From the Bethany United Church (Pilkington Township Ontario) history
book: John Thacker was from Staffordshire. he was a
carpenter and while serving his apprenticeship of seven years, worked most
the time at Windsor castle. Here, he came under the notice General
Pilkington who got him to come to his estate in Canada to help put up a
church on the Lepard farm and other buildings. John came out in 1832
and remained about a year. At this time he bought from Anson &
Abram Matthews, the house and clearing they had made on lot 9, conc
3, where the present Bethany Church stands. The house that
was built by these experienced axemen was of hewn cedar with dovetail corners.
Having procured a home, Mr. Thacker went back to London in
1833 and married Catharine Lisney. Early in 1834 he made preparations
to return and received instructions from general Pilkington about erection
of some buildings near the mill, on Mill Creek (now Swan Creek).
Mr. & Mrs. Thacker arrived at their home in May 1834, and were scarcely
settled when general Pilkington died and all the plans were useless.
For a time, he found employment with the Gartshore firm in Dundas, and
while he was away, Mrs. Thacker taught the neighbours' children in
a school in her own house.
Their children: Catharine-Ottawa (named Ottawa after the ship
she was born on); John; Mary; Henrietta; Edward;
William; Ambrose; Alice; Benjamin"
I have compiled this data over the past 10 years with help from many people
(especially during the Thacker family reunions in Ontario). The data
is compiled in "Family Tree Maker" software so I can export a variety of
reports & formats. Below is a basic outline-tree showing the
people in our line. I have deleted the birth & death dates since
this data would be visible to the public (but have that data on file if
you need it). I need to update this file - so if you
sent me corrections, please be patient with me (fee free to resend any
corrections!).
