William and Sarah settled in Lanark County. Al least two of their sons were early settlers of Elderslie Township, Bruce County, Upper Canada.
George Williscroft Sr. farmed on Lot 9, Con. 13 and is recognized as the founder of the hamlet of Williscroft. Of his two sons, George Jr. lived on Lot 8, Con. 13. He was Elderslie's first tax collector, but soon moved to British Columbia, establishing the first sawmill in the northern part of the province, at a place called Georgetown after its founder, 17 miles north of Prince Rupert. His mill, with an output of 20,000 board feet per day, supplied lumber to the Cariboo gold mining camps which were then booming, as he did later to the Yukon. Williscroft was the principal supplier of lumber for the developing canneries of the Nass and Skeena Rivers.
Walter Williscroft, youngest son of the Elderslie hamlet's founder, became Road and Bridge Superintendent of the British Columbia government. In the early 1900's he supervised the building of a wharf and a hotel at Kitimat, but was unable to persuade the Grand Trunk Pacific to make its terminus there rather than at Prince Rupert. However, his services in overseeing so many necessary pioneer works were rewarded in the naming of a Williscroft Street in Kitimat, now widely known as the site of Alcan Aluminum.
James Williscroft, a brother of George Sr., came with his wife Jane Blackburn from Smith's Falls to settle on Lot 12, Con. 12. They had a family of two sons and five daughters most of whom settled in the area. James Williscroft was a capable framer, having put up the Mount Hope Church and other buildings. Going west in 1885 to continue as a builder, he left behind his wife and family. Unfortunately he was killed on April 2 in the Frog Lake massacre, when Indians surprised the settlement when most inhabitants were at church.
From The History of Elderslie Township 1851-1977 |
