baad company

This is the grave of William Dinnin. He lies beside his wife, Grace, in McTaggart’s Cemetery in the township of Usborne in Huron County, Ontario. (Click on any of these pictures to embiggen them.)

He was born in Northumberland, England in 1840 or so; records vary a bit. He emigrated to Canada around 1850 with his parents, William and Mary, landing in Toronto and then settling in the village of Lumley. The family prospered; by 1869, William Dinnin the senior is listed in the Ontario Gazetteer as a merchant and local postmaster, and William Junior has established himself as a carpenter. He married Grace in 1872, and 4 children followed. He must have enjoyed a certain amount of success; this photograph shows a comfortable, handsome family, including a young son named for his father and grandfather:

I find myself looking closely at his hands – gnarled, strong hands – the hands of a man who worked with iron tools and wood, building houses and furniture for his neighbours. He was proud enough of his work to stamp his name on it, which is how I know he made my spinning wheel.

I don’t know when he made it; it could have been any time between the 1860s and 1908. I do know that he made it well, with care and craftsmanship, for it still spins for me now.