William Prowse, the Elder, of Prince Edward Island
- Alta Acorn
- Aug 23
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 24
The following article was written by Alta Acorn, Prowse descendant and researcher, in 2002. Alta passed away in 2021, retaining an ardent interest in her Prowse ancestry until the very end. A few typographical and grammatical corrections were made but otherwise Alta's article has been transcribed as she wrote it.
This line has since been documented in WikiTree, mostly by the hard work of Leanne Cooper, another PEI Prowse descendant and researcher. The majority of the links added to Alta's words are to the WikiTree profiles for those individuals.
A gray tombstone in a small rural cemetery in Prince Edward Island marks the burial place of William Prowse of East Stonehouse, Devon, England. Inscribed is the basic information: "died September 23, 1864, aged 70 years" and a verse of Scripture: "Be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, that where I am ye may be also". The death of his wife Agnes (Rider) is also recorded as Sept. 10, 1876, aged 83 years.
Nearby is the tombstone of his son, Joseph Jarvis Prowse, Feb. 23, 1824, to April 8, 1891; and his wife Agnes (Jarvis) 1826-1907. Other family members are also buried there. Of special interest is the inscription for Joseph: "born in England". This phrase captured my attention and served as the spark that kindled an interest in the family history for me, one of his many great granddaughters. My father used to say that his grandfather came from England at about 2 yrs, of age.
The search for roots and relatives was on!
The distance to travel was not far at first. My P.E.I. Prowse ancestor graves were near where I grew up. I knew vaguely that they were in the Methodist cemetery at Union Road, a mile or two away. The full significance of this knowledge did not dawn on me until I was "bitten" by the genealogy "bug" after retiring from teaching. Previous to this, a tremendous amount of Prowse research had been done by Herbert Wilbert, husband of my third cousin Vivia (Prowse), and it was wonderful to have so much information already available.
Research on the Brackley farm where I grew up showed it was bought in 1858 by Joseph, passed on to his youngest son, Philip; then to Philip 's only son, Leslie Joseph Prowse, then to his two children, my sister Shirley and me.
The first land obtained by William was "pasture lot number 470 in the Royalty of Charlottetown", through a land petition to the lieutenant-governor of the province in 1824. It consisted of twelve acres on the Brackley Point Road, across from what is now the Charlottetown Airport. Every few years he kept adding to his holdings, either freehold or by lease, until he had a large acreage and a few lots in Charlottetown. One might wonder whether his genes carried the memory of the huge land holdings of his ancestors in England seven or eight hundred years earlier under Eudo de Preaux* or the Norman lords, as described in Susan (Prowse) Tako 's book "Prowse Family History".
William and Agnes had six known children, mentioned in his will of 1859. A copy of their marriage certificate from Bishops' Transcripts, Devon Record Office, shows the date, tenth of February 1822. Mormon records of births and baptisms in East Stonehouse (later Plymouth) show the name of Richard Rider Prowse born to Agnes and William "labourer ", on March 2, 1823, and baptized March 30. A similar record shows the name of Joseph Jarvis Prowse, born Feb. 22, 1824, baptized March 14, with similar information. Their mother Agnes was the daughter of Richard Rider. Likely this child died in infancy, as there is no trace of him in P.E.I. William may have emigrated to find a better life for his family-to-be. His father-in-law, Richard Rider and son John Rider had gone to P.E.I. a few years earlier and petitioned for land there in 1821. Possibly the women and children followed later, after the men had secured some sort of residence.
The census of 1848 lists Joseph Prowse as a "cordwainer" (worker in leather) in Charlottetown. Ten years later he had bought 100 acres in Brackley and spent the rest of his life as a farmer. He and Agnes had 13 children, of whom 2 girls died in infancy, one at age 22, two other daughters did not marry. The family name was carried on by eight sons, namely William, Isaac, John, Jarvis, Silas, Samuel, Henry (Harry), and Philip. Isaac lived in Murray Harbor, John and Harry went to western Canada, Jarvis to Cape Breton, and the other 4 were farmers in Brackley.
The next child of William the Elder was Margaret Ann, born in 1826. She married John
Clements, a farmer on Union Road, and they had 11 children: Mary Agnes Ann, Margaret Thursa, Harriet Jane Clara, Robert William John, Eli Samuel, Eliza Rachel, Henry Prowse, Frederick Artemis, Edward Pope, Ester Emily, and Elsie Brewer.
In 1830 William was born. He married Eleanor Horne and farmed land around where the present Charlottetown Airport is located. He was also a merchant and lived for a time in the U.S. where most of his wife's family had moved. Later, several of his family made their homes there. There were 12 children: Robert William, Agnes Violet, Lemuel Ezra, Lavinia Emily, Albert Samuel, Benjamin Charles, Priscilla Sarah, Cornelius Joseph, Stephen Hedley, Artemas Evans, Waldron Brewer, Eleanor Bertha. Robert William went to B.C. and Alberta. Lemuel was a merchant, senior member of the firm of Prowse Bros. in Charlottetown, and was a member of the Provincial Legislature, and was elected to the House of Commons. His son, T.W.L. "Billy", was a member of Prowse Bros. firm, elected to provincial cabinet, served as mayor of Charlottetown, and also as lieutenant-governor of the province. Two of his family were medical doctors. Benjamin Charles also was mayor of Charlottetown, a P.E.I. senator, and member of Prowse Bros. firm. Waldron Brewer was also for a time associated with the family firm. During W.W.I he served with the 3rd Division, 98th siege battery, in France and earned the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
The second daughter of William the Elder was Agnes Ann, who married Charles Cox. Their two daughters were Agnes and Sarah. Their farm was next door to her brother Joseph, and it was there that William the Elder passed away.
The third son was Samuel. His wife was Eliza Willis, who died young, and one child survived, Albert. Samuel then married his wife's sister, Louisa, and they had two children: William Henry and Samuel. This family lived in Murray Harbor, P.E.I., where Samuel was a successful businessman with stores and factories in the area. He was also a bank director, and senator at the provincial, and later federal level. The sons were partners in their father's business, but each had other careers. Albert was a provincial M.P., Samuel was a distinguished Dean of Medicine in Winnipeg, and William Henry's descendants are noted for the number of lawyers, including judges and a senator in Ottawa, James Harper Prowse. There were also medical doctors.
John Prowse was the fourth son. His wife was Hannah Harper, who had a brother James Harper - possibly the person for whom William Henry's son was named. John was a blacksmith and owned property near that of his brother William. His children were: Aequilla, Matilda, Frederick, Hannah, Mary, and Charles. More research needs to be done on this family - indeed, more is needed on some of the others as well.
The family tree that started with William Prowse and Agnes Rider has spread its branches to many parts of the world. To date it has not been possible to link William with his own ancestors in England. The year 1823 has been fairly well established as the time of his immigration to Prince Edward Island. An article in the 1891 "Canadian Parliamentary Companion" at the National Archives in Ottawa, outlining the career of Hon. Samuel Prowse, states that the Senator was "the son of the late William Prowse who came to P.E.I. in 1823 from Devonshire, England".
It is interesting to speculate about William 's reasons for emigrating and about the kind of occupation he had before leaving his mother country around the age of twenty-nine years. One wonders whether he was born in East Stonehouse or elsewhere and what relatives he left behind.*
Family trees presented at Prowse gatherings at Gidleigh in 1990 and at Colchester in 1997 showed no discernible connection with William of East Stonehouse, born in 1793 or 1794.*
Tracing the family history in England is no easy task. But, like climbing the mountain, the challenge is fascinating simply because "it is there "!
*Note: Since this article was written in 2002, the abundance of online records and genealogical programs coupled with the dedicated efforts of Prowse researchers like Leanne, has resulted in many additional descendants being identified and documented. For instance, we are now pretty certain that William was the son of Robert Prowse/Prouse and Mary Jarvis of Malborough, Devon and that he had eight known siblings, only some of whom have been researched. We also know that the connection to Eudo de Preaux has since been disproven.
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