Much of what we know about James Lougheed of Toronto Township, Peel County, Ontario is based on information supplied by two of his granddaughters, Jane and Elizabeth Lougheed, in 1936 and 1937 to Perkins Bull. Their letters are to be found in the Perkins Bull Papers in the Ontario Archives. It is important to realize that in 1936 Jane was 86 years old and her sister 74. Memories can be often unreliable, although such information as can be verified has proved to be surprisingly accurate.

William Lougheed, the father of James, was said to have worn “the Highland Scotch.” Elizabeth felt this manner of dress confirmed the story that the Lougheeds came to Ireland from Scotland. In one letter Elizabeth says that “William was greatly influenced by the two great teachers of his time, Wesley and Wakefield. He was a staunch Methodist and went by the nickname of ‘Sanctified Bill’.” However, in another letter she writes:

“My grandfather Lougheed and Joshua [a cousin] were earnest followers of John and Charles Wesley but their fathers were staunch Church of England.”

It is likely that the latter statement is the correct one.

James was born in County Sligo, Ireland in 1779. By trade he was a shoemaker. Apparently he wished to emigrate to Canada and to become a minister, following in the footsteps of John Wesley, the English Anglican clergyman, evangelist, writer of hymns, and founder of Methodism. When his father refused to consent to such a plan, James ran away from home when he was about twenty and eventually made his way to the United States. William was said to be well to do, but his son received no benefit since he refused to return to Ireland.

The name of a James Lougheed, born Sligo, age 21, Irish, who emigrated from Ireland, intended to settle in New York State, and who applied for naturalization November 21, 1804 is listed in “A List of Aliens Naturalized in New York 1802-1814” found in the Emmet Collection in the New York Public Library. This entry may refer to our James Lougheed. It would mean that he had been in the United States for at least 5 years, thus placing his arrival around 1799. That date would seem to fit; however, he would have been older than 21 in 1804.

In the United States James met and married a Miss Allen. Unfortunately her granddaughters could not recall her Christian name, and her name does not appear in the various land transactions in which James was involved. Their first child, William, was born in 1806, about the time James and his wife moved to Canada. We do not know whether William was born in Canada or in the United States. During the next twelve years, five more children were born: Wesley, Joseph, Thomas, Deborah, and John (though not necessarily in that order). The family may have lived for a time in Chippewa (now part of Niagara Falls) and in a village from whose name they took the name of their first daughter, Deborah. We have not been able to locate any village either in Canada or in the eastern United States with a similar name.

The first clear indication that James was living in Canada is found in land records. On the 2nd of March, 1808, James (identified as a tanner of the Township of Grimsby, Lincoln County, DIstrict of Niagara) bought thirty acres in the Township of Nelson in what is now Halton County from a Thomas Corner - part of Lot 10, Concession 2, North of Dundas Street. On the 10th of September, 1811 James petitioned the Crown for permission to lease the adjoining Lot 11. On April 9, 1814 he purchased fifty acres in the same Lot 10 from Thomas Corner, and sold back the original thirty. He retained these fifty acres until May 12, 1823.

James was 38 or 39 years old on the 4th of January, 1818 when he petitioned the Crown for land in the Home District. In his petition he states that he had been in the province for 12 years, had a family of a wife and 6 children, and had never received any land from the Crown. He claimed that he had “suffered very much during the late war [1812-1814] by depradations committed on his property by the Indians and for which he has not applied for any remuneration.” James received 200 acres in Toronto Township, Peel County - Lot 7, Concession 1, East of Huron Street - on which he settled in 1819 and for which he received the Patent 22 February, 1843.

The land which James received was part of a settlement first known as Gardner’s Clearing and later as Britannia. The 1877 Historical Atlas of Peel County describes Britannia as:

“...a small hamlet on the centre road, 4 miles from Cooksville and 6 from Brampton. It has a post office, waggon shop and blacksmith shop, a large brick school house and a fine brick church. Population 100.”

A local history says that in 1818 the Lougheed land was heavily timbered with pine. The family cleared all the land, leaving only a few trees around the buildings. The first house and barn, built of logs, burnt in 1834. The second house of rough-cast was built in 1835. (The house was still there five years ago [1985] and may be there today on Highway 10 on the east side just north of Highway 401.)

In 1821 the Britannia settlers erected a log church which was served from the Toronto Circuit by travelling Wesleyan Methodist preachers. It was replaced by the “fine brick church” built in bricks made from local clay. In October of 1864 after extensive enlarging and remodelling, the church was re-opened. In a review of the history of the church written by Charles Johnston in 1933 is the following:

“An organ was used for the first time at this re-opening, being loaned by James Lougheed for this occasion, and it is recalled that it required a day, with the aid of ropes and pulleys, to place the organ in the balcony.”

The church was designated a historical building under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1981. The 1983 plaque contains a list of pioneer families of Britannia, including Lougheed.

During the next few years following their settlement in Britannia, James and his wife had three more children: Allen born in 1820, Mary Ann in 1825 and Jane in 1828. We believe that James’ wife died not long after the birth of Jane and that sometime in 1829 James, then age fifty, married Jane Connor. We do not know where James’ first wife was buried. Land for a cemetary as well as for the brick church was donated in 1830 with first burials recorded in 1837. “There is evidence of burials previous to 1837 but they are not recorded.” Elizabeth Lougheed in one of her letters said “Britannia is our burying place. Islington in the early years.”

In 1835 James leased 50 acres of Lot 2, Concession 1, East of Huron Street, Toronto Township (Clergy Reserves) and in October of 1837 petitioned to purchase these acres. He received the Patent 12 January 1848. In 1845 at the age of 66, James sold Lot 7 and the fifty acres of Lot 2 to his son Allen for 1600 pounds. At the time of the 1861 census, James, then a widower, was living with his son Allen and his family. His age was given as 81. Ten years later at the time of the 1871 Census the 91 year old James was again listed with his son’s family.

James died at the age of 92 in 1872. The Christian Guardian of January 15, 1873, page 24, column 4 has this annoucement:

“DIED
On Monday, the 23rd Dec., at the residence of his son Allen, Toronto Township, Mr. James Loughead [sic] at the advanced age of 92. His end was peace.”

James was buried in Britannia Cemetary. According to the grave marker, he died December 22. Since both newspapers and gravestones are unreliable, take your pick as to the right day. Elizabeth Lougheed spoke of her grandfather as a fine, well-educated gentleman.

Elizabeth Lougheed said that her grandfather’s wife, Miss Allen, died many years before him and that James married a second time. She did not mention the name of this second wife, but there are several reasons why we believe she was Jane Connor:

- The Wellington County Marriage Register 1858-1868 records a marriage on July 23, 1861 between Samuel Ellis, 30, of Caledon, and Sarah Lougheed, of Toronto Township, daughter of James Lougheed and his wife Jane Connor.

- A Sarah Lougheed, 20, is listed in Div. 3 of the 1852 Census for Toronto Township, but her residence is given as Ward 4, where the other Toronto Township Lougheeds lived. (The Census return for Ward 4 is missing for this year.)

- In the 1861 Census, both James Lougheed, 81, widower, and Sarah Lougheed, 25, are shown as living with the family of Allen Lougheed. (We know from other sources that Sarah was born January 1, 1830. She would have been 22 in 1852 and 31 in 1861, but then census ages are often inaccurate.)

- Sarah’s great-grandson, Frank Ellis Wickson, was told by his grandmother that his grandfather, John Allen Ellis, was a first cousin of Sir James Alexander Lougheed. As a boy, Frank Wickson several times met Jennie and Elizabeth Lougheed (Allen’s daughters) and was told they were relatives. His family also knew members of the family of Jane Lougheed Joyce.

James and Jane’s daughter Sarah was born 1 January 1830. She and her husband Samuel Alexander Ellis lived on Lot 2, Concession 2 East, Mono Township.