George, born 1764, and Grace had their
family of ten children at Waddon Farm in Chudleigh.
The picture shows the old wash house at the back of the main
building.
The eldest daughter Mary married John
Wills of Compton Barton, Marldon.
The picture shows their entry in the Ashburton marriage register.
In the 1841 census they were innkeepers at
the Lion Inn in Chudleigh, now no longer in existence. But in
1847, after the death of John's father they decided to emigrate
to Ontario with their four children. John worked as a stage
coach driver in the Toronto area. In 1857 they moved on to Iowa
where he started farming.
Gravestone in Iowa of Mary wife of John who
died in 1884 aged 89 years.
9. Henry and Sons to Ontario in 1860.
In 1851 Henry the youngest of George's family
was farming Wadden and had four sons. But in 1852 his wife Mary
died. In 1854 he married Ann CORNISH and they had two more sons.
In 1860 Henry emigrated to Ontario with his four oldest sons
and left the two younger ones behind probably with his second
wife Ann. The 1861 census shows them living with their mother
Ann WILLS. The two youngest sons followed Henry out to Canada
in about 1870.
Henry cleared his 100 acre land concession
of trees, hauling them to the local brickworks as fuel. He then
sold the clearing and started on a second. This picture shows
the farm today.
It is called Wadden Farm.
A bridge crosses a small river near the farmhouse
and it is named Wills Bridge after John WILLS who was in his
80s and blind but used to walk out to talk to the workmen each
day.
