William Lawson

ID # 6436, (1812-1847)
Pedigree
BaptismWilliam Lawson was baptized in 1812 at Scotland. 
MarriageHe married Agnes Briggs Smith on 10 April 1844 at Woodstock, Brock District, Canada West.
Oxford County branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society provides a transcription of the marriage of William Lawson and Agnes Briggs Smith. He is said to be of Zorra Township and she of Paris in the Gore District. They were married 10 April 1844 by Rev. William Bettridge. The witnesses were William S. Light, Margaret Birley, and Arnold Burrowes. This marriage was held at Old St. Paul's Church in Woodstock.

Mention is made of Witness William Smart Light in the notes for William Lawson. He was involved in the raid in the Niagara River that torched the Caroline which was being used by supporters of William Lyon MacKenzie. Arnold Burrowes held land in the Brantford area and he was a great friend of Admiral Van Sittart, the founder of Woodstock. Burrowes died at the Van Sittart home. Something of Burrowes' life is to be found in the book Herons and Cobblestones, Jean Farquharson, Paris, Ontario, 2003.
 
DeathHe died on 11 June 1847 at Zorra Township, Brock District. 
BurialHe was buried on 14 June 1847 at Old St. Paul's Anglican Cemetery, Woodstock, Brock District. 
NoteSee Archives of Ontario microfilm MS451 reel 55. This covers the transcription of Old St. Paul's Anglican Church cemetery as done by the Oxford branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, apparently in 1985. This is in four parts. The first is an index, the second a transcription of the gravestones, the third a listing and transcription of the plaques which are centrally located, and, fourth, a transcription of the burial book.

William Lawson, the first husband of Agnes, is buried in Old St. Paul's, Woodstock. A gravestone for William, probably erected, has not survived, if only to say that it does not appear in the transcription of gravestones. There is a plaque to commemorate William, however. This is numbered as plaque 13 and it reads:

To the memory of William Lawson esq. late of Cairnmuir, Scotland, and of Cairnmuir, Zorra, who died there June 11th, 1847, aged 35 years.

The transcription of the burial record for William tells that he was buried on June 4th, 1847, (age 35) which makes no sense if his date of death was June 11th. As it happens, the transcription is wrong. Oxford County OGS provided a copy of the page image and it clearly dates his burial to June 14.

Considering William's age at the time of his death and the fact that Agnes remarried some 15 months after his passing makes it seem at least likely that he is Agnes' first husband. This is confirmed when we find application for Letters of Administration from Alexander Henry Robertson, 'next of kin in this country'. Agnes Lawson has signed off her rights as administrator in his favour. Elsewhere in the document, William Lawson's wife is described as Agnes Briggs Lawson. No child is mentioned.

The Abstract Index for the east half of lot 2 on the 9th concession of East Zorra is presented by Onland, the Ontario Land Registry Access website. This does show a rather poor copy of the first page and is not readable on all points, but is sufficient for purposes of identifying the bride-to-be of William Lawson, namely Agnes Briggs Smith.

Keep in mind that Abstract Index pages were not written up until 1867 and that sometimes obvious omissions can appear in the information, though what is present for the following lot is remarkably thorough.

William Lawson gained a 'patent' from the Crown for the east half of lot 2 on the 9th concession of East Zorra Township (then simply Zorra Township) in 1839. This was apparently not a grant, but was either Crown land or, just perhaps, a clergy reserve. Since clergy reserves were usually identified as such, the half lot in question was probably Crown land. William almost certainly paid for this, though the patent as it appears on the AI doesn't say so directly.

In 1843, William mortgaged the property to Samuel Street (the younger), but received a release from Street in 1844.

Also in 1844, he entered into a transaction (mostly illegible) with a William Light et al. The 'et al' portion of this transaction was probably an Andrew Smith of Dumfries Township who appears in the rather long text entry that follows. This transaction gets into a very long entry dealing with the nature of the transaction, but it becomes evident that, involved with the settlement of the transaction, William Lawson has promised to marry Agnes Briggs Smith. The transaction does not state that she is the daughter of Andrew Smith but this probably the case. (It may be said that on the available copy, the name of Andrew Smith, which includes a middle name, is very faded. Another copy of the Abstract Index has been seen and it appears that the middle name of Andrew Smith was 'Toshack', Andrew Toshack Smith. Toshack is not a name commonly met with, but certainly is to be found in Upper Canada in early days. Members of a Toshack family came on the ship the Early of Buckinghamshire in 1821 - see The Lanark Society Settlers: Ships' Lists of the Glasgow Emigration Society 1821, Gerald J. Neville, Global Heritage Press. The Toshack family settled in Ramsay Township of Lanark County. This is not to say that Andrew Toshack Smith was of this family. His daughter Agnes is said to have been born in England. It is possible, however, that the family had a Glasgow background.)

Following this, William Lawson must still have an interest in the property for in 1846 he mortgages the property to a William S. Robertson for 200 pounds.

Just how this arrangement sat with Messrs. Light and Smith is difficult to say, but on 5 October,1847, these gentlemen sold the property to William S. Robertson. Of course, by this time William Lawson is dead.

This is followed by an illegible transaction in 1850 involving a John Spottiswood Robertson, possibly lending to William Robertson. William Robertson sells out in 1858, but by this time William Lawson is long dead and nothing more is to be found involving the name of Lawson on transactions.

Which brings us to transcriptions of some gravestones in a grave yard in West Linton, which was apparently at the time in Peeblesshire, Scotland. This was done by a Frieda Oxenham and can be viewed at her blogsite at:

http://westlintongraveyard.blogspot.com/2011/10/lawson-burial-monument.html

Ms. Oxenham quotes an inscription for a Margaret Spottiswood Watkins, the daughter of John Lawson of Cairnmuir. She died on 11 June 1849. As well as commemorating Margaret Spottiswood Watkins, the inscription also laments the passing of William Lawson, her brother, on the same date, at Cairnmuir, Zorra, Upper Canada.

Readers may view the blogsite and make their own interpretations, but, probably, considering that the name Spottiswood is involved in the gravestone inscription and on the East Zorra abstract index, the John Spottiswood Robertson mentioned in the latter document was family at some level.

The plaque at Old St. Paul's in Woodstock, is centrally located with other plaques and probably isn't directly over the place of William Lawson's burial. We have no information as to who erected the plaque.

We have a bit more information to work with in terms of William's presence in the old Brock District, later, mostly, Oxford County.

As mentioned above in the Abstract Index for William's portion of a township lot, we find the name of William Light. Light's name is usually presented with a middle name, but on all entries is illegible. At best we may say that his middle initial was S.
This brings us to The Oxford Gazetteer, Containing a Complete History of the County of Oxford, by Thomas S. Shenston, County Clerk & Census Commissioner, County of Oxford, 1852. For our purpose, the information sought begins on page 105, It's Militia Officers, etc.

(It is now found that the full name of William S. Light was William Smart Light.)

With the 2nd Regiment of Militia for Oxford County, we find in 1838 and shown as a Lieutenant, William Lawson. Also with the same rank is W. S. Light. Both Light and Lawson's ranks are dated to 1838. It would seem that William Light and William Lawson were at some level colleagues.

Page 109 of this same book tells that William Lawson held the rank of Lieutenant and that it was dated May 12, 1847. This was for the 3rd 'Battalion' of Militia which was drawn from Zorra Township. Of course we know that William was dead less than a month later.

Note: At the time of William Lawson's death, Zorra Township was one entity. With the advent of the county system, Zorra was divided into two townships, Zorra East and Zorra West. The Abstract Index for William Lawson's half lot locates the property in Zorra East, and considering that the Abstract Index pages did not exist until 1867, this has a sort of logic. 
Last Edited10 Apr 2025