Wordsworth

(from Warwick Tweedsmuir)

Thomas Frederick (Fred) Wordsworth (–1934) was raised in England. His father, Thomas, was the son of Rev. William Wordsworth, a cousin to the famous English poet. The Reverend was Vicar of Monkbreton in Yorkshire.

Upon arrival in Canada in 1884, Thomas travelled to Manitoba where he married Mary Gormley in 1891. They had two children, William (–1922) and Dorothy. In 1897, they came to Watford and lived on Con. 5 SER. The Wordsworths moved to Lot 14, Con. 1 NER in 1898. The farm had a house already on it, one of the first houses in Warwick Twp. Thomas named his new home Monkbreton Farm to remember his old home in this new land.

Thomas bred Shorthorn cattle. He had Clydesdale horses for working the farm. He also raised Lincoln sheep and chickens. In 1903, he bought a barn from William Janes, took it apart, then raised it on his own property on a cement foundation.

Fred was a leader in the community. He bought a Massey Harris grain binder in 1904. A Morningstar telephone line from Arkona was installed in the house in 1911. The farm’s first cement silo was built in 1913. The Wordsworths bought a Ford touring car in 1918. In 1930, a hydro electric power line was built from Watford to Warwick. It cost $200 to wire the buildings on the farm.

Fred and Mary’s son William became ill with septic arthritis in 1916 and was an invalid until his death. Dorothy graduated from Watford High School and became a teacher. She taught at SS#17 on Con. 11 SER for several years.

Six months after Thomas died, his wife died. She became ill with arthritis. Dorothy was now alone. These were depression years and farms did not sell readily. Dorothy’s cousin, Edmund John (Jack) Day, who had come from England in 1927, took over the farm. Jack and Dorothy bought more farmland in 1939 and also bought their first tractor. Their last Clydesdale horse died in 1944. The Lambton County Ploughing Matches were held on Monkbreton Farm in 1958 and 1959.

The 1940s was an era of new farm organizations: Farm Forums and Folk Schools provided educational experience, and the Federation of Agriculture became the voice of the farmer to the government. Kelvin Grove Farm Forum was organized in the Wordworth home in 1944 and continued to meet until the middle of the 1960s. In 1948 Dorothy joined Warwick Women’s Institute and was an active member for 36 years.

In 1951 Jack married Betty Bannigan, whom he had met at the first Folk School held in Lambton County. Jack died suddenly in 1968 and Dorothy and Betty sold the farm the next year and moved to Watford with Betty’s daughter Mary.

Dorothy died in 1987.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Woodsworth Family

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