Canada

Biography of John Birrell

John Birrell, a successful merchant, doing a business in London for about thirty five years, and dying on the 15th of February, 1875, was a native of Lerwick, a town on the Shetland Islands, and was born April 12, 1814. His father was a Collector of Customs at Oban, Scotland. He received a good business education; spent some years as a merchant’s clerk in Glasgow, and about 1837 came to Canada, halting a short time in a store at Montreal, and then pushing west as far as Hamilton. There he clerked two or three seasons for Isaac Buchanan, and Young, … Read more

Biography of James Cattermole, M.D.

One of the most experienced and skilful physicians and surgeons in the County of Middle-sex, Ontario, is James Cattermole, who has been in practice forty seven years. He is a native of Suffolk, England, son of James Cattermole, senior, and was horn October 13, 1807. His father was a farmer and belonged to a family of agriculturists, and landed proprietors of the County of Suffolk, whose record is traced back to the reign of “Good Queen Bess” or beyond. At thirteen years of age our subject left home for London; received a fair literary education; at sixteen was apprenticed to … Read more

Biography of John S. Larke

John Short Larke, editor and proprietor of The Oshawa Vindicator, an old and strong Conservative paper, is a native of Lancelles, Cornwall, dating his birth May 28, 1840. His ancestors, who belonged to the yeomanry of that part of England, were originally from Scotland, his parents being Charles and Grace (Yeo) Larke. When he was four years old the family emigrated to Canada West, settling near Oshawa, his father farming awhile, and then becoming a miller, being now still alive. The mother of John died in 1878, while on a visit to England. After passing through the grammar school of … Read more

Biography of Hon. William H. Brouse, M. S., M. D.

Hon. William H. Brouse, Senator from South Grenville, is a descendant of one of the United Empire Loyalists that settled on the northern shore of the St. Lawrence river, immediately after the American revolution, his parents being Col. Jacob Brouse, a farmer, and Nancy Parlow, his wife, the latter being also a descendant of a loyalist family. He was born at Matilda, Dundas, Ont., June 15, 1825; received his literary education at Victoria College, Cobourg, where he took his degree of M.A. in 1849; studied medicine with the Bon. John Rolph, M.D., LL.D., of Toronto; graduated at McGill College, Montreal, … Read more

Biography of Lieut. Col. William D. Pollard

William Darley Pollard, the leading barrister at Meaford, is a native of Manchester, England, dating his birth January 26, 1827. His parents were William and Jane (Blair) Pollard, his mother being a descendant of the Macdonalds of Glencoe, Scotland. Our subject received a good English and classical education, including Hebrew, as well as Latin and Greek; studied law in his native city; became an Attorney and Solicitor, and Master Extraordinary in Chancery, and before leaving the Old World was for years in the King’s Bench Walk, Temple, London. In the winter of 1855-56 Mr. Pollard came to Canada West; and … Read more

Biography of William Cane

William Cane, son of Samuel and Nancy (Martin) Cane, dates his birth at Albany, N. Y., October 8, 1823. His father, who was a boot and shoe merchant, was of Irish descent. When the son was ten or eleven years old, the family moved to Upper Canada, and settled in the township of Cavan, fifteen miles from Port Hope, both parents dying three or four years afterwards. Our subject received a very ordinary country school education; finished by private study, and early learned the wood working business turning, carpentering, &c., having a taste and natural aptitude for the mechanic arts. … Read more

Biography of Patrick Whelihan

Patrick Whelihan, Registrar of the South Riding of the County of Perth, was born in the County of Tipperary, Ireland, April 23, 1832. His father, James Whelihan, a farmer and land agent, died when the son was two years old, leaving the widowed mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth D’Arcy, with a family of eleven children, of whom he was the tenth child. He was brought up on a farm until sixteen years old, receiving, meanwhile, a national school education. In 1848 the family came to America, landing at New Orleans, La., where the mother and an older brother caught … Read more

Biography of George Graham

George Graham, County Treasurer of Peel, is a son of Thomas and Ann (Dixon) Graham, both from the north of Ireland, and was born in the City of Toronto, October 15, 1820. His father left Ireland in 1812, just in season to reach New York as war was declared between Great Britain and the United States, and he was obliged to remain there until the war was ended. In 1820 the father of our subject came into Upper Canada via Niagara, in a procession of twenty seven teams, the property of parties who had drawn land through the British Consul … Read more

Biography of James Metcalfe

James Metclafe, one of the leading citizens of Toronto, and ex-member of Parliament for the East Riding of York, is an Englishman by birth, and was born in Cumberland in the year 1822. The Metcalfe family, though very numerous, are all of the same stock and descendants of a very ancient family, justly entitled to the compliment paid them by the compiler of the life of Lord Metcalfe, a gentleman of our time, well known in Canada, viz., that they were industrious, honest, and unassuming people, whose integrity was a better inheritance than titles. One of them was knighted at … Read more

Biography of Wellington Jeffers, D.D.

Wellington Jeffers, one of the best read clergymen and most eloquent preachers in the Methodist Church in Canada, was born in the City of Cork, Ireland, June 22, 1814. His father being Rev. Robert Jeffers, a merchant in the old country, and a preacher and teacher in Canada. The family came to this country in the summer of 1817, and after preaching a few years, in connection with the Conference, the father of our subject settled as a teacher in Kingston. He was a man of almost universal knowledge, excelling in the mathematics, and showing great ability, both as a … Read more

Biography of Thomas Driffill

Thomas Driffill, a pioneer settler at Bradford, is a native of Lincolnshire, England, a son of Samuel and Ann (Morwood) Driffill, and was born January 27, 1809. He received an ordinary education for business; learned the trade of a blacksmith with his father; came to Canada in 1830, and the next year settled where the village of Bradford now stands. At that time there were only two families on the site of the place, and no clearings, and no roads except such as had been extemporized among the trees. Farms, however, had been opened in various parts of the township, … Read more

Biography of Rev. George Burnfield, M.A.

One of the best scholars and ablest sermonizers of his age, connected with the Ontario pulpit, is George Burnfield, a native of the city of Perth, Scotland, his birth being dated February 19, 1845. His father was a mechanic; his mother was a daughter of David Keir, of Bank foot, Scotland, one of the early contractors of that country. In 1855 the family landed in the city of New York, where our subject attended school for a short time, the family removing to Hamilton, Ontario. There young Burnfield continued his studies, first in the public and then in the High … Read more

Biography of Kenneth M.Chisholm, P.P

Kenneth Chisholm, of the firm of R. Chisholm and Co., member of the Ontario Legislature for the County of Peel, and one of the leading merchants in Brampton, is a descendant of an old Highland family, originally from Invernessshire, Scotland. His father, Alexander Chisholm, being born in the County of Glengarry, removed to Toronto township, in what is now the County of Peel, in 1818. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary McDonnell, was the daughter of a United Empire Loyalist, who moved from the State of New York to Glengarry at the time of the revolution. She drew lands … Read more

Biography of William Glass

William Glass, Sheriff of the County of Middlesex, descending, on the paternal side, from an old, well known family of the County of Armagh, Ireland, the old farm homestead being still owned and occupied by his cousin, Samuel Glass. In the year 1819, Samuel Glass, father of the Sheriff, at the age of 19 years, left his home to seek his fortune in Canada, having for his point of destination the township of Westminster, in the London District, where his sister, wife of the the late Lieut, Colonel Orr, had settled two years previously. Crossing the Atlantic he made acquaintance … Read more

Biography of Samuel Smith Mcdonell

A person happening to go into the Court room at Sandwich, in court time, will find the usual array of legal gentlemen looking after the interests of clients, and engaged in sharp encounter for the defense of their rights. The Ontario Bar, as represented here, embraces members who would be an ornament to the profession anywhere; men both wise to counsel and gifted in forensic display. Among the foremost and busiest of those in Windsor, who own allegiance to that “austere mistress,” the law, and who may justly be claimed as an ornament to the Bar, is Samuel Smith Macdonell, … Read more

Biography of John O’Donohoe

John O’Donohoe, barrister-at-law, and ex-member of the Dominion Parliament, justly occupies a prominent place in the foremost rank of those Irishmen, who, adopting Canada as their home, and closely identifying themselves with her manifold interests, have, through the exercise of industry, perseverance, and personal integrity, attained to considerable and well deserved eminence. He is fourth son of the late Malachy O’Donohoe and Margaret O’Neill, and was born at Tuam, County Galway, Ireland, in June, 1824. The family on the paternal side are a branch of the ancient family of the name known as O’Donohoe of the Glen, having their chief … Read more

Biography of James Stephenson, M.D.

James Stephenson, twenty-one years a medical practitioner at Iroquois, County of Dundas, is a native of Augusta, Grenville County, Ontario, and was born November 19, 1834. His father, Isaiah Stephenson, a farmer, was a native of the County of Monaghan, Ireland, coming to Canada about 1820. His mother, whose maiden name was Sophia Martin, was born in Augusta, Ontario. The subject of this brief sketch received his literary education at Victoria College, Cobourg, where he spent two years, not taking a full course, and his medical education at McGill College, Montreal, where he received his diploma in 1859. He immediately … Read more

Biography of David Cancanfield

The subject of this brief sketch is a grandson of Samuel Canfield, senior, a United Empire loyalist, who resided in Connecticut at the time of the American Revolution, and who subsequently moved into the Mohawk valley. New York, and thence into the Genesee valley, same State, settling in the township of East Oxford, County of Oxford, Upper Canada in 1794; and son of Samuel Canfield, junior, who was born in Connecticut, and accompanied his father to this part of Canada. The mother of David was Catherine Lick. He was born in East Oxford, at the old homestead, November 12, 1806, … Read more

Biography of William Patrick

William Patrick, Sheriff of the united counties of Leeds and Grenville, is of Scotch descent, his grandparents being on their way through Massachusetts to Canada, when his father, Asa Patrick, was born. The family settled near Newmarket, Upper Canada, opening a farm there. In the war of 1812-15, Asa Patrick was connected with the Commissary Department, with head-quarters at Toronto. William was born in “Little York,” now Toronto, February 21, 1810, the maiden name of his mother being Belinda Gilbert. He was educated by Dr., since Bishop Strachan, then Rector, and the Principal of the grammar school at Toronto; there … Read more

Biography of James Bethune, L.L.D.

One of the first, if not the first, among the prominent members of the Toronto Bar, is Mr. Bethune, of whose career we give an epitome in this sketch, a man of decided talent, distinguished in his profession, and an acknowledged leader in his chosen sphere of usefulness. James Bethune is a native Canadian, and first saw the light of day on the 7th of July, 1840, at Glengarry, Ontario. He is descended from two old and well known Scotch families, paternally, from the Bethunes of Fifeshire, and maternally, from the Mc Kenzies of Ingleshire, Scotland. His great-grandfather, Angus Bethune, … Read more