James Woolrich: Land Baron

 by Mary Ducharme

james woolrichJames Woolrich, born in 1762, was a wealthy dry goods merchant in Montreal. When our region was still a wilderness, he bought 12,000 acres of Granted land, including 47 lots in Hemmingford (according to the Hemmingford Statistical Report 1822; records of notary John Gerbrand Beek). Many of the individuals who originally had claims and patents had no intention of living in the wilderness, much less improving the land as required as a condition of their grants, and they sold their land cheaply and gladly. Woolrich envisioned a scheme that could have made much of our region into a sort of private seigneury.

The idea was to retain title to all the land, renting it for a fee of 6 pence (10 cents) a year annually per acre. This was to be paid by the current tenant and all subsequent tenants to Woolrich and his heirs – in perpetuity. In fact, this system, however gradually unravelling, continued to support some of the Woolrich heirs into the 1930’s. He also sold land to settlers, many of whom did not read well, and were under the impression that they were buying Crown Lands. Their experiences in Europe had generated a low opinion of landlords and they were angry enough to quit their hard-earned improvements for land they could own unconditionally. Knowing that cleared land was essential to attracting tenants, Woolrich offered a small fortune in those days, $200 for clearing 30 acres on any of his lots. This was known as “The Woolrich Bonus” but it was hard-earned.

A relic of Woolrich’s legacy is found in the deeds of Charles Petch land where a document given to William Thompson, dated 1883 states that William is owing “perpetual annual ground rent” of 6 pence per acre in arrears, to the amount of $77.14. The payment was due to the estate of the “late William Connelly.” This Connelly was a son-in-law, married to Julia, a daughter of James Woolrich and his wife Madeleine Gamelin. This plot of land is now 386 Route 202 west, and has been owned through the years by Brazils, Ferns, and Thompsons.

James Woolrich built the first grist mill in the area about 1807. It was the Humphrey Nesbitt location on the English River, also known as Corbin’s Corner or “The Fort.” It was a small mill with two runs of stones, one for Indian corn and one for wheat. A saw mill was added about 1810. A drawback to this entreprise was that many settlers found getting to the mill was too difficult for their horses because of wetlands. After a succesion of owners, the mill burned down in 1880.

Aside from the public life of James Woolrich, his private life was equally unusual. He was an English Protestant who married a French Catholic, and to appease both sides, they decided that when they had children, they would raise their sons as Protestant and their daughters as Catholic. How well this worked is unknown.

One of their sons, Thomas Hall, worked as manager and bookkeeper of Scriver’s Store during the Lower Canada Rebellion, and was known as a “gentleman of good education and ability.” He became a Captain in the Volunteer Militia, leading his company at the Odelltown engagements in 1838. He suffered from exposure and died of comsumption in Laprairie in the winter of 1839. For unknown reasons, because of the presumed wealth of the family, this left the wife and children of Thomas destitute, but the efforts of John Scriver to get a grant for them failed, with the suggestion that the influence of the French intervened. It is interesting to note that Thomas was the one who settled his father’s estate in 1837, in which all holdings were awarded to his mother Madeleine.

A daughter Julia Woolrich married William Connolly, previously mentioned in this article, and raised William’s children whose mother was Suzanne, a Cree from Red River. William had married Suzanne in 1803 and during their 28 years together, they had 6 children. In 1831 he brought Suzanne and the children to Ste-Eustache where a few months later in 1832, he decided to repudiate Suzanne and marry his cousin Julia who was more “amiable and cultivated.” Julia was one of the first white women to reach the Pacific ocean by land. There are currently Woolrich descendants who live in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Before she died, Suzanne saw her daughter Amelia become Lady Douglas, wife of Sir James Douglas, governor of Vancouver Island and the crown colony of British Columbia.

N.B. 1822-1825 James Woolrich owned 383 Route 202 West – Granted Land – Range 4 – Lot 150 Owned by the Thompson family since 1922