One of Lieutenant Governor John Grave Simcoe’s dreams for the wilderness of Upper Canada was the establishment of an aristocracy that could be relied upon to safely govern and not allow the “revolutionary politics” of the United States to infiltrate the new colony. The hundreds of half-pay and retired British officers who came to settle in Upper Canada after the American Revolutionary War and those who followed in the first half of the nineteenth century were the men whom Simcoe believed were capable of that responsibility. Between 1840 and 1850, the Village of Ancaster became one of the favoured centres for these British immigrants and their families. Among the group was Major Thomas Atkins of Her Majesty’s 75th Regiment of Infantry, who purchased his property just over the townline in West Flamborough.
Thomas was the second son of Major-General William Atkins and, like his father, served most of his career in India. His father died in Bombay in 1822 and, “with an inheritance of £4,000, his batman and his pet mongoose”, he travelled to visit his father’s relations in Dublin, Ireland. There he met a second cousin, Alice Lynn Hamerton and on 10 January 1825 they were married at the Old Church, St. Pancras, one of the fashionable London churches.
The couple returned to Dublin where Atkins continued his army career, spending a quarter of his inheritance to purchase a major’s commission. After the hostilities of the Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837, the government of Upper Canada decided that a military presence would be a good idea and many retired British officers were encouraged to emigrate. This may have been the reason behind the Atkins family coming to Flamborough, for the remaining three thousand pounds of the Major’s inheritance, while a large sum, had either been foolishly spent or was “not enough to support a family of six children.” To raise badly needed money the Major sold his commission in 1840 and a year later the family emigrated to Canada and joined Dublin and British army friends, Captain Adam Williamson Cradock and Captain Henry Hammersley, who had settled in the Ancaster-Dundas area.
Part of Lot 7, Concession 1, fronting on the Governor’s Road was purchased and a Regency-style stone cottage was built and named ‘Donneycarney’ after the village near Dublin where Mrs. Atkins’ family had lived. Their house was typical of the residences built by British officers who emigrated after 1830 and derived from a style that was popular in England in the 1820s.
Interesting insights into family life are recorded in a collection of letters between members of the Atkins and Cradock families who were united by the marriage of George Thomas Atkins and Agnes Georgina Cradock in 1877. It appears that the family enjoyed a very comfortable and elegant life-style, although they were careless with money, as entries in the West Flamborough Land Registry Books for the period show them to be constantly in debt. Any money received would be spent on something other than their burdensome mortgages. The eldest son, Captain Frederick Atkins of the Indian army, often sent money home but as Richard Cradock noted in August 1857 “…Freddy Atkins has just sent his mother a sum of money, I believe £100, so no doubt there will be great doings and fine dresses while it lasts.” The family often entertained on a lavish scale, which prompted the comment from Richard Cradock in July 1859 that “…there was a prodigious picnic, with ball and supper at the Atkinses last Friday, nearly 100 people there, and dancing kept up to past 3 o’clock.”
Even the children appear to have been a problem for the Major and his wife, as quotes from letters written by the same gentleman reveal that the home life was often difficult. In 1856, a comment about son Edward noted, “Eddy Atkins keeps sober since he has joined the Temperance Society, but there is no improvement in other respects. He is apprenticed, and pretends to be studying medicine.” The daughters were also worrisome: “The Atkins girls do not go off very fast, to Mrs. Atkins’ great disgust, though they are all the time going to balls and parties.” One of their daughters, however, made a very successful match – Isabella Maria married Alexander Richard Wardell, a Dundas lawyer and Captain in the Dundas Volunteer Militia, who served two terms as Mayor of Dundas.
During the summer of 1859, Major Atkins suffered a stroke and was able to do less and less around their property. Frederick, who had purchased the house and property from its creditors earlier in the year, wrote to his younger brother George from India in 1861, giving him the responsibility of family matters and urging him to be considerate of their father’s condition. Sadly, Frederick died at sea the following year, and the Major in 1864. George purchased ‘Donneycarney’ from Frederick’s young widow and stayed on at the house with his mother and two unmarried sisters for a number of years but, after Mrs. Atkins’ death in 1883, the property was sold and “the genteel lifestyle of British aristocracy at ‘Donneycarney’ was gone.”
© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 2003, 2023.
