot 7, Concession 2 NS (New Survey). That petition is very illuminating and changes some of the early history previously reported. Thomas filed the petition on December 6, 1826. In it he confirms that he was discharged in 1817 and came to the Province of Upper Canada in 1825. On occasion, petitions mention a wife and children. This is not the case for Thomas’ petition. No records have been found to indicate whether they came to Canada as a married couple or whether they met and married here.

The petition also clearly states that the ‘settlement duty’ had been performed on Lot 7, Concession 2 in the Township of Nelson. That would mean that Thomas cleared at least a minimum of 5 acres of land and built a home in the span of about 1 year.

W. D. Flatt, the founder of the Cedar Springs Community that now occupies the Simpson land, recounted that Thomas arrived in Wellington Square in 1814 after a 15-week sea voyage originating in England. This could not be the case as Thomas was not discharged until 1817 and that discharge took place in Dublin, Ireland. It is unlikely he travelled to England to board a ship when so many were leaving Ireland.

Simpson’s petition also dispels the account that was involved with the building of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church located on Dundas Street in 1822. He was known to be a religious man and very involved with the Kirk of Scotland, Presbyterian Church. Indeed, he and his wife Matilda are buried in the Church’s cemetery. A history of the Church reports that “he must be given the credit for rushing the work along. He organized a bee to speed the building. With everyone’s help, the frame church was ready for worship, in 1822”. Unfortunately, as we now know from Simpson’s own petition, he did not arrive until 1825.

No information is available as to the route he took to arrive in Nelson Township. However, we can just imagine him making his way north from the lake through dense, virgin bush. Trees at that time could be 6’ in diameter and upwards of 200’ in height. There were no roads.

Several reports of Simpson’s early life extoled his varied abilities that made him a successful pioneer. These accounts do have merit. It has been said that he could tan deer hides. These would have been used for footwear and or outerwear that he or his wife made for their family. This also means that he was a successful hunter, able to supply meat for his family. Some accounts noted that he carded and spun wool, using it to knit socks and mittens and weave it into cloth for their clothing.  This is substantiated by his discharge papers that report he was a weaver by trade before enlisting. It would follow that he had means of cutting the cloth and means of sewing it. This would also indicate that he either raised his own sheep or that he was able to trade or purchase wool from other settlers. His early training as a weaver before military service would have been an asset.

There are several accounts of his wife, Matilda, and her resilience, initiative, and fortitude.  One such account talks of her throwing a quarter of cured pork over her shoulder and then making her way on foot to the closest store in the area. This was in the area of what is now Dundas Street and Cedar Spring Road, a distance of about 10 km one way.  The return trip would have been an uphill trudge with her purchases.

Mrs. Simpson is also purported to be the first woman to sell her farm produce 27 kilometers away at the Hamilton Market. For this trek, she went by horseback. W. D. Flatt recounted an interesting story about Mrs. Simpson. She had a horn hanging in her kitchen that she used to call Mr. Simpson from the forest. One day she heard someone lost in the woods. She could hear distant calls for help. Blasts from her horn were used to guide the man safely to the cabin. He told her that the horn not only directed him to the cabin, but that it also saved his life by scaring away a pack of wolves that had been trailing him.

While the Ontario Land Records are a great resource, they are not always accurate and are usually confusing. In the archives of the Museums of Burlington is a deed for the sale of 45 acres of Simpson’s land on March 13,1833 by Thomas Simpson and his wife Matilda to John Israel Taylor for the price of £200 and 5 shillings for Matilda for her Dower Rights. That document describes the sale to include ‘all houses, out houses, woods and waters erected, lying and being’. It is interesting to note that there is no mention of a sawmill.

From the 1851 Canadian Census, we know that Thomas, age 62 and his wife, Matilda, age 50 lived with the children Robert (22), George (19), Mary Jane (17), Eliza Ann (14) and Matilda (6). It appears that Thomas and his son, Robert sold their land in 1853 to Wesley Will for the development of Willbrook. It was not long afterwards, in 1854, he purchased land further south in Concession 2, Lot 21, NDS, north of Dundas from Andrew Gage on the north half, subject to a right of way. Thomas’ son George also purchased part of Lot 21 at the same time. No doubt, this location would have been much closer to Dundas Street and to St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church.

It is interesting to note that one of his neighbours at that time that he was in the Cumminsville area was William Montgomery and his family. William was known to be involved in the woolen mill industry and is thought either have owned or worked a mill in Cumminsville before he moved just north of Kilbride to continue his woolen mill profession in Lot 10.

Editor’s Note:

With new information becoming available, thanks to digitization, historical facts can be updated, changed or disputed.  It is important to continue to research so that our accounting of historical facts can be as accurate as possible. 

Contributing Author: Helen Callaway