Wedderburn book; a history of the Wedderburns in ... - waughfamily.ca

THE WEDDERBURN BOOK.
introd. on the border, and a list of miscellaneous refeiences from Scottish records,
conclude this chapter of the work.
I have then collected together my notes on a few English families of the
name. These are, principally, a very hirge one in the county
°^
Wedderbums
Northumberland, originally at Ailerdcaii, but since spreading
In England. to Horncliffe and Newcastle. There are other smaller families
elsewhere in the same county, and I find traces of the name
in Lancashire. A numerous modern family in the south of England descend
from a Robert Wedderburn, who assumed the name and came over from Jamaica
to this country early in this century. An Alexander Wedderburn, who long
resided at Exeter, is said to have come from Berwick; his line Ls extinct. In
this division also I have added a li.st of stray references to individuals.
The accounts of three families in youth xVfrica, in Canada, and in the
United States conclude the volume. Of these, the first is one
^^^'ch was Originally connected
W^derbvirns
with Manchester, and which
In Africa. (tradition has it) was, in common with many of the inhabitants
of that city, on the side of Piince Ciiailes Edward in the '4-5.
It also owned a small estate called Lindale, in co. Cumberland. One of its
number, Christopher Wedderburn, emigrated to South Africa in 1820, and
from him descend the family of his name whicli have ever since been settled
there. A second family is descended from an Alexander Wedderburn from
Aberdeen, who was born at the bt-ginuiug of this century.
In Canada He emigrated to S. John's, New Brunswick, Canada (where
he was emigration agent to tlic Britis'i Coverument), married,
and had issue an only son William (born 183t), wiio wtut to the Canadian
bar, and has had a distinguished career as advocate, politician, and judge.
The last of the three families is one in the United States, with the head
of which J.W. had some correspondence in 1822-23. The original ancestor
of this family was a Scottish emigrant, David Wedderburn, who
8to\es.^'^'^'^ went out to Virginia in 1720-oO. J.W. ermneoi'sly assumed him
to be a son of Peter Weddeiburn and Catharine Man (ante,
p. Ixiii), who had, however, no son of the name. The parentage of this David
is thus unknown, and the American family cannot at present be claimed
as a junior branch of the Forfarshire house.
The contents of this volume have now been pas.sed in review. Much has
of course been omitted, of detail, of complete documents, and of laboured proof.
For all these the reader must refer to the fullosving iia'^is. in which I have
endeavoured to set down nothiug, which cannot be e.stabli-lnil by the body of
evidence contained in the second volume of the work. My aim throughout
has been to be accurate and true. So far from seeking to present an account
flattering at the cost of fact, I have iu some oi-sea swept away
Conclusion. vague pretensions iiithcrto advanced. No fiction is, I think,
needed to support either the aiiti(piity of the name or the
worthiness of many of those who have borne it. In the .spirit of the mottoes of
the house I have disdained to catch flies, content to bo alilo to present the
record of a family, the sons of which iu the pxst liavo ixvii inost of ilnin
useful members of the community iu which they livt-