The Waddell of Nova Scotia Connection

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I'm not laying claim to any identifiable descent from the Waddels (one ℓ) who seemingly appeared from nowhere in the Parish of Shotts, Lanarkshire, in the second half of the 18^th century. Reading onwards you will share in the general mystification as to their origins. But Ref (3) has an entire chapter (XIII, pp146–153) devoted to the various Waddell (two ℓℓ) families of Shotts, itemising at least 16 of them in the introductory section, and so it's not surprising that some individuals have so far escaped identification.

Note that one ℓ and two ℓℓ are regarded as entirely equivalent (after all, there are six surviving signatures of Shakespeare, and every one is different from the others).

The story of the Waddel(l) connection in Nova Scotia revolves around the city of Truro in Colchester County, but other places and counties enter the narrative too, and it might well be helpful to have some idea as to the geography of Nova Scotia and its relation to the neighbouring provinces of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

The Rev John Waddel was no greenhorn, however. From a humble background, he had spent five years of intensive study in Glasgow, then as now one of the finest Universities in Europe, followed by four years of theological training with one of the best and subtlest minds of the time in Selkirk. He hit the ground running, and by a happy inspiration married into one of the most prestigious Huguenot families in Canada, though his wife died aged only 38, leaving him with seven young children to bring up.

I am most indebted to the following websites for detailed information regarding his descendents, but I'm not at all sure where the terminal ℓ in the surname doubled-up:

• sailorchronos.angelfire.com/familymatters/waddell.html
• sailorchronos.angelfire.com/familymatters/revjames.html
• sailorchronos.angelfire.com/familymatters/drjohnw.html
• sailorchronos.angelfire.com/familymatters/general.html
• sailorchronos.angelfire.com/familymatters/frederick.html#sed1833

Also very helpful as regards a number of more precise DOB's:

• /www.chebucto.ns.ca/~ai020/chapter17.html
• /www.sprague-database.org/genealogy/pedigree.php?personID=I254271&tree=SpragueProject
• skmacnutt.ca/keith/genealogy/tmg/p294.htm

Please note that the Dictionary of Canadian Biography link for Dr John Waddell gives dates for his marriages and for the death of his first wife which are at variance with all the other sources listed above.

#	Individual	Spouse / Partner	Family
0	James Waddel "Jacobus Opifex" skilled craftsman, possibly a carpenter or maybe a weaver (renowned for their political radicalism).		James Waddel (1 Jul 1764 – 1851) Rev John Waddel (10 Apr 1771 – 14 Nov 1842)
1	James Waddel (1 Jul 1764 – 1851) carpenter & cabinet-maker	Isobel Bruce (?)
1	Rev John Waddel (10 Apr 1771 – 14 Nov 1842) Presbyterian minister in Truro, Nova Scotia	Nancy Ann Blanchard (1780 – 18 Aug 1818) (m 2 Sep 1802) daughter of Col Jotham Blanchard	Mary Waddell (17 Sep 1803 – Nov 1838) Rev James Waddell (4 May 1805 – 1870) Jotham Blanchard Waddell (b 1 May 1808) Dr John Waddell (10 Mar 1810 – 29 Aug 1878) Portrait Elizabeth Waddell (29 Mar 1812 – 13 Nov 1870) Jane Walker Waddell (27 Apr 1814 – 1 Jun 1840) Sarah Waddell (5 Jan 1817 – 14 Jan 1824)
2	Mary Waddell (1803 – 1838)	Isaac Smith (1802 – 1891) (m 23 Feb 1823)	Nancy Waddell Smith (b 1826) Eleanor Smith (b 1827) Sarah Jane Smith (b 1830) Gavin Walker Smith (b 1838)
2	Rev James Waddell (4 May 1805 – 14 Mar 1870)	Elizabeth Blanchard (1819 – 1897) (m 28 Sep 1837) She and James were 1st cousins	William Henry Waddell (29 Jun 1838 – 1913) Jane Walker Waddell (19 Dec 1840 – 1926) Elizabeth Bedford Waddell (8 Aug 1844) Edward Sherburne Waddell (18 Aug 1847 – 1907) Mary Waddell (20 Jun 1849 – 1893) Sarah Waddell (b 1855) Dr John Waddell (19 Sep 1858 – 5 Jan 1923)
2	Jotham Blanchard Waddell (b 1 May 1808)	Nancy Kent (28 Oct 1806 – 14 Aug 1852) (m 6 Apr 1830)	John Waddell (5 Apr 1831 – 1889) Nancy Waddell (b 5 Jan 1833) Richard Christie Waddell (3 May 1835 – 26 May 1871) Alexander Kent Waddell (23 Dec 1837 – 1910) Jane Frances Waddell (23 Jul 1840 – 1920) Susan Lynds Waddell (13 Jul 1842 – 1920) William McCully Waddell (2 Jan 1845 – 1888) Samuel James Waddell (8 Aug 1847 – 1919)
2	Dr John Waddell (10 or 17 Mar 1810 – 29 Aug 1878) Portrait in charge of the Lunatic Asylum at St John, New Brunswick (1849 – 1876) "Probably no man in the province of New Brunswick was better or more generally known than Dr. Waddell, and there are few whose name and works will be held in more grateful remembrance."	Susan(nah) Lynds (1811 – 28 Dec 1834) (m 3 Oct 1833) she and twin babies died shortly after the birth
		Jane Blanchard (1 Jul 1807 – 3 Dec 1878) (m 25 Jun 1844)	Susan Lynds Waddell (8 Sep 1846 – 23 Feb 1901) Sarah Waddell (29 Mar 1848 – 27 Jul 1874) Charles Melville Waddell (30 Dec 1849 – 15 Mar 1859)
3	William Henry Waddell (1838 – 1913)	Elizabeth T Blanchard (b 1848) (m 15 Nov 1866)	son (1868 – 1869) Hiram Blanchard Waddell (b 1870) Eva Anderson Waddell (b 1872) James Sherburne Waddell (b 1877) William Henry Waddell (b 1877) John Barclay Waddell (b 1889)
3	Jane Walker Waddell (19 Dec 1840 – 1926)	Rev Edward Adams McCurdy (1838 – 1920) (m 6 Nov 1866)	Leander McCurdy (1868 – 1868) William McCurdy (1870 – 1870) Roy McGregor McCurdy (1871 – 1878) Elizabeth Waddell McCurdy (1873 – 1874) Mary McCurdy (1874 – 1876) Eliza McCurdy (1877 – 1878) Raymond McCurdy (1879 – 1929) James Waddell McCurdy (1880 – 1881)
3	Elizabeth Bedford Waddell (b 19 Dec 1844)	John S Tupper (1843 – 1880) (m 28 Feb 1869)	James Waddell Tupper (b 1870) John McLean Tupper (1872 – 1874) Bessie Tupper (1875 – 1882) Mary Maria Tupper (b 1877) Edward Sherburne Tupper (1880 – 1901)
3	Edward Sherburne Waddell (1847 – 1907)	Isabella Taylor (b 1843)
3	Dr John Waddell (19 Sep 1858 – 5 Jan 1923)	Annie Maud Burrows (1862 – 1948) (m 24 Jun 1891)	Mary Lucy Winnifred Aymor Waddell (1894 – 1974) Elizabeth Gwendoline Waddell (1896 – 1983)
3	Richard Christie Waddell (3 May 1835 – 26 May 1871) killed by a kick from a horse	Margaret Fulton (m Jun 1864)	Two sons and one daughter
3	Alexander Kent Waddell (23 Dec 1837 – 1910)	Lucinda Woodberry (m ca 1860)	Two daughters
4	Hiram Blanchard Waddell (b 1870)	Margaret Macaulay (1867 – 1927)
4	Mary Lucy Winnifred Aymor Waddell (1894 – 1974)	Lt Gen Ernest William Sansom CB DSO1,  2 (18 Dec 1890 – 18 Oct 1982) (m 1 Feb 1930)	Anne Lillias Gwendoline Sansom (1930 – 2010)
4	Elizabeth Gwendoline Waddell (1896 – 1983)	Dr Richard Cargill	sp
5	Anne Lillias Gwendoline Sansom (1930 – 2010)	Allan Arthur Ellis Seddon (b 1 Oct 1938) (m 26 Feb 1969)

Narrative history

Click here for an authoritative account of Rev John Waddel's ministry in Nova Scotia, his marriage and his family.

The Rude Forefathers

Just for fun, I'm appending a tabulation of a wild and woolly exchange of messages over a period of 10 years on the subject of Rev John Waddel and his elder brother James, who also emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1813. The main point of contention, which generated more heat than light, was about their DOB's and their parentage, particularly 'Jacobus Opifex' himself. No Scottish parish records – Shotts in particular – have yet been found of their birthdates, and John's very precise DOB was presumably gleaned from his gravestone in the family plot at Robie St. Cemetery, Truro NS.

But maybe the 'brick wall' mentioned last year by Audrey Seddon in that final post can be identified and its historical origins explained.

So, with all this rancorous history upstream already, what did the Westminster Parliament do in 1711 (a mere 5 years after the Act of Union between Britain and Scotland)? They passed a law that restored the right of landowners (or other species of patron) the length and breadth of Scotland to dictate to a parish exactly who was going to be their new clergyman following the departure or death of their existing incumbent.

... and this happened twice in the Parish of Shotts during the eighteenth century. The second episode in particular goes a long way towards explaining why the baptismal information about James Waddel Jr and Rev John Waddel never found its way into the public domain.

The classic text on the Parish of Shotts is by William Grossart, Ref (1) below, and in the sixth chapter The Succession of Ministers since the Reformation in 1560 till the Present Time [Jul 1880] he includes an account of the incumbencies of Rev David Orr (from 1738 until 1753) and Rev Laurence Wells (1762 until 1786, although he wasn't actually ordained until 1768).

Shotts belonged to the Presbytery of Hamilton, and the Duke of Hamilton was the patron of the Parish. His was the hand in the Presbytery glove, and indeed the General Assembly seemed to be in his pocket.

In the case of Rev David Orr, Grossart implies that the parochial resistance to Orr's presentation by the Duke's minions was fairly muted, and revolved around the feeling that the parishioners hadn't been sufficiently consulted in advance. Dissatisfaction came only later, according to Grossart, when Orr fell into bad habits and "had not administered the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper for three of four years".

The Salsburgh Heritage Group tell of a much more vociferous opposition to Orr's appointment, and a substantial congregational desertion to the Associate Presbytery founded by Ebenezer Erskine some years earlier..

In the slightly later case of Rev Laurence Wells, Grossart gives a very vivid picture indeed of the extraordinary pressures that were brought to bear on the parish to enforce the Duke's determination that they should accept Rev Wells, who was widely acknowledged to be a complete waste of space. It wasn't until 1768 that he was ordained, and the ordination was held not at Shottskirk but at the Hamilton Presbytery House. The majority of the congregation proceeded to boycott the church, join the Burgher Seceders, and build a new church at Shottsburn.

Well may you ask what all this has to do with the price of fish, as the saying goes?

My own take on all this disruption is that without a congregation to speak of, and with virtually no ministry anyway, the number of entries of baptisms, weddings and funerals in the Shotts Parish register must have dropped close to zero. The birth of James Waddel in 1764 and of John Waddel in 1771 would have gone entirely unrecorded, in Shotts at least – and anywhere else, it would seem.

This interpretation is of course open to criticism, and Forfarian in particular will almost certainly have some much better-informed opinions about the obscurity of James and John Waddell's origins!

Even odder, though, is the case of Rev George Waddel of Longridge, whom we meet on p 686 in Ref (2) below. Clearly quite distinct from Rev John Waddel, he is nevertheless attributed with a strikingly similar subsequent career path. On p 9 of Ref (3) below, it mentions "two divinity graduates, possibly cousins, from Longridge, near Whitburn in West Lothian, who settled in Halifax in the 19^th century and became well-known furniture makers". Now, these could have been John and George, but there is also an identity-overlap with John's brother James Waddel, who did indeed become a highly-regarded cabinet-maker in Truro.

And the Truro Presbytery website history section mentions neither John nor George Waddel. John, at least, would be rather saddened by that, having committed himself heart and soul to them. As the hymn says:

Time like an ever-rolling stream
Bears all its sons away.
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

Postscript

Well, here we are, just drawing drawing stumps and heading back to the pavilion, with no progress made on the subject of Rev John Waddel's family background. Have we conducted a thorough post-mortem of absolutely every googly and chinaman etc that has been bowled at us? Not quite ...

It is very noticeable that Rev John Waddel's daughter Jane Waddell, grand-daughter Jane Waddell and grandson Gavin Smith all bore the middle name of Walker, and this strongly suggests, of course, that "Walker" was recognised as a significant surname in his or his wife Nancy's immediate family history – as a parent or grandparent perhaps.

There is no such trace (that I can find) on Nancy Blanchard's side (apart from a mention in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography of Dr John Waddell's second wife as Jane Walker Blanchard; that article is suspect, however, in various other important details and I'm not inclined to trust it), but there are several on Rev John Waddel's side – identified simply by googling "Waddel, Walker":

In summary of (2) and (3) [which are really disguised re-runs of (1)], there was a married couple, James Waddel and Marion Walker of Stanrigg, who were blessed with at least two daughters, Jean (b 22 Nov 1732) and Janet (3 Jun 1747 – 1818). Janet subsequently married George Waddell of Balmuzier & Ballochney in 1776. Although Janet's dates are not entirely consistent with Stirnet and those given elsewhere in OrnaVerum, I wouldn't want to raise any issues with the formidably well-informed Forfarian, particularly as Janet's DOB can be authoritatively corroborated.

If we discard the Balmuzier & Ballochney connection, the real question is whether James Waddel and Marion Walker, just plain folks, could also have been the parents of the cabinet-maker James Waddell (b 1764) and missionary John Waddel (b 1771)? But the timespan between Jean and John would have been 39 years, implying quite unbelievably that Marion was (at least) 54 when John was born.

A beautiful hypothesis slain by an ugly fact, as T H Huxley remarked in a different context. Jacobus Opifex remains a man of mystery, and perhaps that's the way he wanted it.

§ The Stirnet website has Robert, but Gavin Main Waddell, A History of the Waddells of Scotland, p 99, says James.

Post²script

Don't be deceived, incidentally, by the ancestry.co.uk family-tree purporting to show the antecedents of Rev John Waddel. The entry for John himself is actually correct as far as it goes, though incomplete as regards daughters, and the subsequent generations are correct, though incomplete also.

But! Though his father's name is correctly given, with a plausible and potentially useful DOB of 1745, once you click on it "you're doomed", as Private Frazer would say with great relish.

It's a one-way trip to a different Waddell family tree, possibly valid in itself, but utterly unrelated to our hero Rev John W.

References

1. Historic Notices and Domestic History of the Parish of Shotts, William Grossart; publ by Aird & Coghill, Glasgow 1880

2. Annals and Statistics of the United Presbyterian Church, Rev William McKelvie; publ by Oliphant & Son, Edinburgh 1873

   (see www.mocavo.co.uk/Annals-and-Statistics-of-the-United-Presbyterian-Church-by-the-Late-Rev-William-Mackelvie/380068/688#5 for a digitised version).

3. A History of the Waddell Family in Scotland, Gavin Main Waddell; 2013