Herbert

(from notes made by Gerald Herbert and interview transcripts, 2000)

Robert (Bob) Herbert (1827–1894) settled on the Egremont Rd. in 1849, on the east quarter of Lot 5, Con. 1 SER Warwick Twp. Four other early settlers moved to Lot 5 as well — the Browns, Smiths, Hawkins and Bentleys. Until the middle of the 1860s, the Herbert clearing was the only one west, from Warwick Village to Lot 28 in Plympton. By 1867 there were about 24 youngsters living in that clearing. The ten of school age walked to the Warwick Village School.

Robert was born near Killarney, Ireland. He and one brother were the only siblings from a family of seven children that came to Canada. It is most likely they came directly from County Kerry, Ireland to Warwick Twp. with Robert perhaps coming first before his wife (maiden name Sparrow, 1829–) who he married in 1852. By 1867 the Herberts had three cows, twenty-three sheep, three hogs and two horses. Their property tax was $2.03.

Council notes indicate that he was Auditor for Warwick Township for 25 years before he died.

The Herbert family had five boys and three girls. The Herbert’s oldest child, Elizabeth, married in Regina and died during childbirth, with her son dying within a year or two of her. Francis, the oldest son, went to northwestern Ontario to work and died of typhoid fever. The next two, Nathaniel and Agnes, both became teachers. The third son, Arthur, kept store in a little mining town in Montana. The fourth son, Bob, became an Anglican minister in Preston in the early 1930s. Edward (1869–1950) stayed on the home farm. The youngest daughter, Letitia, who had worked at dressmaking in Strathroy, married Dr. George McGibbon from Arkona.

Gerald and his sister Agnes Herbert, c. 1923. Courtesy G Herbert Family.

Edward never weighed over 125 pounds and suffered from rheumatism in his early teens and twenties but lived into his 80s. He farmed on the homestead with his older bachelor brother Nathaniel. In 1914, Ed married 36 year old Charlotte Jane Kelly (1878–c. 1950), who had been a nurse for many years. They moved across the road from the Herbert homestead to the 50 acre Bentley place on Lot 5, Con. 1 NER.

Before Edward was married he and his bachelor brother had hired a live-in caretaker for their ailing mother. The young lady, Nellie Myers (or Meyers), was from Warwick Village and she stayed on a few years after Edward was married. Then she moved to Enniskillen with her family and in 1920 they suffered from a bad flu. They asked Charlotte Herbert to come and nurse Nellie and her brother. Charlotte had two small children so wasn’t able to go, so Nathaniel Herbert went to look after them. He didn’t get the flu but sadly both Nellie Myers and her brother Fred died.

Nathaniel Herbert had been a teacher for three years. He had not gone to Normal School for teacher training but taught on a permit, both on the Blind Line and at Uttoxeter. After his teaching career Nathaniel Herbert was Clerk of Warwick Twp. for 30 years, from 1905–1935. He made only $250 auditing per year so he continued farming. He was a bee keeper for many years and his brother Ed worked with the bees also. Charlotte was allergic and had two incidents of needing medical attention from a bee sting. Fortunately the Herbert families had telephones and Dr. Lee Smith from Forest was called and saved Charlotte with a shot of adrenaline.

The Herberts had 140 hives and produced about ten tons of honey a year. They took it to Forest with horses and wagons to ship it on the Canadian National Railroad. The empty cans would be returned. Towards the end of their bee keeping days, they were getting from 10 to 12 cents a pound.

Edward’s son, Gerald (1916–2005), started school in 1923 at SS#15. This new school had been built in 1880 at the northwest corner of Lot 8, because farmers were paying more taxes than villagers and more children were coming from as far west as the Forest Town Line. The Warwick Village school closed at this time. Millie (Barnes) Ross was his teacher throughout his grade school years. She prepared Gerald for early entrance to high school at age 12.

In 1927 Ed took his whole family to Toronto to the Canadian National Exhibition and they were there the day the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) opened the Prince’s Gate at the east end of the exhibition grounds.

Gerald Herbert attended Forest High School, some years car pooling with neighbours and some years boarding in town. He then went to London Normal School. He taught in Plympton Twp., hating it with a passion, and quit after four months. In 1936 Gerald started doing the Warwick Twp. audit for $25 per year. He then went to Business College in Petrolia in 1939 and began working at Oil Well Supply and Canadian Oil in Petrolia. After that he went back to farming and began picking up other bookkeeping jobs for Cattle Breeders at Reece’s Corners, Wanstead Farmers and for the communities of Plympton, Brooke, Bosanquet and Forest. He worked for Watford Insurance (Lambton Mutual) for 34 years. Gerald also worked for Lambton County for 28 years. He was doing many of these audits at the same time as they were small in the early years.

Gerald Herbert married Jean Elizabeth Grieve (1920–2007). They met at an agricultural course in 1938 in Petrolia and were married in 1945. They had two children. Mary is an engineer who married Dave Shelley of Georgetown, Ont. Art and his wife Bonnie live in Petrolia with their two sons.

In 1957 Zeb Janes retired as Warwick Twp. Treasurer and Gerald was hired. Then Swanson Reycraft, the Township Clerk from 1936–1958, left and Gerald was asked to do that job as well, and he became Twp. Clerk-Treasurer. Gerald recalled in the earlier years that burlap sacks were filled with straw to provide comfortable seating through long council sessions. The Warwick Twp. office was in his home on the Egremont Rd., on the original Herbert homestead. After 46 years from when he started doing audits in 1936, using his favourite saying “by gosh!”, he retired. His colleagues referred to him as a “giant dictionary” able to give information from the top of his head about drains, ditches and who lives where and how long they lived there.

Jean and Gerry continued to live on the homestead until his death, after which Jean moved to Wyoming.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Herbert Family

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