William Matchett
Wiliiam Matchett lived in Sunny Corner
(b.about 1800, d.06 Nov. 1875)
Wife: Mary Fraser
Children:
John
William Jr.
Elizabeth
James
Mary
Andrew
Jane
William a Protestant was born in Ireland
in (c.1800) as a boy of 15 he stowed away aboard a ship headed for St.
John New Brunswick Canada about Oct. 1815. He is an ancestor of many of
the Matchett's of the Miramichi. The earliest reference found to him in
local records is his acquisition of a portion of the homestead of John
Fraser on Jan. 10 1822. Exactly a week later he married John's daughter
Mary on Jan. 17 1822.
As a successor to John
Fraser , who died in 1823, William had possession of part of Lot 10
at Sunny Corner, one of the oldest and best farms in North Esk, although
he cultivated the land, he did not become a serious farmer. Instead he
spent most of his adult years as a ferryman ( operating a ferry from the
house of the late John Fraser between Sunny Corner
and Red Bank, becoming so well established in the job that the Sunny Corner
area was known as Matchett's Ferry throughout much of the 19th century.