Henry Hayward – Soldier and Settler

Henry Hayward is the furthest back Hayward I can trace (reliably) on our family tree.  He was born around 1745 in England.

Henry has vexed me the most as an armchair genealogist.  You see, many people can trace their roots to Henry.  He had ten children himself, and as far as I can tell, his children were equally prolific in the propagation department.  So there are many of his progeny researching their roots and trying to find him. I have discovered that often we amateurs will tend to fixate on something, then discover someone else has done the same, and perhaps, as a result, consider that something fact.  Such has been the case with my research of Henry Hayward.  Most of it has landed in dead ends and unsourced  "facts".

I had seen references that he was a captain.  He was not.

I had seen references that he was a Loyalist.  He was not.

I had seen references that he was named William.  He was not. 

And on it went.

I stumbled upon an obituary written upon the passing of Sarah Hayward, nee McCully, wife of David Hayward, the grand-child of Henry.  This obituary was a treasure trove of information.  This, in fact, led me to more truths.  I think I can now share what I believe to be fact with you.  I should tell you that I will be ever grateful for the work of one Mary Beth Wheeler, who documents Henry Hayward’s military life in great detail, having essentially done all the research.  All of my sources, primary and secondary, are listed at the end of the article.  I can tell you I sifted through ten times this amount of material to get to this: the story of the coming of Henry Hayward to Canada.

Henry Hayward joined the 54^th Regiment of Foot sometime in the late 1760s.  Up until 1750, regiments were named after royalty or the commanding officer.  Just before the time that our Henry joined up, the British military changed to numbering the regiments, then later introduced county titles (referring to the county from which the men were enlisted). Hence the 54^th Regiment of Foot is also known as the West Norfolk Regiment.  Henry, you would therefore conclude, is likely from Norfolk (although I have learned to be wary of logical conclusions when tracing family roots – humans are so unpredictable). 

Henry was stationed in England, Ireland and America during his 13 years of service.  While in Ireland, he married Catherine Griffiths and had his first son, George Griffith Hayward, in 1774. 

It was two years later that the 54^th Foot was sent to North America to take part in the American War of Independence.  Our Henry found himself a private in the British Army, in New York and Rhode Island, fighting to keep control of America in the hands of the British.

Think of the world in which Henry was living as a soldier of the British Empire.  In the mid to late 1700s, the Empire stretches throughout the New World.  Spain and Britain are in an on again off again war – waged in colonies around the world.  Slavery is looking increasingly unsavoury as an occupation.  And the French and British have continued their ongoing battle at home and abroad. 

The struggle for control of the Maritimes between the British and the French reached its conclusion in 1710, and under the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), the British committed to allow the French settlers in the Maritimes, the Acadians, to remain on their lands despite the French defeat.  It was during the time of the Seven Years’ War, however, from 1755 to 1764, that the British expelled the French colonists.  The colonists were well entrenched in their lives in Acadia.  They had toiled to clear the land and develop settlements.  While many Acadians were neutral in the wars between the Imperial powers, the British did not distinguish between them and those that were supporting the French: they were all expelled. The deportation remains a dark period in Canadian history. 

The result of the expulsion was to make the land available to former British soldiers looking to start a new life in the colonies. 

Land Grant to Henry Hayward

In 1783, having been discharged from his service on August 21st, Henry Hayward arrived in New Brunswick with his wife Nancy, and their eight children, including George Griffith Hayward (my ancestor). 

Henry Hayward was granted 500 acres of land in 1784 in recognition of his service as a soldier in the 54^th Regiment of Foot.  The land was in Hants County in Nova Scotia.  Apparently Henry found this land “so rocky as to be practically worthless.” 

Poll Tax

The first document testifying to Henry Hayward’s residence in Nova Scotia is a poll tax record from Windsor, Hants, NS, which lists Henry as a weaver.  Given the nature of the land he was trying to farm, I imagine it was not too surprising that he was trying to make his way at a trade.  Documents from this era, however, are remarkably difficult to rely on. 

The Haywards managed to make their way off of this difficult terrain to Hopewell, on Shepody Bay.  The family fondly referred to this as 'Shepody.'  An obituary of a descendant two generations removed from Henry, the “grandfather” referenced, describes Shepody:  “...the old farm at Shepody, with its wide marshes and the long dykes on which she used to walk and watch the ships sailing up the bay; the magnificent view across to Dorchester and down to Grindstone Island; the solemn awe produced on her mind by her grandfather's funeral; the beautiful orchard with its old French apple trees, under which her brother David dug for the gold he dreamed had been buried there; the passage up the Petitcodiac and the journey in the sleds from 'The Bend' to Sussex along roads so drifted that she and her mother both became seasick.”

Henry is buried here and the inscription on the tombstone at his grave on Shepody Bay, near Hopewell Hill, Albert County, New Brunswick, reads:  “In Memory of Henry Hayward who departed this life March 25, 1808 in the 63 year of his age.”

Henry came to Canada, a private in the British military, to dig a successful and perhaps unexpectedly rich life out of rocky worthless terrain.  We are all the better for it.

Sources:

Primary sources:

Sarah (McCully) Hayward obit

Poll tax 1791

Henry Hayward land grant 1785

Hayward passenger record 1783

Hayward researchers to whom I am indebted for their work and their tireless research on Henry Hayward:

For information on Henry’s military record:  M. B. Wheeler. 1998.

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mbwheeler&id=I012056

http://www.hayward-logan.com/Hayward/Henry_HAYWARD.htm

Hayward Researcher Sandy Wilbur who can be found at: http://home.netcom.com/~symbios/hayward.html 

Background Information: 

Records of the 54th West Norfolk Regiment, Thomason civil engineering college Press, 1881

HL Wickes Regiments of Foot:  A Historical Record of all the Foot Regiments of the British Army

The British Empire in the 18th century:  http://www.britishempire.co.uk/timeline/18century.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hants_County,_Nova_Scotia#American_Loyalists

http://www.nam.ac.uk/research/famous-units/54th-west-norfolk-regiment-foot