Did You Know?

Former Mayor of Guelph James Hewer's family arrived in the Guelph area from England as early as 1831. Perry Richards, the great-grandson of Mayor Hewer (1897-98) is planning the Hewer family reunion in Guelph. The two-day event will begin on Saturday, August 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. George's Church Fellowship Hall, 99 Woolwich Street. On Sunday, August 3 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. an All-Families Picnic at the Riverside Park on Woolwich Street.

Mayor Hewer was the oldest of ten children and twenty years older than his youngest brother. According to recent family memory, there has never been an all Hewer families-reunion and we speculate there are a lot of Hewers out there! Two other branches that represent the local Hewer clan are William Hewer and Ann (Hewer) Thatcher. They were the brother and sister of Mayor Hewer's father John Hewer.

James Hewer's (1847-1916, Mayor of Guelph), father John Hewer (1823-1886), had a sister Ann (1818-1893) and a brother William (b 1816). Ann married Mr. Thatcher and then Mr. Askett. From Ann's branch I have been in contact with Jim Thatcher who is retired and lives near Thunder Bay, ON and Jim has extended family in the Guelph area. William married Sara Catherine King and from William's branch.