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P05056 – The Lilley family with father John at the left rear and mother Anna in front.
P05061 – John and Anna Lilley with their daughters Ethel and Gladys and horse, Nellie.
Lilley Family
John Lilley emigrated from England in 1886, followed shortly afterwards by his fiancé Ana Chirm. They were married and started a family that numbered eight before their arrival in Maple Ridge.
They purchased an 80 acre property in Webster’s Corners, at Dewdney Trunk Road and 246th Street, with a log cabin on it built by the original owners, the Marshalls. They replaced this cabin with a large farmhouse and barn, and began planting an orchard with many different types of apple trees. The original Lilley home burned down after it was sold to another family.
The Lilley family had twelve children; the oldest, Jack, born in 1891, and the youngest, Ethel, born in 1912. The Lilleys were strong members of the Webster’s Corners Methodist Church, now a United Church.
John Lilley worked at many jobs that included farming, hauling and logging, and was often helped by his older sons as they matured. John had the contract to build the steel towers for the powerline leading from Stave Falls power plant to the Pitt River bridge. This involved hauling the steel sections of the pylons from railway stations at Haney and Ruskin, assembling and erecting them.
The third generation of Lilley descendants, who are numerous, began to grow tired of meeting at funerals, so they have organized yearly family reunions which are attended by far away family members.
(Sheila Nickols, January 29th, 2003; Maple Ridge News)
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