Edward & Lavinia Watkins Family
Watkins Family Census 1910
Number name Birthplace-Gender birthdate Age
34 27 Watkins Edward Brisco M Head M Oct 1862 48
35 27 Watkins Lavinia Brisco F Wife M Jul 1867 43
36 27 Watkins John Brisco M Son S Jan 1897 14
37 27 Watkins Charles Brisco M Son S Apr 1899 12
38 27 Watkins Ann Brisco F Daughter S Feb 1902 9
39 27 Watkins Joseph Brisco M Son S Mar 1903 8
34 27 Watkins Edward Brisco M Head M Oct 1862 48
35 27 Watkins Lavinia Brisco F Wife M Jul 1867 43
36 27 Watkins John Brisco M Son S Jan 1897 14
37 27 Watkins Charles Brisco M Son S Apr 1899 12
38 27 Watkins Ann Brisco F Daughter S Feb 1902 9
39 27 Watkins Joseph Brisco M Son S Mar 1903 8
This is an attempt to give a historical background of the Watkins family. Where and when Phyll and my grandparents were born and came to be here. Included are some of the events. It is to be hoped that these stories will be both enlightening and amusing for other family members, in particular my grandchildren. The first part of the story is centered on my Grandparents, Edward Watkins, Lavinia Watkins (Nee Walker), Henry Adolphus Wheeler and Minnie Wheeler (Orchard).
The stories and facts have either been passed down through the generations by word of mouth or are from stories printed in various publications. Over the years I’ve found that every family member sees thing a little differently. Everyone has their own version of each event or story. Unashamedly this is mine and only nine.
This is a very personal account as well so when I refer to Grandpa it will mean Edward Watkins and Granny will of course be Lavinia Watkins. On mom's side I will refer to her dad has grandpa Wheeler. Since mom's mother died when mom was 13 years old the few times that I refer to her it will be as grandma Wheeler. As I always called my aunts and uncles, aunts and uncles I shall do so in my story.
Before My TimeThe story of the early days of my grandparents has always fascinated me. Even today I am in awe of what they did and what they accomplished. Grandfather, Edward [Teddy] Watkins was born at Rowlstone Mills, Herefordshire, England October 18 1862. Rowlstone Mills is about 10 miles from Llan-gors near Brecon, the home of all the Watkins clan. This is according to The Watkins Family Historical Society. The family home was in a good sized stone building, serving both as their home and as a mill. It is situated at the bottom of a shallow valley populated by deciduous trees and bushes. A small stream with sparkling water runs through the valley near the mill. Water runs through a wooden sluice from a nearby mill pond and supplies water to run the water wheel. At the time that the Watkins lived there the mill was used for grinding grain into flour. The buildings is still being lived in and the mill is still being used. It appears as if very little has changed since Ed Watkins was born and lived there as a child . Rowlstone Mills is often referred to as simply Rowlstone. Sometimes the letter e is dropped. Rowlstone is in very beautiful farming country with green rolling hills. It lies on the border between England and Wales. Although it’s in Herefordshire I suspect from the many very Welsh sounding towns & villages in this area that Rowlstone was once in Wales. The border like so many borders has shifted back and forth over the years. Rowlstone still consists of a fork in the road and the Rowlstone Anglican Parish Church of St. Peter. This small stone building is simple Norman church measuring about 45” X 15” inside. It was originally built in 1130, a meager 64 years after Uncle William the one Conqueror arrived in England. From the church it is a short walk down a hill along a road consisting of two ruts with grass growing between them where we find Grandpa’s birthplace and first home. It sits among the trees in a narrow valley next to a stream. Above the home, upstream are two mill ponds that supplied the water for the mill. Behind the Watkins home is a separate smaller stone building and that was the bake house. Some the flour produced by the mill was used by the Watkins family to make their own bread in the bake house. The oven in the bake house consists of a brick chamber with a heavy cast-iron door. In the evening this chamber was filled with wood and then lit. With the iron door swung shut it would be left to burn overnight. The bread dough was prepared very early the next morning. Then the ashes and embers were removed and the dough shaped into loaves were placed in the chamber. The bread was baked by the heat from the heated bricks. Although this method of baking sounds unusual now it wasn’t in those days. John and Frances Anne had eight children. They were Sally, George, Edward, Jack, Polly, William, Elizabeth, and Charles. When Grandpa only thirteen years old his father, John died. This left mother, Frances to look after the eight children. Unable to cope with running the mill she sold it and bought some attached cottages in nearby Ewyas Harold. Some additional cottages were added later. Living in one, she rented the others to tenants. Times were hard in Britain with few jobs and money scarce. You could say that Grandpa and his brothers were just looking for a better life when they headed for Canada. One can only imagine how momentous this decision must have been. To leave Britain they must have realized that they might never again see mother or their home again. Or for that matter any of their friends or other relatives who stayed behind. They also faced a difficult sea voyage and long and difficult land travel when they got to Canada. But at the same time it must've been terribly exciting. It would've been a whole new beginning.
Here are the stories of the Watkins brothers and their travels and trials.
Great-Uncle John (Jack) Watkins
Great-Uncle Jack Watkins was the first to come to North America in 1879 stopping to stayed with an uncle in Chicago where he worked in packing plants. After a time he moved to Canada and spent a few years in Rossland BC. There he became interested in mining and prospecting. While work was being done on the railroad Great-Uncle John worked on the snow sheds in Rogers Pass in 1886. Having sailed north by boat along the BC coast he settled in at Stewart. Great-Uncle John lived for many years staking several mining claims. He died in a hospital in Victoria in the 1930s. In his will he left most of his money and property in Stewart to Auntie Annie. She was one of his favorites.
Great uncle George WatkinsGreat Uncle George Watkins was next, leaving Britain in June of 1891. Great-Uncle George Watkins got as far west as Winnipeg by 1891 where he worked on the railroad. He had already worked on now railroad in Abergivennay , Wales. He then fired steam locomotive engines in Brandon in 1882. Great Uncle George eventually wended his way to Victoria. Probably for patriotic reasons he returned to Britain during World War 1 (1914-1918). During his time in the UK he worked in the ship yards. Upon his return to Canada he again returned to Victoria where he worked in the Balmoral Hotel as a night watchman. He lived and worked in the Balmoral for many for many years and continued to live there and after he retired. He died in Victoria in 1942.
Great Uncle Walter William (Will) WatkinsOne of the more fascinating men in this generation of the Watkins family was Great Uncle Walter William Watkins. Will, as he was always referred to as left Liverpool aboard the SS Circassian on April 10th, 1890. He began keeping a diary of his travels.[1] This included a detailed list of all the things he was taking with him.[i] He arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 21st, 1890, eleven days later. It was a rough journey with the Circassian shipping a lot of water for 4 days with Great Uncle Will suffering from seasickness for 2 of those days. Great Uncle Will immediately headed west by train where he enjoyed having breakfast in the dining car. Undoubtedly Green Uncle Will was unprepared for the long 700 mile trip to Ontario. Passing through the forested country he saw “lots of ice and snow – and countless rivers and lots of lumber on lakes and rivers.” Going by way of Montreal and Ottawa he eventually arrived in Winnipeg where he stayed a mere 5 hours. Beginning on August 4th, 1890.[2]Great Uncle Will worked briefly for the CPR at Lake Louise and Lagan Lake. Quitting in September he headed west, arriving in Golden April 11th, 1891. This part of the country was still a part of the North West Territories. Great Uncle Will estimated that he traveled 2640 miles to cross the Atlantic and another 5961 miles to get to Golden. For the next 5 years saw Great Uncle Will wandering all over this part of Canada. It is interesting that Great Uncle Will return frequently to Golden, Castle Mountain and Dead Man’s Creek. Dead Man’s Creek is on the edge of Uncle John Watkins’ farm and within easy walking distance of our home in Brisco. Then on October the 5th 1891 Great Uncle Will began traveling to places much further to such places as Minneapolis and St. Paul. In Chicago he attended a performance in the Chicago Opera House. In Armour he went to Barnum and Bailey Circus and wild beast show. While in Ontario Great Uncle Will could see him that the country around Hamilton and Niagara Falls in Ontario was very good fruit growing country. Traveling to the United States the a visited the states of New York, and Pennsylvania On October 21st, 1891 Great Uncle Will bought tickets from Chicago to Liverpool via Niagara Falls and Philadelphia. Setting sail from Philadelphia on the steamer Pennland he headed for the UK on October 24th, 1891. The Pennland first docked in Queenstown in Ireland on November 5th, 1891. He eventually arrived in Mersey, 15 miles from Liverpool on November 6th, 1891. From there he went to Pontrilas arriving on the 7th, 1891. Little more is known of Great-Uncle Will's time in Britain The story then jumps to August 1st, 1893 when Great Uncle Will arrived back at Castle Mountain in the Rocky Mountains. He had no trouble getting a job as a cook. This was because he had received training as a baker in Britain. Even in the days of unemployment he never had any trouble getting a cooks job, anywhere he went. He put his skills to good use cooking for a crew that was working on the railroad between Lethbridge, the Northwest Territories and Great Falls, Montana. He soon tired of the hot, dry climate, the alkali water, rattlesnakes and other wildlife. He then ended up in Fort Mcleod, the headquarters of the North West Mounted Police. Then it was on to Calgary. This time Great Uncle Will crossed the Rocky Mountains through the Kicking Horse Pass and into Field and finally ending up in Golden. In 1896 Uncle Will sold his share in the homestead to Grandpa and returned to Britain. Here there is a gap in Uncle Will’s journal because we suddenly find ourselves back in Wales at Pontrilas. Leaving there May the 5th, 1897 he makes his way to Lime Street Station where he bought a ticket for the steamer Labrador sailing to Quebec. He also got a ticket to Golden on the CPR. He set sail for Canada on May 5th, 1897. After suffering rough seas and sea sickness he finally was well enough to enjoy the sights at sea including icebergs. He arrived in Montreal on May 16th where on the next day he caught the train. He ended up in Golden, arriving there May 22nd. On May the 25th, 1897 Great Uncle Will took a job as a cook for some miners. He then went up the Columbia River on the steamer Duchess (possibly a sternwheeler) to Adela on Columbia Lake. There he took a stage to Canal flats where he worked for the Canal Flats Mineral. On August the 3rd, 1897 he quit that job, returning afterwards to Golden. Great Uncle Will then went to Calgary with a contractor by the name of Cass. On August the 5th, 1897 he bought an outfit of horses and set out for Fort McLeod 105 miles away where he stayed there for 4 days. After traveling to Pincher creek he worked as a cook for 6 weeks. That was right in the middle of cattle raising country and cowboys. October 14th, 1897 saw Great Uncle Will setting out with a railroad outfit of men traveling with teams of wagons and equipment. This outfit consisted of 30 men and 17 teams of horses. Uncle Will had the job of feeding all these men as they traveled. Undoubtedly he would have been cooking from a chuck wagon. Crossing the prairies they ended up in the West Kootenay area next to the Rockies. He and the others crossed the mountains by way of the Crows Nest Pass. Once in the Kootenay area things became very miserable with long periods of rain and cold weather with the roads becoming muddy and slippery. As he says in his diary “I crawls into one of the grub wagons but can’t sleep as it is raining all the time and am too wet.” Finally after crossing the Elk River by bridge they made camp at Sand Point. “All hands ready for supper.” was the way that he put it. Things began looking up with weather improving greatly. It became warm and sunny, which meant no snow. It was almost like summer. After a respite this crew then began foraging ahead and arrived at Wardner, which is near Fort Steele on October the 25th, 1897. (This is very near where my Uncle Stan Harrison was the Section Foreman on the CPR at Mayook during the time when they were living in Brisco. Auntie La and Uncle Stan went there when they first married.) Uncle Will was impressed with Wardner because it had several hotels, stores and even supported a newspaper, the International. Great Uncle Will's impression of the town was apparent by his description “Needless to say none of us boys attended Divine Service there as I do not think they support a church only gambling houses and … houses.” It was a hard job and often Great Uncle Will stayed up all night to get the “provisions baked” ahead for the next day. Sounding like he just got tired of the drudgery of the job he quit. He immediately found a new job at Fort Steele cooking for a sawmill for $50.00 a month and board. However he managed to stay on that job for only 15 days and then quit again. Going north, returning yet again to Golden 175 miles away. There was no railroad yet so he traveled by stage coach, averaging about 50 or 60 miles a day. After arriving in Golden on December 13th, 1897 he found a job cooking for a Columbia River Lumber Camp in Golden. He now considered himself very well off as he was making $40.00 a month. It was hard work and long hours often worked 15 hours a day and with no days off. However he did have the help of a flunky. At one point he was feeding 60 to 75 men a day. The job lasted for only six months of the year. The owners expected him to feed a man for 11 cents a day. So he must have been a most innovative cook to gain the positive reputation he did. Men who remember say he was one of the best cooks the camps ever had. Men looking for work often tried to get a job in the camp where Great Uncle Will wielded the ladles. His cook shack was always well organized and scrupulously clean. Inside, his word was law and he brooked no interference. Working there until June 28th, 1898 Great Uncle Will then traveled to Vancouver where he stayed until July 3rd, 1898. Traveling south across the border on July 3rd, 1898 he found Seattle to be “quite a fast town”. Spending 14 days there he then left for Victoria aboard the City of Kingston. Then it was on to Vancouver aboard the Charmer. Taking the CPR train he arrived back in Golden. Uncle Will “quit being a gentleman” and again began to working for the Columbia River Lumber Company. There is a gap in Uncle Will’s diary and the next entry is May 31st, 1900 when he says that he went from Brisco to Golden. On June the 4th, 1900 he went to Calgary and from there he traveled to Montreal. Along the way he stayed in Winnipeg then on to Fort William where he took The SS Alberta. This ship took him over Lake Huron to Owen Sound. On June 16th he traveled to Toronto arriving on June 10th. On June 11th, 1900 he finally got to Montreal. The ship SS Dominion took Great Uncle Will to Britain for the last time arriving in Pontrilas on June 28th, 1900.
He died back in Britain and for many years his cause of death was a mystery. We all had our suspicions that it was not entirely above board and that somehow there was a sinister element to it. It was only in recent years that we found out for sure that poor Uncle Will had committed suicide.
Charles Watkins
Charles Watkins was in the retail business and had a store in Swansea. He married and had a daughter whose name was Millie.
Lizzie Watkins
Lizzie Watkins, Grandpa’s sister hoped to come to Canada and keep house for him, but when he got married she decided he didn't need a housekeeper. She was not well for a number of years, dying when she was 26.
Polly Watkins
Polly Watkins, another of Grandpa’s sister married Arthur Davies. They had two daughters and one son. Winifred, Frances and Charles. They lived in Newport all of their lives. Win and Fran never married. Charles married and had two sons and four daughters, Arthur, Darryl, Dorothy, Rosalind, Gladys and Betty. Arthur married Joan and they have two sons, Richard and Paul. Dorothy married John Winser and had two daughters and one son, Susan [Sue], Helen and Derek. Sue married Terry Hayward and have two children, Michelle and Rhys. Helen married Mark but have no children. Deryl married Peggy. Gladys married Nat and have one daughter, Kathy. Betty married Sol. Rosalind married Glynn (?) and has three daughters and one son - Clarie, Ann and Ian.
Sally WatkinsSally Watkins went to London and was employed in the Mansion house (Lord Mayor's residence) and advanced to housekeeper. She met and married Uncle Will Davis. They returned to Pontrilas where they ran the Pontrilas Inn until Sally died of the "flu" in 1918.
Polly & Arthur Davies
All the relatives that I personally know are family of Polly and Arthur Davis. The first ones that our Canadian family met were Win and Fran (the other Fran in my life) who came to Canada in 1950 for Phyll's wedding. Terry and Sue came to Canada on their honeymoon. Sue was learning Welsh because she worked for a Representative in the new Welsh Parliament. To keep her company Terry also took Welsh lessons. Although Sue quit Terry carried on and became very proficient. Helen married Mark Drane and have no children. Derek lives with his wife in Plymouth and I have only met him only once.
Edward Watkins
[3]In 1881 my grandfather, Edward, followed his brothers John [Jack], George and Walter William to North America. His first job was in Chicago. He then headed for the Territories. Taking the train he traveled west to Winnipeg, which was as far as the railroad went at that time. But Grampa didn't stop there. He wended his way to Edmonton along the Carelton Trail. He walked, hitched rides on Red River carts and sometimes rode on horseback. In 1882 he joined a railroad construction crew and helped lay track for the C.P.R. Crossing the Rocky Mountains for the first time he found his way to the present site of Golden in 1884. From there he followed the Columbia River In 1882 he joined a railroad construction crew and helped on the construction of a crossing of the Rockies throughCrow's Nest Pass. It was probably a rotten job with hard menial work, long hours and little pay. So not surprisingly he soon grew tired of this drudgery. Besides he was probably impatient to move on. He traveled south to the Waterton Lakes near the border between Alberta and Montana. Grandpa Watkins lived at Waterton over the winter with Kootenai Brown, U.S. Indian Scout and early pioneer of the Waterton Lakes area. A surprising number of men who later on settled in the Columbia Valley for some reason took part in the Riel Rebellion. Grandpa was one of them. Unfortunately we have very few facts or even confirmation of fact for one of the more intriguing adventures that Grandpa endured. During that winter Grandpa went east across the prairies where he was involved in the Riel Rebellion of 1885. In what capacity seems to be unknown. I never heard Grandpa ever speak of it but the story have been passed on down through the generations by many people. So for whatever reasons most of Watkins family is prepared to believe. I am one of them In 1889 he "took 40 head of cattle along a trail which is now the Banff Windermere Highway" from Calgary the Columbia Valley. Uncle Lloyd believes it was probably a few head of horses as his father always had a feeling for horses. Besides,
Grandpa was being drawn back to British Columbia. So he returned the following spring to Columbia Lake, the head waters of the Columbia River. There he spent the winter of 1886-87 with John N. Taynton on the east side of Columbia Lake. The arrival of spring meant that the Rocky Mountain passes were open and he could return to Calgary. But this time it was probably for business purposes. Once in Calgary Grandpa's love for horses resulted in his buying forty head of these animals. One can only imagine the challenges facing him in 1889 as he again crossed the Rockies with his beloved herd of horses. Somehow he managed with help, driving the herd through the Vermilion and Sinclair Passes. Finally he arrived at the place where he had planned to homestead, which was 2 ½ miles south of the Brisco Store. He established his homestead on the topmost hill high above the broad Columbia Valley with its sweeping grasslands and myriad of sparkling sloughs. The surrounding hills and out to the foot of the barren Rocky Mountains to the east. Looking across the valley when can see the snow capped Purcell Mountains. The surrounding rolling hills was thickly covered withfir trees. Then came the hard work as Grandpa set to work clearing the land of trees, brushes and rocks of various sizes. Plowing, harrowing and raking of the fields had to be done before being seeded. According to his homestead agreement he needed to make his homestead into a sustainable farm, which began doing. He went into a ranching partnership with this older brother, Great Uncle Will. Grandpa tried living off the raising and selling horses at Steam Boat Landing Ranch. But this proved to be impossible so reluctantly he turned to the raising of beef‑cattle. The remainder of grandpa's life was spent raising cattle. And the growing of hay and grain for use on the farm.
The Watkins Farm
Grandpa built a small log cabin with a sod roof. It was about 30 feet by 20 and had two rooms. This small cabin was adequate for Grandpa while he was a bachelor. Once he was married he began building a full sized two-story log house. It had three rooms on the ground floor, which were a kitchen-dining room, living room and one bedroom. There were five bedrooms upstairs. Later a separate kitchen was added very large dining room. A screened in veranda was added to the front stretching the full width of the house He also built a barn in a gully quite close to the house. This was for storing hay and grain. This barn was poorly located and was in adequate in size. It was soon replaced with two larger barns some distance down the hill from the house. One was strictly for hay and the other for hay, grain, a chicken house and a room where the cows were milked. Grandpa built a shed near to the house, which contained the blacksmith shop. It was probably in these early days that Grandpa learned to be blacksmith. He made much if not all of the early hardware needed on the farm. This probably everything from hinges to farm tools. His first plow may well have been home made. One of the most important functions however was to make horse shoes which Grandpa used to shoe his horses. Grandpa continued to acquire land for most of his life. Some of this land was cleared and cultivated used for growing hay and grain. Some of it was used for expanded grazing land for his livestock. Although he grazed his cattle on the grasslands in the bottom of the valley, which was Crown land. Some was used to harvest logs for the family sawmills. By the time he died he owned huge tracts of land. Grandpa’s brother Great Uncle Will had come to the Columbia Valley around 1890. To help establish the farm he and Grandpa formed a partnership. Great Uncle Will was a cook and worked for the Golden Logging Company where he was receiving $40.00 per month for working 15 hours a day. He was feeding 60 to 70 men a day. Uncle Will would send whatever money he could spare to Grandpa for building supplies and to buy cattle. Grandpa’s loved horses so sometimes instead of buying cattle he would buy another horse. Great Uncle Will would be upset and would write letters to Grandpa. In the letters he would say that he was not paying for a horse ranch. Further he would say that you cannot get milk from a horse. Despite the rebuke in the letter Great Uncle Will would end his letters with "your loving brother". All would be peaceful until Grandpa was tempted by another good looking horse. In 1896 Great Uncle Will sold his share of the farm to Grandpa and returned to England.
Lavinia Walker
Lavinia Walker, my Granny was born on July 1, 1867 at Muff (historically spelt Mough, from Irish: Magh) in County Donegal, Ireland. Muff this is very small picturesque village It is near the mouth of the River Foyle (where it flows into Lough Foyle) and sits at the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Main Street [High Street] is probably two or three blocks long. It has a very small Church of Ireland where many of the tombstones in the churchyard have the name Walker on them.
Lavinia was the daughter of John and Leah Walker.
In the early 80's Lavinia Walker left Londonderry Ireland with her family. She was about 13 years old. Her brothers and sisters John, Joseph (Joe), William, Matilda (Tilly) and Eliza. They settled in Hamilton, Ontario. Later coming to Winnipeg. There, Lavinia cooked jn a College for awhile. She and Joe didn’t get along with their Stepmother so they traveled overland to California. In California where they settled in San Francisco. Joe started his first Bakery in the downtown area. The plan was that Lavinia was to keep house for him. This initially worked well for both of them. She told the story of a peddler coming around selling oranges and she said she would take a dime's worth expecting to have two or three to eat. She said just put them in my apron and the peddler said she'd need something bigger than that. She brought out a dishpan and he filled it. Joe was married and lived there until he died in the 1940's. His bakeshop was destroyed in 1906 by the infamous San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire. After this devastating event Joe bought a block of downtown San Francisco for $500. He then rebuilt this bakery on this property. It proved to be a very successful and profitable business. Unfortunately after Joseph married Lavinia no longer needed to be is housekeeper. She felt she needed a fresh start and consequently left San Fracisco around 1886. Arriving in Vancouver she worked for a time as a nursemaid for the Rogers Family of the Rogers Sugar Refinery. It was no wonder that my Granny turned out to be such a great mother and grandmother with all that experience and the love of children. She never lost it. Traveling on the newly finished TransCanada railway Lavinia was a passenger on the first train through the Rogers Pass. Her destination was tDonald near Golden in the Columbia Valley. There she worked for a CPR family there called Parker, looking after their children. In the Summer the family used to go up to Glacier House, which was a large hotel for Travelers and Mountain Climbers. While living in Donald she met another girl, Edith Gilliham. In about 1895 Edith met and married Harry (Shorty) Atchison with Lavinia acting as bridesmaid. This couple subsequently moved to Brisco south of Donald where they lived on his parents’ home stead. In the fall of l895 Lavinia traveled down the valley to visit Edith and. That was when she met Ed Watkins for the first time. In the spring of the following year Ed Watkins and Lavinia Walker were married on April 1st 1896. The minister rode horseback all the way from Donald to Brisco to marry them, which was probably about 40 or more miles. A long way on horseback. One of Lavinia's sisters, Matilda (Tilly) married Jim Culhane of Hamilton. He was starting up a sign making business starting up using a horse and wagon. You can still see advertisements for "Culhane Signs" as the family has carried on the business. Another of her brothers, John Walker had a farm near Hamilton. He was tragically killed when a team ran away and a roller ran over him. It wasn't long before the Watkins' family began to grow with the arrival of their first son, John on January 19th 189 in Golden. He was the only Watkins baby to be born in Golden. All the rest were born on the farm at Brisco. The following year another son, Charles (Charlie) Leonard was born on April 25, 1899. Granny and Grandpa's only daughter, Ann (Annie) Elizabeth came into the world on February 14, 1902. Then my Dad, Joseph Edward (Joe) was born on March 21st, 1903. Almost 9 years later another son, Walter William Lloyd George (Lloyd) was born on January 15, 1912. It is my understanding that during the years between my Dad's birth and Lloyd's Granny gave birth to twins. Unfortunately they did not survive their birth. In those early days grandpa added a number of the buildings. among them were a hay/cow barn, a garage, blacksmith shop and a very large building for storing machinery. He also planted an apple orchardon some land that he had been cleared of trees in bushes and labeled. for many years grandpa cleared land and planted it withalfalfa hayand twea wheat. He soon exceeded his need for hay and began selling it to other farmers and ranchers.
[1] See The Diary of Walter William Watkins
[2] Alberta still part of the Northwest Territories
[3] adapted from a newspaper story an interview with Uncle Lloyd Watkins
The stories and facts have either been passed down through the generations by word of mouth or are from stories printed in various publications. Over the years I’ve found that every family member sees thing a little differently. Everyone has their own version of each event or story. Unashamedly this is mine and only nine.
This is a very personal account as well so when I refer to Grandpa it will mean Edward Watkins and Granny will of course be Lavinia Watkins. On mom's side I will refer to her dad has grandpa Wheeler. Since mom's mother died when mom was 13 years old the few times that I refer to her it will be as grandma Wheeler. As I always called my aunts and uncles, aunts and uncles I shall do so in my story.
Before My TimeThe story of the early days of my grandparents has always fascinated me. Even today I am in awe of what they did and what they accomplished. Grandfather, Edward [Teddy] Watkins was born at Rowlstone Mills, Herefordshire, England October 18 1862. Rowlstone Mills is about 10 miles from Llan-gors near Brecon, the home of all the Watkins clan. This is according to The Watkins Family Historical Society. The family home was in a good sized stone building, serving both as their home and as a mill. It is situated at the bottom of a shallow valley populated by deciduous trees and bushes. A small stream with sparkling water runs through the valley near the mill. Water runs through a wooden sluice from a nearby mill pond and supplies water to run the water wheel. At the time that the Watkins lived there the mill was used for grinding grain into flour. The buildings is still being lived in and the mill is still being used. It appears as if very little has changed since Ed Watkins was born and lived there as a child . Rowlstone Mills is often referred to as simply Rowlstone. Sometimes the letter e is dropped. Rowlstone is in very beautiful farming country with green rolling hills. It lies on the border between England and Wales. Although it’s in Herefordshire I suspect from the many very Welsh sounding towns & villages in this area that Rowlstone was once in Wales. The border like so many borders has shifted back and forth over the years. Rowlstone still consists of a fork in the road and the Rowlstone Anglican Parish Church of St. Peter. This small stone building is simple Norman church measuring about 45” X 15” inside. It was originally built in 1130, a meager 64 years after Uncle William the one Conqueror arrived in England. From the church it is a short walk down a hill along a road consisting of two ruts with grass growing between them where we find Grandpa’s birthplace and first home. It sits among the trees in a narrow valley next to a stream. Above the home, upstream are two mill ponds that supplied the water for the mill. Behind the Watkins home is a separate smaller stone building and that was the bake house. Some the flour produced by the mill was used by the Watkins family to make their own bread in the bake house. The oven in the bake house consists of a brick chamber with a heavy cast-iron door. In the evening this chamber was filled with wood and then lit. With the iron door swung shut it would be left to burn overnight. The bread dough was prepared very early the next morning. Then the ashes and embers were removed and the dough shaped into loaves were placed in the chamber. The bread was baked by the heat from the heated bricks. Although this method of baking sounds unusual now it wasn’t in those days. John and Frances Anne had eight children. They were Sally, George, Edward, Jack, Polly, William, Elizabeth, and Charles. When Grandpa only thirteen years old his father, John died. This left mother, Frances to look after the eight children. Unable to cope with running the mill she sold it and bought some attached cottages in nearby Ewyas Harold. Some additional cottages were added later. Living in one, she rented the others to tenants. Times were hard in Britain with few jobs and money scarce. You could say that Grandpa and his brothers were just looking for a better life when they headed for Canada. One can only imagine how momentous this decision must have been. To leave Britain they must have realized that they might never again see mother or their home again. Or for that matter any of their friends or other relatives who stayed behind. They also faced a difficult sea voyage and long and difficult land travel when they got to Canada. But at the same time it must've been terribly exciting. It would've been a whole new beginning.
Here are the stories of the Watkins brothers and their travels and trials.
Great-Uncle John (Jack) Watkins
Great-Uncle Jack Watkins was the first to come to North America in 1879 stopping to stayed with an uncle in Chicago where he worked in packing plants. After a time he moved to Canada and spent a few years in Rossland BC. There he became interested in mining and prospecting. While work was being done on the railroad Great-Uncle John worked on the snow sheds in Rogers Pass in 1886. Having sailed north by boat along the BC coast he settled in at Stewart. Great-Uncle John lived for many years staking several mining claims. He died in a hospital in Victoria in the 1930s. In his will he left most of his money and property in Stewart to Auntie Annie. She was one of his favorites.
Great uncle George WatkinsGreat Uncle George Watkins was next, leaving Britain in June of 1891. Great-Uncle George Watkins got as far west as Winnipeg by 1891 where he worked on the railroad. He had already worked on now railroad in Abergivennay , Wales. He then fired steam locomotive engines in Brandon in 1882. Great Uncle George eventually wended his way to Victoria. Probably for patriotic reasons he returned to Britain during World War 1 (1914-1918). During his time in the UK he worked in the ship yards. Upon his return to Canada he again returned to Victoria where he worked in the Balmoral Hotel as a night watchman. He lived and worked in the Balmoral for many for many years and continued to live there and after he retired. He died in Victoria in 1942.
Great Uncle Walter William (Will) WatkinsOne of the more fascinating men in this generation of the Watkins family was Great Uncle Walter William Watkins. Will, as he was always referred to as left Liverpool aboard the SS Circassian on April 10th, 1890. He began keeping a diary of his travels.[1] This included a detailed list of all the things he was taking with him.[i] He arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 21st, 1890, eleven days later. It was a rough journey with the Circassian shipping a lot of water for 4 days with Great Uncle Will suffering from seasickness for 2 of those days. Great Uncle Will immediately headed west by train where he enjoyed having breakfast in the dining car. Undoubtedly Green Uncle Will was unprepared for the long 700 mile trip to Ontario. Passing through the forested country he saw “lots of ice and snow – and countless rivers and lots of lumber on lakes and rivers.” Going by way of Montreal and Ottawa he eventually arrived in Winnipeg where he stayed a mere 5 hours. Beginning on August 4th, 1890.[2]Great Uncle Will worked briefly for the CPR at Lake Louise and Lagan Lake. Quitting in September he headed west, arriving in Golden April 11th, 1891. This part of the country was still a part of the North West Territories. Great Uncle Will estimated that he traveled 2640 miles to cross the Atlantic and another 5961 miles to get to Golden. For the next 5 years saw Great Uncle Will wandering all over this part of Canada. It is interesting that Great Uncle Will return frequently to Golden, Castle Mountain and Dead Man’s Creek. Dead Man’s Creek is on the edge of Uncle John Watkins’ farm and within easy walking distance of our home in Brisco. Then on October the 5th 1891 Great Uncle Will began traveling to places much further to such places as Minneapolis and St. Paul. In Chicago he attended a performance in the Chicago Opera House. In Armour he went to Barnum and Bailey Circus and wild beast show. While in Ontario Great Uncle Will could see him that the country around Hamilton and Niagara Falls in Ontario was very good fruit growing country. Traveling to the United States the a visited the states of New York, and Pennsylvania On October 21st, 1891 Great Uncle Will bought tickets from Chicago to Liverpool via Niagara Falls and Philadelphia. Setting sail from Philadelphia on the steamer Pennland he headed for the UK on October 24th, 1891. The Pennland first docked in Queenstown in Ireland on November 5th, 1891. He eventually arrived in Mersey, 15 miles from Liverpool on November 6th, 1891. From there he went to Pontrilas arriving on the 7th, 1891. Little more is known of Great-Uncle Will's time in Britain The story then jumps to August 1st, 1893 when Great Uncle Will arrived back at Castle Mountain in the Rocky Mountains. He had no trouble getting a job as a cook. This was because he had received training as a baker in Britain. Even in the days of unemployment he never had any trouble getting a cooks job, anywhere he went. He put his skills to good use cooking for a crew that was working on the railroad between Lethbridge, the Northwest Territories and Great Falls, Montana. He soon tired of the hot, dry climate, the alkali water, rattlesnakes and other wildlife. He then ended up in Fort Mcleod, the headquarters of the North West Mounted Police. Then it was on to Calgary. This time Great Uncle Will crossed the Rocky Mountains through the Kicking Horse Pass and into Field and finally ending up in Golden. In 1896 Uncle Will sold his share in the homestead to Grandpa and returned to Britain. Here there is a gap in Uncle Will’s journal because we suddenly find ourselves back in Wales at Pontrilas. Leaving there May the 5th, 1897 he makes his way to Lime Street Station where he bought a ticket for the steamer Labrador sailing to Quebec. He also got a ticket to Golden on the CPR. He set sail for Canada on May 5th, 1897. After suffering rough seas and sea sickness he finally was well enough to enjoy the sights at sea including icebergs. He arrived in Montreal on May 16th where on the next day he caught the train. He ended up in Golden, arriving there May 22nd. On May the 25th, 1897 Great Uncle Will took a job as a cook for some miners. He then went up the Columbia River on the steamer Duchess (possibly a sternwheeler) to Adela on Columbia Lake. There he took a stage to Canal flats where he worked for the Canal Flats Mineral. On August the 3rd, 1897 he quit that job, returning afterwards to Golden. Great Uncle Will then went to Calgary with a contractor by the name of Cass. On August the 5th, 1897 he bought an outfit of horses and set out for Fort McLeod 105 miles away where he stayed there for 4 days. After traveling to Pincher creek he worked as a cook for 6 weeks. That was right in the middle of cattle raising country and cowboys. October 14th, 1897 saw Great Uncle Will setting out with a railroad outfit of men traveling with teams of wagons and equipment. This outfit consisted of 30 men and 17 teams of horses. Uncle Will had the job of feeding all these men as they traveled. Undoubtedly he would have been cooking from a chuck wagon. Crossing the prairies they ended up in the West Kootenay area next to the Rockies. He and the others crossed the mountains by way of the Crows Nest Pass. Once in the Kootenay area things became very miserable with long periods of rain and cold weather with the roads becoming muddy and slippery. As he says in his diary “I crawls into one of the grub wagons but can’t sleep as it is raining all the time and am too wet.” Finally after crossing the Elk River by bridge they made camp at Sand Point. “All hands ready for supper.” was the way that he put it. Things began looking up with weather improving greatly. It became warm and sunny, which meant no snow. It was almost like summer. After a respite this crew then began foraging ahead and arrived at Wardner, which is near Fort Steele on October the 25th, 1897. (This is very near where my Uncle Stan Harrison was the Section Foreman on the CPR at Mayook during the time when they were living in Brisco. Auntie La and Uncle Stan went there when they first married.) Uncle Will was impressed with Wardner because it had several hotels, stores and even supported a newspaper, the International. Great Uncle Will's impression of the town was apparent by his description “Needless to say none of us boys attended Divine Service there as I do not think they support a church only gambling houses and … houses.” It was a hard job and often Great Uncle Will stayed up all night to get the “provisions baked” ahead for the next day. Sounding like he just got tired of the drudgery of the job he quit. He immediately found a new job at Fort Steele cooking for a sawmill for $50.00 a month and board. However he managed to stay on that job for only 15 days and then quit again. Going north, returning yet again to Golden 175 miles away. There was no railroad yet so he traveled by stage coach, averaging about 50 or 60 miles a day. After arriving in Golden on December 13th, 1897 he found a job cooking for a Columbia River Lumber Camp in Golden. He now considered himself very well off as he was making $40.00 a month. It was hard work and long hours often worked 15 hours a day and with no days off. However he did have the help of a flunky. At one point he was feeding 60 to 75 men a day. The job lasted for only six months of the year. The owners expected him to feed a man for 11 cents a day. So he must have been a most innovative cook to gain the positive reputation he did. Men who remember say he was one of the best cooks the camps ever had. Men looking for work often tried to get a job in the camp where Great Uncle Will wielded the ladles. His cook shack was always well organized and scrupulously clean. Inside, his word was law and he brooked no interference. Working there until June 28th, 1898 Great Uncle Will then traveled to Vancouver where he stayed until July 3rd, 1898. Traveling south across the border on July 3rd, 1898 he found Seattle to be “quite a fast town”. Spending 14 days there he then left for Victoria aboard the City of Kingston. Then it was on to Vancouver aboard the Charmer. Taking the CPR train he arrived back in Golden. Uncle Will “quit being a gentleman” and again began to working for the Columbia River Lumber Company. There is a gap in Uncle Will’s diary and the next entry is May 31st, 1900 when he says that he went from Brisco to Golden. On June the 4th, 1900 he went to Calgary and from there he traveled to Montreal. Along the way he stayed in Winnipeg then on to Fort William where he took The SS Alberta. This ship took him over Lake Huron to Owen Sound. On June 16th he traveled to Toronto arriving on June 10th. On June 11th, 1900 he finally got to Montreal. The ship SS Dominion took Great Uncle Will to Britain for the last time arriving in Pontrilas on June 28th, 1900.
He died back in Britain and for many years his cause of death was a mystery. We all had our suspicions that it was not entirely above board and that somehow there was a sinister element to it. It was only in recent years that we found out for sure that poor Uncle Will had committed suicide.
Charles Watkins
Charles Watkins was in the retail business and had a store in Swansea. He married and had a daughter whose name was Millie.
Lizzie Watkins
Lizzie Watkins, Grandpa’s sister hoped to come to Canada and keep house for him, but when he got married she decided he didn't need a housekeeper. She was not well for a number of years, dying when she was 26.
Polly Watkins
Polly Watkins, another of Grandpa’s sister married Arthur Davies. They had two daughters and one son. Winifred, Frances and Charles. They lived in Newport all of their lives. Win and Fran never married. Charles married and had two sons and four daughters, Arthur, Darryl, Dorothy, Rosalind, Gladys and Betty. Arthur married Joan and they have two sons, Richard and Paul. Dorothy married John Winser and had two daughters and one son, Susan [Sue], Helen and Derek. Sue married Terry Hayward and have two children, Michelle and Rhys. Helen married Mark but have no children. Deryl married Peggy. Gladys married Nat and have one daughter, Kathy. Betty married Sol. Rosalind married Glynn (?) and has three daughters and one son - Clarie, Ann and Ian.
Sally WatkinsSally Watkins went to London and was employed in the Mansion house (Lord Mayor's residence) and advanced to housekeeper. She met and married Uncle Will Davis. They returned to Pontrilas where they ran the Pontrilas Inn until Sally died of the "flu" in 1918.
Polly & Arthur Davies
All the relatives that I personally know are family of Polly and Arthur Davis. The first ones that our Canadian family met were Win and Fran (the other Fran in my life) who came to Canada in 1950 for Phyll's wedding. Terry and Sue came to Canada on their honeymoon. Sue was learning Welsh because she worked for a Representative in the new Welsh Parliament. To keep her company Terry also took Welsh lessons. Although Sue quit Terry carried on and became very proficient. Helen married Mark Drane and have no children. Derek lives with his wife in Plymouth and I have only met him only once.
Edward Watkins
[3]In 1881 my grandfather, Edward, followed his brothers John [Jack], George and Walter William to North America. His first job was in Chicago. He then headed for the Territories. Taking the train he traveled west to Winnipeg, which was as far as the railroad went at that time. But Grampa didn't stop there. He wended his way to Edmonton along the Carelton Trail. He walked, hitched rides on Red River carts and sometimes rode on horseback. In 1882 he joined a railroad construction crew and helped lay track for the C.P.R. Crossing the Rocky Mountains for the first time he found his way to the present site of Golden in 1884. From there he followed the Columbia River In 1882 he joined a railroad construction crew and helped on the construction of a crossing of the Rockies throughCrow's Nest Pass. It was probably a rotten job with hard menial work, long hours and little pay. So not surprisingly he soon grew tired of this drudgery. Besides he was probably impatient to move on. He traveled south to the Waterton Lakes near the border between Alberta and Montana. Grandpa Watkins lived at Waterton over the winter with Kootenai Brown, U.S. Indian Scout and early pioneer of the Waterton Lakes area. A surprising number of men who later on settled in the Columbia Valley for some reason took part in the Riel Rebellion. Grandpa was one of them. Unfortunately we have very few facts or even confirmation of fact for one of the more intriguing adventures that Grandpa endured. During that winter Grandpa went east across the prairies where he was involved in the Riel Rebellion of 1885. In what capacity seems to be unknown. I never heard Grandpa ever speak of it but the story have been passed on down through the generations by many people. So for whatever reasons most of Watkins family is prepared to believe. I am one of them In 1889 he "took 40 head of cattle along a trail which is now the Banff Windermere Highway" from Calgary the Columbia Valley. Uncle Lloyd believes it was probably a few head of horses as his father always had a feeling for horses. Besides,
Grandpa was being drawn back to British Columbia. So he returned the following spring to Columbia Lake, the head waters of the Columbia River. There he spent the winter of 1886-87 with John N. Taynton on the east side of Columbia Lake. The arrival of spring meant that the Rocky Mountain passes were open and he could return to Calgary. But this time it was probably for business purposes. Once in Calgary Grandpa's love for horses resulted in his buying forty head of these animals. One can only imagine the challenges facing him in 1889 as he again crossed the Rockies with his beloved herd of horses. Somehow he managed with help, driving the herd through the Vermilion and Sinclair Passes. Finally he arrived at the place where he had planned to homestead, which was 2 ½ miles south of the Brisco Store. He established his homestead on the topmost hill high above the broad Columbia Valley with its sweeping grasslands and myriad of sparkling sloughs. The surrounding hills and out to the foot of the barren Rocky Mountains to the east. Looking across the valley when can see the snow capped Purcell Mountains. The surrounding rolling hills was thickly covered withfir trees. Then came the hard work as Grandpa set to work clearing the land of trees, brushes and rocks of various sizes. Plowing, harrowing and raking of the fields had to be done before being seeded. According to his homestead agreement he needed to make his homestead into a sustainable farm, which began doing. He went into a ranching partnership with this older brother, Great Uncle Will. Grandpa tried living off the raising and selling horses at Steam Boat Landing Ranch. But this proved to be impossible so reluctantly he turned to the raising of beef‑cattle. The remainder of grandpa's life was spent raising cattle. And the growing of hay and grain for use on the farm.
The Watkins Farm
Grandpa built a small log cabin with a sod roof. It was about 30 feet by 20 and had two rooms. This small cabin was adequate for Grandpa while he was a bachelor. Once he was married he began building a full sized two-story log house. It had three rooms on the ground floor, which were a kitchen-dining room, living room and one bedroom. There were five bedrooms upstairs. Later a separate kitchen was added very large dining room. A screened in veranda was added to the front stretching the full width of the house He also built a barn in a gully quite close to the house. This was for storing hay and grain. This barn was poorly located and was in adequate in size. It was soon replaced with two larger barns some distance down the hill from the house. One was strictly for hay and the other for hay, grain, a chicken house and a room where the cows were milked. Grandpa built a shed near to the house, which contained the blacksmith shop. It was probably in these early days that Grandpa learned to be blacksmith. He made much if not all of the early hardware needed on the farm. This probably everything from hinges to farm tools. His first plow may well have been home made. One of the most important functions however was to make horse shoes which Grandpa used to shoe his horses. Grandpa continued to acquire land for most of his life. Some of this land was cleared and cultivated used for growing hay and grain. Some of it was used for expanded grazing land for his livestock. Although he grazed his cattle on the grasslands in the bottom of the valley, which was Crown land. Some was used to harvest logs for the family sawmills. By the time he died he owned huge tracts of land. Grandpa’s brother Great Uncle Will had come to the Columbia Valley around 1890. To help establish the farm he and Grandpa formed a partnership. Great Uncle Will was a cook and worked for the Golden Logging Company where he was receiving $40.00 per month for working 15 hours a day. He was feeding 60 to 70 men a day. Uncle Will would send whatever money he could spare to Grandpa for building supplies and to buy cattle. Grandpa’s loved horses so sometimes instead of buying cattle he would buy another horse. Great Uncle Will would be upset and would write letters to Grandpa. In the letters he would say that he was not paying for a horse ranch. Further he would say that you cannot get milk from a horse. Despite the rebuke in the letter Great Uncle Will would end his letters with "your loving brother". All would be peaceful until Grandpa was tempted by another good looking horse. In 1896 Great Uncle Will sold his share of the farm to Grandpa and returned to England.
Lavinia Walker
Lavinia Walker, my Granny was born on July 1, 1867 at Muff (historically spelt Mough, from Irish: Magh) in County Donegal, Ireland. Muff this is very small picturesque village It is near the mouth of the River Foyle (where it flows into Lough Foyle) and sits at the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Main Street [High Street] is probably two or three blocks long. It has a very small Church of Ireland where many of the tombstones in the churchyard have the name Walker on them.
Lavinia was the daughter of John and Leah Walker.
In the early 80's Lavinia Walker left Londonderry Ireland with her family. She was about 13 years old. Her brothers and sisters John, Joseph (Joe), William, Matilda (Tilly) and Eliza. They settled in Hamilton, Ontario. Later coming to Winnipeg. There, Lavinia cooked jn a College for awhile. She and Joe didn’t get along with their Stepmother so they traveled overland to California. In California where they settled in San Francisco. Joe started his first Bakery in the downtown area. The plan was that Lavinia was to keep house for him. This initially worked well for both of them. She told the story of a peddler coming around selling oranges and she said she would take a dime's worth expecting to have two or three to eat. She said just put them in my apron and the peddler said she'd need something bigger than that. She brought out a dishpan and he filled it. Joe was married and lived there until he died in the 1940's. His bakeshop was destroyed in 1906 by the infamous San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire. After this devastating event Joe bought a block of downtown San Francisco for $500. He then rebuilt this bakery on this property. It proved to be a very successful and profitable business. Unfortunately after Joseph married Lavinia no longer needed to be is housekeeper. She felt she needed a fresh start and consequently left San Fracisco around 1886. Arriving in Vancouver she worked for a time as a nursemaid for the Rogers Family of the Rogers Sugar Refinery. It was no wonder that my Granny turned out to be such a great mother and grandmother with all that experience and the love of children. She never lost it. Traveling on the newly finished TransCanada railway Lavinia was a passenger on the first train through the Rogers Pass. Her destination was tDonald near Golden in the Columbia Valley. There she worked for a CPR family there called Parker, looking after their children. In the Summer the family used to go up to Glacier House, which was a large hotel for Travelers and Mountain Climbers. While living in Donald she met another girl, Edith Gilliham. In about 1895 Edith met and married Harry (Shorty) Atchison with Lavinia acting as bridesmaid. This couple subsequently moved to Brisco south of Donald where they lived on his parents’ home stead. In the fall of l895 Lavinia traveled down the valley to visit Edith and. That was when she met Ed Watkins for the first time. In the spring of the following year Ed Watkins and Lavinia Walker were married on April 1st 1896. The minister rode horseback all the way from Donald to Brisco to marry them, which was probably about 40 or more miles. A long way on horseback. One of Lavinia's sisters, Matilda (Tilly) married Jim Culhane of Hamilton. He was starting up a sign making business starting up using a horse and wagon. You can still see advertisements for "Culhane Signs" as the family has carried on the business. Another of her brothers, John Walker had a farm near Hamilton. He was tragically killed when a team ran away and a roller ran over him. It wasn't long before the Watkins' family began to grow with the arrival of their first son, John on January 19th 189 in Golden. He was the only Watkins baby to be born in Golden. All the rest were born on the farm at Brisco. The following year another son, Charles (Charlie) Leonard was born on April 25, 1899. Granny and Grandpa's only daughter, Ann (Annie) Elizabeth came into the world on February 14, 1902. Then my Dad, Joseph Edward (Joe) was born on March 21st, 1903. Almost 9 years later another son, Walter William Lloyd George (Lloyd) was born on January 15, 1912. It is my understanding that during the years between my Dad's birth and Lloyd's Granny gave birth to twins. Unfortunately they did not survive their birth. In those early days grandpa added a number of the buildings. among them were a hay/cow barn, a garage, blacksmith shop and a very large building for storing machinery. He also planted an apple orchardon some land that he had been cleared of trees in bushes and labeled. for many years grandpa cleared land and planted it withalfalfa hayand twea wheat. He soon exceeded his need for hay and began selling it to other farmers and ranchers.
[1] See The Diary of Walter William Watkins
[2] Alberta still part of the Northwest Territories
[3] adapted from a newspaper story an interview with Uncle Lloyd Watkins