Edmund Wollis & Jane Mackie of Winterbourne, about 1900.

Edmund Wollis (1823-1906) and Jane (Mackie) Wollis (1833-1913).

More can be found about Edmund in the history book "The Early History of Elora and Vicinity", by John R. Connon. This book was a compilation of newspaper articles published in The Elora Express and written by John Connon, from 1906-1909. The following information was extracted from it —

"Edmund Wollis was born at Barnoldby-le-Beck, Lincolnshire, England on January 27th, 1823. In the year 1844, he came to Canada and for about two years worked in the townships of Darlington and Pickering. One morning, in the springtime of 1846, he landed in Elora and then walked to Winterbourne to see the land in Waterloo County, of which he had heard. The river road through the long woods was only chopped out to about half its proper width, the logs forming the corduroy road were floating about in the many swamps, while, from the James Ross farm at the "big Bend" to the "Big Ridge", a distance of more than three miles, was without a clearing on either side of the road. Mr. Wollis soon took up his farm on the east side of the river road, at the "little ridge". To the south of him was Thomas Adsett's farm, while across from Adsett, on the west, was Richard Morelli and opposite to Mr. Wollis was, a little later, Stephan Webster. Each of these made clearings on the corners of their farms adjoining, so that as Mr. Wollis says, 'they soon let daylight in'.

"Mr. Wollis was married in August of 1855, to Jane Mackie, whose parents had come to Winterbourne, from Aberdeenshire, Scotland in October of 1837. Of their family, Margaret married John Elsley (1877) and lived near Mt. Forest; Mary died in September of 1900, George married Esther Gillies (1896), near Mt Forest; Ann married Sam Burnett (1885), Edmund married Alice Kirkness (1894), John married Ellen Hamilton (1895), Elizabeth married William Glennie (1887), lives in Eramosa, Jane married John Glennie (1891) and Sarah, living with her parents, who a few years ago, retired and now live in their comfortable home on the Elora and Salem road."