My family were the first settlers in the Ottawa, Ontario / Aylmer & Hull, Quebec area. The first family to settle was Philemon Wright and his wife Abigail along with their six children ranging in age from 18 years to 2 years. Also they brought with them other related families on March 7, 1800. There is a copy of the document with these families listed in the National Archives in Ottawa, Ontario. I have a copy of the family tree book done by the National Capitol Commission. The documents and photos in the book are old and I did my best to reproduce some for all of you, but some print was impossible to bring up as it is hard to read in the book.

This is down my mother's side of the family. The Wright family had come from England. There are over 600 pages of families and this page would become a book if I were to list all the names. I thought it best to highlight the beginning of the family . My dad's family were also first settlers in Gatinau, Quebec and I have a story about my great-grandparents here on this site. They are my dad's mother's parents from Ireland. My dad's father's parents came from Scotland. So when I put all the pieces together I discovered that I am of English, Scottish, Irish, French and a wee bit of Indian descent.

Of course I never had the opportunity to meet the first settlers from our family, since I was born in 1945, but as I read through the family tree book, I could well imagine the hardships that they endured as first settlers in the 1800's. Building their homes and carving out the land, & fighting all the elements as well as loosing a lot of young people through illness. I do not think that a lot of us today could survive the kind of life they had. We have life pretty soft in comparison. All of the early settlers both in Canada and the United States, Australia and around the world should be remembered and admired for having the grit to stick life out, or none of us would be here today. I have wondered why, when we have so many special days during the year, that we do not have a special day for all the early settlers who struggled & gave up their lives so that we may live in our wonderful country, Canada.

In loving memory to: all above and my grandmother D. Checkley and my father, Arnold Kidd, and his father, I leave this candle. May they all be at peace and happy where they are now.
Note: I lost my Mom, May 6, 1999 to cancer. A special page for her can be found on the Family Menu to this site along with a memorial page to my Dad.