Mary Leigh

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• Connection to Mary Leigh's page in the Early Wales blog
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David Phillips

Mary Leigh was the first child of Daniel Leigh and Mary Rees, and she was born in 1801 in Llanedi, Carmarthenshire. She married David Phillips in 1825 in Swansea, Glamorganshire. David and Mary left Wales in 1831 with their daughter Anne who was five years old. David took up 200 acres of land in New York State where they farmed for 9 years before going to Canada in 1840.

After arriving in Canada, they lived for a short time in a house at the corner of Horton and Richmond Streets in the town of London, Middlesex county, Ontario. Their sixth child was born there. In 1841 they obtained a farm in the nearby township of Lobo. In the 1851 census, they were listed in the Lobo township. By 1867, they had moved to the nearby East Williams township, and David signed his will from that location. The 1871 census described David as a farmer and a member of the Anglican Church of England.  
The Carlisle Presbyterian Church, where David and Mary are buried is no longer a church but is a beautiful country cemetery. Prior to his death, David composed a verse which is engraved on their monument.

Behold the Pilgrim as he lies
With Glory in his view
To heaven he lifts his longing eyes
And bids the world adieu.

The Welsh settlement to which David and Mary moved was established in 1821 in the northwest section of the London Township by emigrants from the Swansea area of Glamorganshire. That part of London forms a junction with the four neighboring townships of Lobo, Williams, McGillivray, and Biddulph. As more immigrants arrived from Wales, the Welsh settlement expanded into all five townships.

Only he deserves to be remembered by posterity who treasures up
and preserves the memory of his ancestors
Edmund Burke, 1729-1797