(Above: The Bradley family headstone is at the left, the footstone of Captain William Brown Bradley and his son Sands Bradley and the plaque are located next to it. Photo by Karen Prytula.)
The descendants of Captain William Brown Bradley, friends of the family and the Beechwood Cemetery Foundation assembled at Beechwood Cemetery on October 4 for an unveiling ceremony of a plaque recognizing Captain Bradley as a veteran of the War of 1812, and commemorating his lifetime achievements.
Re-enactors from the 100th Regiment Historical Society were present, and the 104th Regimental flag was on display courtesy of the New Brunswick Museum, in the reception centre, where the ceremony began.
Once the procession arrived at the gravesite, Dr. Bruce Elliott, professor of history at Carleton University, spoke to the audience about Captain William Brown Bradley being among the first retired officers to settle in March Township, and was immediately appointed a magistrate. Dr. Elliott further explained that it was because of the Captain’s military experience that he was named Lieut. Colonel in the First Carleton Militia.
Captain Bradley was born near Savannah, Georgia, USA c1771. After the American Revolution the Captain, his twin brother, mother and step-father left the USA for New Brunswick, in 1783. It was in New Brunswick that the Captain married, and where all his children were born.
The Captain joined the New Brunswick militia at the age of 22, and served in the 104th Regiment of Foot during the War of 1812. Dr. Elliott informed us that the Captain led his company on the gruelling 52-day overland march from Federicton, N.B., to Kingston, Ontario in the dead of winter in 1813 to reinforce the British army in Upper Canada against the advancing Americans. The Captain participated in the raid on Sackett’s Harbour, in the Battle of the Beaver Dams, and in the assault on Fort Erie.
When the 104th Regiment disbanded in 1818, Captain William Brown Bradley received 800 acres of land for his military service in Montreal, Gloucester Township, March Township, and Huntley Township. He shared the land generously among his sons Sands, Clements, and William; his daughters having already married.
Captain Bradley died while at Clement’s Gloucester property (where Eastview/Vanier in Ottawa is now) in 1850 and was buried in the old Sandy Hill Cemetery, in Ottawa. In 1876 his body was moved to Beechwood Cemetery.
Two of Captain Bradley’s sons raised large families, which in turn produced a large number of descendants for the Captain; many still live in the area today and were in attendance. These distant cousins made their way back up to the reception centre where a light lunch was served. While mingling as if at a family reunion, people pulled out their scrapbooks and photo albums. Dave Aldus, descendant of Captain Bradley and organizer of the event, had many historical items on display; some that had once belonged to Captain William Brown Bradley.
The War of 1812 Graveside Project made this program and this plaque available. For more information, visit 1812veterans.ca
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Author Karen Prytula wears a number of hats with various heritage groups in the Ottawa area. She’s the Director of Rural Built Heritage for Heritage Ottawa, she’s the Director of Communications for the
Lanark County Genealogy Society, and Editor of the Old Walls Society Newsletter.
Many of the photos for this article were contributed by Laura Young. Bradley is her Great Great Great Great Grandfather.
Great work Karen. Dave
Capt. William Brown Bradley was my Great Great Great Grandfather. I was raised on the Bradley farm in Huntley Twp. Capt. Bradley’s wife, Catherine, is buried in Christ Church Huntley with her son, Lt Col William Brown Bradley my Great Great Grandfather. My Great Grandfather, Edward Sands Bradley was the 2nd youngest of his thirteen children. His son was my Grandfather, also William Brown Bradley. I wish I had been aware of this celebration.
Isnt that too bad you weren’t there. The captain is my ggg grandfather. My great grandmother was Justus Bradley (married William Augustus Austin), daughter of Clements. Clement would have been a brother to William Brown jr. in your line. As a youngster, I have visited Justus’ home on the Montreal Rd. She wasn’t alive then and the house (Beaver Lodge) was managed by her daughter Maude Street Austin. There was another person attending (Barbara Owen) who was in your direct line. Do you know of her? Do you by any chance have pictures of the son William, your connection or his siblings or any others of interest. We exchanged family photos at the memorial.
Penny Faulkner
Hello Penny, there is a photo of Wm Brown Bradley (1805-1877) on line @ http://www.arbitus.internetgenealogy.com. He is my gg grandfather. My line is also through his 10th child Edward Sands (1842-1918)
I searched Captain William Brown Bradley and it shows his descendants, many with photos , on down to my grandfather William Brown Bradley (1878-1971)as a child , photo circa 1890.
Hello Penny,
I just found your e-mail from October 2015, in which you say your great-grandmother’s house on the Montreal Rd. was called ” Beaver Lodge” when you visited. I am very interested in the local history of the area. Could you please say more precisely where the house was?
One of the maps from 1879 has what I think was the original Bradley farm buildings on it, I believe it would be on Bradley St. today, north of Montreal Rd.
Was ” Beaver Lodge” a different house? Anything you might remember would be gratefully accepted.
Thank you!
Anne
The house was on the south side of the Montreal road and about a mile from the vanier bridge. My mom once told me that Bradley Street in Eastview/Vanier was not her Bradley connection but an Irish one. It is confusing still, because the Irish Bradleys were in Ottawa West too and often confused with Sr. Captain Bradley’s clan. I have a picture of my moms family at Beaver Lodge too. Sorry I didn’t answer sooner. There also is a development called the Bradley estates out the Navan way near Mer Bleu and I read the planners history (somewhere) of the area and while they may have had the info mixed up – it was the irish Bradleys it appears. Do you know anything better by now of this mixed up information. Penny
Captain William Brown Bradley was my GGG Grandfather as well. I am a sister of Louise who responded earlier, and I also grew up on the Bradley family farm on the 2nd line of Huntley (now Oak Creek Road). Hence, my Great Grandfather was Edward Sands Bradley who married Hannah (nee Mulligan). They are buried at Christ Anglican Church Cemetery in Huntley, at the same gravesite as our parents and grandparents, William Brown and Lena (nee Hodgins) Bradley. Our parents, Elmer and Evelyn (nee Moore) Bradley, had a stained glass window installed (1972) in Christ Church Huntley in memory of Bradley ancestors.
Our family do have copies of a few ancestor pictures.
Wonderful to know that my Great Great Great Grandfather Bradley was recognized and celebrated in this way. I was always proud to be a “Bradley”.
I read a post saying the Clements Bradley house is still standing in Vanier. Does anyone know if that’s true and where it is?
Thank you!
Not sure if anyone has responded to your posts yet. The Bradley home was just to the left (if you are facing) of the Notre Dame Cemetery. The house burned but there is one building with a black roof still standing. The property is now a church. Beaver Lodge was on the opposite side and just down the street (both were on Montreal Road). I have pictures of Beaver Lodge. My husband is the great grandson of Maude Elizabeth Street Austin.
The info from Marilyn below corresponds exactly with my moms info. We drove by the Notre Dame cemetery one day and she pointed to the left of the cemetery and said that was the location of the residence of Clements but it burnt down. Like Marilyn we have photos of Beaver Lodge and in fact she added generously to my inventory. I met Aunt Maude and her son we called Guss (grand father of Marilyn’s husband) several times at Beaver Lodge and also in Ottawa. As maybe an irrelevant aside, Guss had chronic Asthma, my moms brother had the same chronic asthma really heavy all the time and almost died of it as a kid when there were no inhalers. He lived to 90 ins spite of it all. Asthma is in my generation (me and my brother – the allergenic kind) and both my sister and I passed it down to one of our kids. So if any of you have asthma – its in the genes – either Austins or Bradleys somewhere.
FYI, my video of the complete event https://youtu.be/P1ZwdbMQ5ZI
See also my 2013 related video of William Brown Bradley from Beechwood https://youtu.be/bKmnEYqNp6k
Bradley and other local War of 1812 heroes were recognized at Beechwood Cemetery’s 2013 annual walking tour. I made two WBB related videos in 2013 plus the 2015 recording. Focussing only on Bradley, I recently created a nine-minute highlight called Words at Beechwood https://youtu.be/7JAPYHqQceo. More information in these videos: https://youtu.be/bKmnEYqNp6k 2013 Bradley vignette, https://youtu.be/YB4ynvbcdEE 2013 War of 1812, commemoration introduction, and https://youtu.be/P1ZwdbMQ5ZI 2015 graveside recognition.
I have just discovered that William Brown Bradley was my gggg grandfather. I wish I had known about this back in 2015 when the commemoration was done. I would have made the trip as I have a sister in law in Carlton Place an have always wanted to visit the area, which is also ancestral to the Stewarts. If anyone would like to contact me, I’m at jaysonjstewart@gmail.com
Focussing only on Bradley, I recently created a nine-minute highlight called Words at Beechwood https://youtu.be/7JAPYHqQceo. Bradley and other local War of 1812 heroes were recognized at Beechwood Cemetery’s 2013 annual walking tour. I made two WBB related videos in 2013 plus the 2015 recording. More information in these videos: https://youtu.be/bKmnEYqNp6k 2013 Bradley vignette, https://youtu.be/YB4ynvbcdEE 2013 War of 1812, commemoration introduction, and https://youtu.be/P1ZwdbMQ5ZI 2015 graveside recognition.