In a recent column I told you about Nancy Eberts-Waddell and her children.

In this column I would like to tell you about her husband, John Waddell, who lived an exciting, albeit brief, life that ended in tragedy.

John was born in Scotland in 1817 and was the son of Capt. William Waddell, who was born, I believe, in Scotland circa 1777.

He was a captain in the 1st Regiment, Royal Dragoons, and came to Canada to participate in putting down the Rebellion of 1837. He settled at Goderich where he died on June 8, 1861, and is interred in the family plot of the Maitland Cemetery which overlooks the town.

His son John came with the family to Canada, but I am not sure of his activity other than the fact that he held the rank of major in the local militia.

It was probably through his military service that John obtained the position of sheriff of the Western District, as Kent County was then known.

John later married Nancy Almira Eberts who was a granddaughter of Capt. William Baker of the Royal Navy who founded Chatham in the........

© Sarnia Observer