1

William Fairbairn and his family

William Fairbairn was born in 1790, in Alderton, Scotland. His father, a respected teacher, sent him to Manchester to learn the millwright's trade like his cousin (another William Fairbairn who would later become Mayor of Manchester). Once his apprenticeship was completed, he married Jean Wanless, a nurse, on Christmas Day 1813. She was the daughter of John Wanless and Lady Ellen Willis. They lived in Yetholm, Scotland. Their first son, Archibald, was born in February, 1815.

In 1817, William Fairbairn's family emigrated to Canada and settled in St. Andrews East, near Lachute, Quebec, where in 1819 Jean gave birth to their second son, John. William's family moved wherever work was available; they soon moved to Caledonia Springs, Ontario. William and Jean Fairbairn had two more children, Helen in 1821, and George in 1823. In 1824, William found work on the construction of the locks of the Rideau Canal. The family settled in Bytown, in a house not far from where the Supreme Court stands today. Four more children were born in what would later become known as Ottawa: their fourth son, William, in 1826; twin sisters Frances and Elsie in 1829; and their last child, Mary, in 1831.

In 1834, the family finally settled in Wakefield, Quebec, where William built a log house north of the village on the Gatineau River. They are among the first families to have settled in the new Township of Wakefield. Four years later, William petitioned the Governor of Lower and Upper Canada for permission to build the first grist mill of the young community on the La Pêche River, which flows into the Gatineau River at Wakefield. He began cutting trees in 1835 and milling operations may have begun as early as the fall of 1838. William Fairbairn later sold his mill in 1844 to James and John Maclaren.

The family's youngest son, William, stayed with William and Jean Fairbairn on the family farm. William Jr.'s family expanded, and the original log house became too small. In the 1860s, William Sr. built a new house for his family close to his previous log house. It is this second Fairbairn house that today sits in Wakefield's Hendrick Park, beside the covered bridge.

Jean Fairbairn died in 1868. Sources differ on the date of William Fairbairn Sr.'s death: he is believed to have died either February 6 1867 or February 6 1872.

Bibliography:
Dodds, Reby: Who is which? A genealogical and historical family record. Ottawa, 1970.
Elman, Eve-Lynne: Wakefield Mill: mill owners, the mill and the community, 1832 to 1980. 1984.
Geggie, Norma: Wakefield and Its People. Quyon (QC), Chesley House Publications, 1990, 95 p.
Fairbairn, Gordon Roy: "A Tale of Two Sisters". In: Up the Gatineau! Vol. 28, pp. 19-23.
Newton, Michael: The Wakefield Grist Mill. NCC, 1979, 71 p.

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William Fairbairn, 1790 - 1872
19th Century, Circa 1865
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada

Credits:
Photographer unknown
Roy Fairbairn Collection, GVHS Archives, 00057.001

3

Section of plan of Wakefield Township in Lower Canada, 1835
6 November 1835
Wakefield, Lower Canada

Credits:
Plan of Wakefield in L.C. 6, November, 1835, Library and Archives Canada, H3/330/Wakefield/1835, NMC 16205

4

Map of Wakefield Township, 1847 (1841)
15 February 1947
Wakefield, Lower Canada

Credits:
Anthony Swalwell, Anthony Coffin, William Higgison. Wakefield, Lower Canada, Library and Archives Canada, H3/330/Wakefield 1847 (1841) NMC 1388

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Section of map of Wakefield Township, 1847 (1841)
19th Century, April 1841
Wakefield, Lower Canada

Credits:
Anthony Swalwell, Anthony Coffin, William Higgison. Wakefield, Lower Canada, Library and Archives Canada, H3/330/Wakefield 1847 (1841) NMC 1388

6

William Fairbairn's Petition to Sir John Colburn, to build a grist mill on the 'Little River", 1838
2 May 1838
Wakefield, County of Ottawa, Lower Canada

Credits:
Archives nationales du Québec, Québec, E21, S64, SS3, no 3464

7

Wakefield Grist Mill, circa 1860
19th Century, Circa 1860
Wakefield, County of Ottawa, Lower Canada

Credits:
Painter: Reby Dodds
GVHS Archives, 01851.009

8

Census of 1842, Wakefield Township
19th Century, 1842
Wakefield, Lower Canada

Credits:
Geggie, Norma and Stuart. "La Pêche: a history of the townships of Wakefield and Masham in the province of Quebec, 1792-1925. The Historical Society of the Gatineau, 1980, p. 6d.
Source of information: Library and Archives Canada, RG 31, Canada Census, Reel C-729

9

Census of 1851, Wakefield Township
19th Century, 1851
Wakefield, County of Ottawa, Canada East

Credits:
Library and Archives Canada, RG 31, Reel T-1132

10

"They builded better than they knew." William Fairbairn's gravestone.
20th Century, 2001
Hall's Cemetery, Wakefield, Quebec, Canada

Credits:
Photographer: Guy Berthiaume
GVHS Archives, 01850.009

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John Fairbairn, 1819 - 1908. The second of William Fairbairn's sons.
19th Century
Location unknown

Credits:
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Gatineau, Fonds William H. Johnston et Reby Dodds, P11, S1, ICON, 7HP11, 152

12

George Fairbairn, 1823 - 1907. The third of William Fairbairn's sons.
19th Century
Location unknown

Credits:
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Gatineau, Fonds William H. Johnston et Reby Dodds, P11, S1, ICON, 7HP11, 24, 2

13

William Fairbairn, 1826 - 1907. The fourth of William Fairbairn's sons.
19th Century
Location unknown

Credits:
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Gatineau, Fonds William H. Johnston et Reby Dodds, P11, S1, ICON, 7HP11, 34, 2

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Mortgage Contract between James Maclaren and William Fairbairn, 1876
22 April 1876
Wakefield, County of Ottawa, Quebec, Canada

Credits:
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Gatineau, Fonds William H. Johnston et Reby Dodds, P11, 1876 Contract