Occasionally the Abstract Index books for East and West Flamborough Townships note that a will has been registered in connection with the future ownership of property.

This was the case following George Baker’s early death –  for the contents of his will illustrate one of the problems that faced early settlers who had large families. Who was to be the next owner of the land?

George Baker’s six sons and two daughters were all identified in his will, with only the sons receiving 16 and two-thirds of an acre of the family’s Lot 8, Conc. 5, property.

After George Baker’s will was registered Feb. 8, 1844, it appears that the sons continued to operate the early sawmill that had been built on the Grindstone Creek during the 1830s, but gradually began to transfer and relinquish their ownership of the property, so that John, George Baker’s second son, eventually came to completely own the Bakersville mills and the Lot 8 property.

Abraham Baker, the eldest of the brothers sold his share to John for £50, May 3, 1845.

James Baker sold his parcel to John for £60, Dec. 10, 1848, but remained associated with the property, helping his brothers John and Henry operate the Bakersville mills during the 1850s and 1860s.

Both Samuel and Henry sold their shares to William, each receiving £75 in June 1853 and finally, William sold the two parcels of land he had purchased from his brothers and his own to John for $500 on June 28, 1855 –  thus giving John Baker total ownership of the lot, two mills and a successful hotel by 1855.

Little is known about the brothers who sold their shares of the lot. William operated the   hotel on the family’s Centre Road property, which benefited from the stagecoach travel that followed the opening of the Snake Road in 1853. He later moved to Hespeler with his wife Ellen Springer and operated the Baker House on Queen Street and two other hotels in the town until his early death in 1868.

James moved to Hespeler to help William’s widow and took over the operation of the Baker House, before moving to California where he died.

Henry moved to Waterdown, becoming the proprietor of the Royal Hotel in 1867 and one of the village’s butchers until 1896.

Sylvia Wray is the former archivist with the Flamborough Archives. She can be reached through the Archives at archives@flamboroughhistory.com.

This article was originally published in the Flamborough Review, 9 October 2014.