The following information was kindly contributed by John's great- grandson Peter, who is the current Chairman of the Arkell's Brewery. Thanks to his generosity, the Puslinch Historical Society is now in possession of John Arkell's ancestry, and a handsome history of the Brewery's first 150 years. THANK YOU PETER!
John Arkell was a remarkable man. Born into a farming family in 1802 in Kempsford, South Gloucestershire, he emigrated to the New World in his late twenties and took with him a group of local people ( including his first cousin Thomas )who sought a refuge from the tough conditions endured by agricultural folk at that time. It was a brave step.
They arrived in Canada and established the small community of Arkell - which still exists today - but three years later, John returned for love. His fiancée preferred to live in England so he came home to marry and set up home in Stratton St Margaret, near Swindon, where he grew barley on his farm.....
He died on 21st October, 1881, much mourned by a local community who always knew him as 'Honest John'. The Swindon Advertiser noted that shops were closed and blinds drawn as the funeral cortege passed to Stratton Church and added: "He was open and above board and Radical in all he said and did. The poor had lost a good friend, a plain and simple friend."
The name Arkell originated in Holland, and was Van Arkell. John was the son of Thomas and Susan Iles. He married Elizabeth Hewer on May 20,1833 in Kempford, Gloucester, England. Members of both the Iles and Hewer families came with John to Puslinch.