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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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LEDDEN, JAMES (1780-1860)

LEDDEN, JAMES, businessman; b. Newcastle, c1790, s/o William Ledden and h/w Nancy; m. 1821, Mary Rimmer, in Liverpool, England; d. Newcastle, 6 May 1860.

James Ledden's father, William Ledden, a former sailor, settled at Newcastle in the late 1770s, and he and his wife, Nancy, raised a large family there. Although he was an eccentric person, he earned respect as a landowner and trader, and several of his sons were also successful businessmen. "The Leddens," stated Dr Robert Nicholson in 1891, "were among the ancient aristocracy of our town."

Around 1817, James Ledden's older brother William Ledden, Jr. went to Liverpool, England, the port through which the family did business, and he later became a permanent resident of the city, James also spent time there as a young man but always made his home on the Miramichi.

The firm of Ledden & Abbott, the principals of which were James Ledden and his brother-in-law James Abbott, had a store in Newcastle that was destroyed by fire in 1826. This was the fourth fire to strike the business in as many years, and it nearly claimed Ledden's life when he entered to retrieve the ledgers. Ledden and Abbott were also minor partners in Joseph Reid & Co. of Bathurst, but the partnership came to an end in 1829, when Abbott died of a sudden illness, at age thirty-six. Ledden later conducted business in the name of James Ledden & Co. and accumulated a good deal of property in Newcastle and North Esk parishes.

James Ledden, "gentleman," was named a captain in the 4th Battalion of militia in 1823. In 1828, he was one of six government-appointed fire wardens of Newcastle, and he was still actively involved in fire protection in the 1840s. In 1832 he and John Flynn were commissioners "for laying out and opening a road from Newcastle to Chaplin's Island," thus creating one of the best-known 'cross country' routes of travel on the Miramichi.

In 1844, Ledden published an apology in The Gleaner for having obstructed and insulted the county sheriff, John M. Johnson Sr, while he was carrying out a duty at his home. The item is curious because, at that time, most people were extremely defensive, and public apologies were almost unheard of.

Ledden's wife, son, and two daughters were living with him when the 1851 was taken, and they were the beneficiaries of his will in 1860. His daughter Mary Ledden later married Thomas Mullins Jr, a son of the county jailer of that name, and he moved into the Ledden home as well. When the three siblings died in the early 1880s, the Ledden surname expired on the Miramichi.

Sources

[m] English vital records [d] Gleaner 12 May 1860 / City Gazette 16 Dec 1829; Facey-Crowther; Ganong Collection (NB settlements); Gleaner 22 Dec 1829, 27 Apr 1830, 28 Sep 1844, 29 Dec 1846, 25 Jun 1864; JHA 1834 (re. roads); Mercury 12 Dec 1826, 24 Jun 1828; official records (Abbott/Ledden marriage, 1822); PANB (petitions #618, #792, and #823); St Michael's Museum (copy of will of James Ledden) Spray (DK and ENC)


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