Willoughby / Ramsey |
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About Us
Willoughby Family
Ramsey Family
Henry Willoughby (1797-1881) was the youngest brother of Ralph (1783-1852), Eliza Mary (1788-1854) wife of James R. Armstrong, and John (1793-1874) Willoughby. A notation in a family member's baby book indicates that their father's name was also Henry. They emigrated from Northern Ireland before 1830 to the Cookstown-Bondhead region of Simcoe County in Ontario, Canada. They were probably raised as Methodists. The older siblings were married and had children before they came to Canada. The only available indication of where they lived in Northern Ireland is on grave headstones of Ralph - County Fermanagh and John - County Monaghan and his wife Isabella Ramsey - County Cavan. No headstone for Henry has been found.
Henry Willoughby and Julia Kidd (1806-1886), daughter of James (1776-1860) and Judith nee Ferris (1777-1862) Kidd were married in the Home District of Ontario May 7, 1832.
Henry Willoughby obtained the northwest ½ of Lot 22, Concession 7, Tecumseth Township of Simcoe County from the Crown on July 10, 1830. In March of 1846 he sold this property to a Ralph and Mary Willoughby (not the brother Ralph) and purchased or traded it for their farm on Lot 24, Concession 8, Tecumseth Township. Henry remained on this farm near Bondhead until his death in 1881. Julia by 1884 had moved to Toronto where she lived with daughter Anne Stephenson until her death in 1886. They raised their 8 children in the large brick farmhouse. They sold their farm to their youngest son Henry in 1874 who, for financial reasons, was obliged to sell the farm out of family in 1885. The house and an old traditional barn are still in good condition and in use on the farm.
 Home of Henry & Julia (Kidd) Willoughby It appears that Henry was a hard working farmer who readily assisted their sons in the purchase of nearby farms. Julia was a dedicated Methodist and a talented organist, Sunday school and music teacher at the Kidd family church in Cookstown before and after they were married. Many of the legal documents involved with their farm and family activities on file in the Barrie Land Registry office are signed by a witnessed "X", suggesting that they had minimal literacy. Henry and Julia Willoughby's children were Richard (1836-1909) -unmarried; James (1837-?) m. Mary Anne Bell (1848-?) in 1871; Anne (1839-?) m. William Stephenson (1843-?) in 1864; Sarah Jane (1840-?) m. Robert Lawrence (?-?) in 1863; John (1841-1878) m. Margaret Kerr (1845-1921) in 1867; Matilda (1842-?) m. William Bell in 1864; William (1843-1913) -unmarried; and Henry Kidd (1845-1923) m. Ellen Martin Jebb (1857-1938). It is amazing that Henry and Julia lived into their 80's considering the relative lack of nutritional knowledge, medical care for contagious and other diseases, and the prevalence of serious injuries during land clearing and related activities of the pioneers.
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Revised October 29, 2000
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