Wellesley Township Heritage & Historical Society
  • Home
    • About Us
  • Built Heritage
    • Heritage Designations
    • Historic Neighbourhood Study
  • Cemeteries
    • Rushes Cemetery - Cryptogram Tombstone >
      • Bean Cryptic Tombstone
  • Church History
  • Digital Collection
  • Exhibits
  • Family History
    • Wellesley Roots
    • Family Histories in Our Collection
    • Marriage and Wedding Notices
    • Obituaries and Death Notices
  • Historical Room & Collections
    • Research Guide
    • Photograph Collections >
      • Wellesley Then and Now
      • Charles Ottmann jr Photograph Collection
      • Deborah Glaister Hannay Collection
      • Jessie Harkness Collection
      • Views of Wellesley Village
    • Historical Records in the Township Office
  • History of Wellesley Township
    • Settlement Patterns of Wellesley Townshiip
    • Queen's Bush Settlement
    • Huber Cider Mill Explosion 1908
    • Linwood Clippings 1868 - 1952
    • Linwood Scrapbook
    • Wellesley History In The News
  • Land Ownership
    • Tax Assessment Rolls
    • Maps
    • Township Papers
  • School History
  • Walking & Driving Tours
  • "Wellesley Maple Leaf" Newspaper
  • Wellesley Township Council
    • Wellesley Township Council Minutes
    • Wellesley Township Councillors
    • Waterloo County Councillors from Wellesley
  • Women's Institute
    • Wellesley Women's Institute Minutes
    • Wellesley Women's Institute Poster
    • Wellesley Women's Institute Slideshow
    • Tweedsmuir Histories
  • Gift Shop
  • Events
  • Contact Us
  • Membership Form

Empey, Michael Peter

Born: c1807 
Died: 1888, Dec 6 
(died at the age of 81 years)
Municipality: Wellesley
Years on local council: 1854 Reeve
Years on County Council: 1854
Occupation: General merchant and postmaster
Spouse: Maria
Children: Frances (m. T.W. Vardon); Emily; Pembrooke; Arthur; Alexander; Charles; William; Lillian
Landholdings: Conc11 E, lots 19 and 20, near Hawkesville
Religion: Presbyterian
Notes:
  • Wellesley Council, under Reeve Empey, passed regulations to govern auctioneers, shopkeepers, tavern and inn keepers, as well as those who kept billiard tables (WHS1988 76:141)
  • 1856 - petitioned for the Waterloo Saugeen Railway, which was never built (WHS1961 49:57)
  • 1858-1872 - Hawkesville postmaster (WHS1968 56:66)
  • 1860s - clerk of the 6th division court as well as agent for issuing marriage licences and a commissioner for taking affidavits. 
  • He became a wealthy man, able to hire many workers, among them a coloured coachman, Daniel Brown, a governess for his daughter, housemaids and a gardener, as well as clerks for the store and post office" (WHS1986 74:114)
  • Died in Harriston, Minto Tp
Sources: WHS1968 56:66, WHS1988 76:141, WHS1986 74:141; Berliner Journal obituary index 20/12/1888; short obituary Galt Reporter 14/12/1888

This information is excerpted from: "Waterloo County Councillors: A Collective Biography," researched and complied by Elizabeth Bloomfield and Linda Foster. (c) 1995 Caribou Imprints. It is reproduced by permission of Dr. Bloomfield.   The full text of the book can be seen here.  ​