Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 8.
Footnote to History
George Hall who donated land for the Hall Cemetery
Around the year 1820 a man named George Hall living in lreland met and married a widow by the name of Jane Pritchard - Jane had one child called Margaret. After their first child was born and they found that making a living was very difficult, George decided to try his luck in Canada. He promised Jane that as soon as he had acquired enough money to pay for her passage he would send for her and the children.
He sailed for Canada and received a grant of Crown land. This land was located on top of what is now Rockhurst Hill in the village of Wakefield. He worked hard at clearing the land and built a small log house. The day finally arrived when he had enough money to send for his wife and children.
Quebec City was the nearest place that a letter could be sent back to Ireland from Canada. The ship's captains were trusted to carry the mail. George Hall made his way to Quebec by horseback and boat and was greatly surprised, when the next ship arrived, to see his wife Jane and the two children disembark. (I imagine that she, too, was surprised to see him as there had been no arrangements made for her to come to Canada.) They returned to Wakefield and raised a family of five or six children.
The first land for the Hall Cemetery at Wakefield was donated by George Hall. The first burial in this cemetery was that of an Indian who was buried under a large white birch tree.
George Hall's son, George, raised a family of twelve children on one-half of this same farm. My father, Kenneth Hall, was one of these children. (George Hall and Jane Pritchard were my great grand parents on my father's side.)
Contributed by Norma Hall Reid