The Laughton Family
| The
Laughtons in Holland Landing |
The Laughton family had probably lived in Holland Landing, or as it
was known earlier, St. Alban's, East Gwillimbury Township, since the land
was first settled around the 1820's. It was on the Laughton farm that Dr.
George Morton trained his famous racehorses, and where Francis Morton's
family would settle.
The Laughton family consisted of Captain William Laughton and Maria
Roe, both born at the turn of the 19th Century, and their daughters Cornelia
and Arabella -- better known to their Morton descendants as Aunt Cornie
and Aunt Tat.
William Laughton, born circa 1799, Upper Canada
= Maria Roe, born circa 1801, married circa 1830
-
Cornelia Rosabella, b.c. 1835
-
Arabella Anna, b. 10 Aug 1840
William Laughton played a large role in the original development of the
village. His stage coach to Toronto and the steamboats travelling up the
Holland River to Lake Simcoe helped make Holland Landing the gateway to
northern towns like Barrie. "Squire Laughton" was also the Justice of the
Peace, and in one story, was involved in uncovering preparations for the
Rebellion of 1837.
Historical Summary: 1830's
William Laughton acquired lot 117 on the West side of Yonge Street in
1846 (16), but by
the 1860's the family lived in a two and a half story brick house, with
a second vacant house on the same lot, somewhere near town -- probably
on the farm granted him in 1857, lot 110 in the 1st concession east of
Yonge Street (15).
In 1861, Capt. Laughton was described as a gentleman, having invested $6000
in real estate and business, owning 6.5 acres of land, 2 pigs, 1 cow, 1
horse and 1 carriage. The family employed two servants named Jane Tait
and Audrey Rellough. |
Cornie
and George Morton
1853/54 |
The town physician, Dr. Ardagh, retired and was replaced in 1848 by
an Irishman named George Morton. George was probably seeking a lifestyle
in Canada more akin to his social standing before the Great Irish Famine
of 1845-47. In Ireland, the Mortons had been Protestant land owners, receiving
their rent from the Catholic tenants. Likely educated in more affluent
Northern Ireland, or maybe even England, the prospects of administering
to the starving, evicted and destitute farmers at home could not compare
to the opportunities in the young Province of Canada.
So it came to pass that William and George became well acquainted, and
George was eventually married to his daughter Cornelia. When examining
dates in the census and church records, it can be seen that George
and Cornie 
were probably married after their daughter Henrietta was born, and certainly
after she was conceived, when George was 32 and Cornie was 18 years old.
It could be an error in recording, and it did not appear to have diminished
the affection for Capt. Laughton by George's brother Francis' family, but
certainly makes for a more colourful story. |
Tat
meets Edward in Bradford
1861 |
After George and Cornie built their new house in Bradford, younger
sister Tat
often visited them. She eventually married George's younger brother Edward
and had six sons -- the only surviving descendants of the Laughton/Mortons
of Holland Landing. Tat also received her father's property after his death,
and sold it to her sister Cornie in 1868 for 1 pound. This property eventually
became the farm settled by George's brother Francis in 1880 -- the Woodmount
Farm. |
The Laughton vault and
plot
1863 |
It appears the Laughtons moved to Bradford sometime before 1861. William
Laughton died 10 Nov 1863 in Bradford (17)
only a year after Tat's marriage and move to Barrie with Edward Morton.
There is a Laughton plot at the cemetery of Christ Church, just down and
to the left of the Morton plots. There is supposedly a vault underneath
containing Tat's remains and perhaps those of the Laughton parents (this
is in addition to the Morton vault that George erected). Two flattened
stones remain (right next to one belonging to Catherine of Joseph Jacobs
that has tumbled over) on a grassed-over rise that obviously covers the
old vault. They record the deaths of a John Laughton and Adelaide Laughton,
both dying in Aug 1847. These two were the first graves laid in Christ
Church Cemetery. |
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