The Canadian Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self Made Men, Ontario, Volume 1. Toronto: Toronto American Biographical Pub. Co. 1880.
The Canadian Biographical Dictionary contains 527 biographies of men who were deemed by the publishers to be representative of all who took part in the social, intellectual, and material progress of the Country of Canada. Our presentation currently consists of volume 1 only, which was specifically devoted to the County of Ontario.
John Allen Orchard, Clerk of the Division Court for the County of Welland, and a son of Thomas and Eliza Ann (Medway) Orchard, was born in Devonshire, England, March 2, 1815. Colonel Orchard, of the British army, was a cousin of his father, and John A. Medway, an officer in the British navy, was a brother of his mother. A large number of the Orchards are military and professional men. Young Orchard was educated in common and private schools, farmed with his father in the old country until 1835; then came to Upper Canada with the family, and after spending … Read more
William Thomas Yarwood, forty years in business at Picton, and one of its leading citizens, is a native of Lee, Oneida county, New York, his parents being Samuel and Jane (Allison) Yarwood. His father was from England, and the son of a United Empire Loyalist, who was in the British army at the time of the revolt of the American colonies; his mother was from Ireland. In 1822 the family came to Picton, where both parents died, the mother in 1858; the father in 1870, the latter being, at the time of his death, a retired farmer. Our subject had … Read more
William Veal Hutton, one of the most successful business men in St. Mary’s, is a son of George Martin and Ann Austin (Veal), Hutton, and was born in Ringwood, Hampshire, England, April 16, 1825. He belongs to an old Somersetshire family. His father was a linen draper, and a successful business man. William received an ordinary education in a private school, acquired a knowledge of his father’s business, and in the autumn of 1850 emigrated to Canada, and settled at St. Mary’s, then a very small village. Here he purchased a mill, and was engaged in the manufacture of flour … Read more
William Tassie, one of the most successful educators in Western Ontario, is a native of Dublin, Ireland, dating his birth May 10, 1815. His father, James Tassie, an Engineer and Contractor, descended from a Scotch family that went to Ireland about a century ago; and his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Stewart, was also a descendant of a family which made a similar migration a little earlier. She belonged to the Garth family. Our subject spent his boyhood in study in his native city; in 1834 came with the family to Upper Canada, and taught and continued his studies … Read more
William Scott, with a single exception the oldest resident physician and surgeon in Oxford County, was born in Everingham, Yorkshire, England, November 27, 1820. His parents, Thomas and Dinah (Easingwood) Scott, came to Canada in 1830, and settled in the County of Oxford, our subject aiding to clear two farms in the county, one in Eastwood the other in East Oxford. He may almost be called a born physician, having at nine years of age a great fondness for medical studies; and while engaged in clearing and cultivating land, giving his leisure time to such studies, sometimes carrying a book … Read more
William Sternberg Campbell, son of Archibald Dougall and Catharine (Stern berg) Campbell, who came from the United States at the close of the Revolution, and settled in the County of Glengarry, where the father of our subject lived until 1818, when he came westward to the County of Kent, where he had drawn land on account of the loyalty of his mother, afterwards moving to Hamilton. In 1838 Archibald Campbell settled in the town ship of Brantford, on a farm of 170 acres, four miles from the present city of Brantford, where William was born, February 2.5, 1840. His mother … Read more
William Russell, Manager of the Manufactory of Gurney, Russell and Co., of Dundas, was born in the Township of Ancaster, within one mile of Dundas, May 18, 1837. His father, John Russell, was born near Glasgow, Scotland, coming to Canada in 1835. His mother, whose maiden name was Janet Smillie, was also from Scotland. When William was a small child the family moved to another part of Ancaster, eight miles from Dundas, where our subject aided his father in clearing two farms in the dense forest, in what is now known as the “Scotch Block,” picking up, meanwhile, such knowledge … Read more
William Reynolds, on the west coast of Ireland, on the 9th of February, 1831. At the early age of eight, shortly after the death of his father, he was sent to London, England, to be educated under the eye of his uncle, Rev. Henry Reynolds, rector of Henley-on-Thames. It being determined that he should enter the royal navy, and having passed a satisfactory examination, he received a cadetship in the year 1845. After cruising a short time in the Channel, he was ordered to India. The inactive life at that time on board a war vessel, did not suit his … Read more
William Ralph Meredith, who represents the City of London in the Ontario Legislature, is a native of Middlesex County, in this Province, and was born in the Township of Westminster, March 31, 1840. His father, John Cooke Meredith, born in the City of Dublin, Ireland, and there graduated at Trinity College, is Clerk of the Division Court for the County of Middlesex. His mother, before her marriage, was Sarah Pegler. Our subject was educated in the London Grammar School and the University of Toronto, being graduated from the law department of the latter institution, and called to the Bar at … Read more
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
William Paterson, who represents South Brant, in the House of Commons, is a son of James and Martha (Lawson) Paterson, of Aberdeen, Scotland, and grandson of Rev. Mr. Paterson, minister for years at Midmar, Scotland. His parents came to Upper Canada, nearly fifty years ago, and he was born in Hamilton, September 19, 1839. He was educated in that city and at Caledonia, in the County of Haldimand; came to Brantford in 1854, and was a clerk in a general store, until 1863, when he commenced the bakery business, and manufacture of confectionery, being for several years in company with … Read more
William Noble Rutledge, commissioner of the Court of Queen’s Bench for the county of Simcoe, and custom house officer, was born in Streetsville, county of Peel, in February, 1827, and is the oldest native of that place now living. His parents, Henry and Jane (Noble) Rutledge, were originally from Ireland, and came from Westchester county, N. Y. to Canada. They belonged to the farmer community. William received a common school education; farmed till past his majority; clerked a while for Benjamin Switzer, of Streetsville, and then went to Port Perry, and was in the mercantile business there for himself until … Read more
William Mostyn, late member of the Ontario parliament, and the oldest and leading physician and surgeon in Almonte, is of Welsh descent, the family moving into the county of Roscommon, Ireland, a little more than two centuries ago, and becoming large landed proprietors. Our subject is a son of Thomas and Margaret (Murray) Mostyn, and was born at Elphin, in the county of Roscommon, on the 5th of June, 1836. Before he was a year old, the family emigrated to Canada, and settled in Kingston, where he was educated in the grammar school and the university of Queen’s College, receiving … Read more
One of the prominent families at Pembroke is that of the Moffats, who came from Haddingtonshire, Scotland, in 1834, and after spending six years at New Edinburgh, adjoining Bytown, now Ottawa, moved to Pembroke in the autumn of 1840. At that date the principal settlers here were Peter White, Campbell, Arhuna and John Dunlap, James Jardine and Hugh Fraser. Here Alexander Moffat built a grist mill and laid out the village of Pembroke into lots, and was engaged in manufacturing flour until his death in April, 1872. He also built a woolen mill. He was the first postmaster here, being … Read more
The life history of William McGill, while in many respects very like that of many others, 1. is yet marked by a resolute determination, and will power that entitles it to a most careful consideration. He is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and was born December 20, 1814. His father, George McGill, was a jeweler and watch maker in the old country, emigrating to Upper Canada when William was a youth, and settling on a farm in the township of Whitby, near where Oshawa now stands. The mother of our subject, before her marriage, was Elizabeth Dick. Dr. McGill was … Read more
William Lees, the new Member of Parliament for the South Riding of Lanark, is a son of William Lees, senior, who came from Scotland in 1817 and settled at Bathurst, County of Lanark, in the following year. The country was then called the Bathurst District. The mother of our subject, before her marriage, was Barbara Tait, who gave birth to him November 21, 1821. William Lees, senior, was a pioneer farmer in the County of Lanark, and to the same occupation his son was bred, he receiving a common school education, having, luckily, most of the time, a good teacher. … Read more
William Johnston Ritchie, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Dominion, is a son of the Hon. Justice Ritchie, of Nova Scotia, and was born at Annapolis, in that Province, in October, 1813. His paternal grandfather came from Scotland and settled in Nova Scotia, prior to the American Revolution. The mother of our subject was Eliza Wildman Johnston, a descendant of a distinguished U. E. Loyalist family, her grandfather being a Scotchman of the Annandale line. He married a Miss Peyton, a lady of French Huguenot extraction. He was Governor of the Province of Georgia, in the troubled times … Read more
Willaim James Parkhill, the member of the Provincial Parliament for South William is a son of Matthew and Margaret Parkhill, dating his birth in the county of Tyrone, Ireland, November 27, 1839. His mother is still living in the old country; his father died between thirty and forty years ago. His mental drill in youth was limited to a common school; he was employed at farming until sixteen years old; in 1855, came to Canada; worked two years in a saw mill at Pine Grove, township of Vaughan, county of York; then removed to the township of King, in the … Read more
Mr. Raymond practiced his profession at Chippawa until the close of the rebellion in 1838, acting as a soldier during that exciting period, and then moved to St. Catharines, where he continued his practice and his connection with the military, being promoted, step by step, to a Captaincy in the 5th Lincoln, Lieut. Colonel John Clark, commander. From 1845 to 1853 he again resided in Chippawa; and returning to St. Catharines he remained there until the separation of the Counties of Lincoln and Welland in 1856, when he was appointed Clerk of the Peace for Welland, and removed to his … Read more