The Canadian Biographical Dictionary Collections – Page 2 of 27

Biography of William Henry Waller

The Wallers now found in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States, are all descendants of the Waller who came to England, from Normandy, with William the Conqueror in 1066. The subject of this sketch is a direct descendant of Richard Waller, of Groombridge, who went to Ireland in 1641, thus being of Norman-Irish extraction. He left two sons. The elder, Richard Waller of Cully, County of Tipperary, married Elizabeth Redmund, and, dying in 1701, was succeeded by his eldest son, Edmund Waller, who, dying without issue, in 1711, was succeeded by his brother, William Waller, of Cully. The latter … Read more

Biography of William Henry Griffin

Few man in the Dominion of Canada have been longer in the public service than the present Deputy Postmaster-General. He commenced in the office of the Deputy Postmaster-General of Canada before he was nineteen years old, and has held some official position connected with the postal department or civil service, for forty-nine years. He is still vigorous and active, and evidently does not regard labor as a very serious curse. He seems to derive solid comfort from the faithful discharge of his duties, and if a cheerful heart promotes longevity and we believe it does Mr. Griffin ought to be … Read more

Biography of William H. Ruby

William Henry Ruby, merchant and grain dealer, is a son of Adam and Elizabeth (Stein) Ruby, and was born in Essex county, New Jersey, September 20, 1830. Both parents were from Bavaria, Germany, and his father is yet living. When William was nine years old the family came to Canada, and settled on a farm in the county of Waterloo, the son receiving a common school education, and the literary advantage of three years’ work, from twelve to fifteen years of age, in a printing office at Berlin, attending school two years after leaving the office. He taught public schools … Read more

Biography of William Gunn

The, to which the subject of this sketch belongs, is of Scandinavian origin, and traces its ancestry back as far as Heiti, father of Suadi, and the brother of Gore-Nor, from whom Norway had its name, in A.D. 690. The progenitor of the clan was Gunn, the second son of Olav, of Gairsey, a descendant of the Earls of Orkney, and the Norse Kings, afterwards Olav the Black, King of Man, and the Isles, and brother of Swein, the last and greatest of the Norse Vikings. Gunn was born about A.D. 1090. The country of the Gunns, after they attained … Read more

Biography of William Grey

One of the oldest residents in Woodstock, and one of its most prominent citizens, is William Grey, who settled in Oxford County in 1825, two and a half miles from the present Town of Woodstock, before the place, as a town, had a name, except “Town Plot.” The spot on which his house now stands, a quarter-mile from the Post Office, was a sugar bush half a century ago. He saw a village start here, and gradually expand into a town of 6,000 inhabitants, industrious, thriving, and intelligent; and no man now living here has done more to build up … Read more

Biography of William Graveley

William Graveley, son of John Graveley, surgeon, and Martha Locock, cousin of Sir Charles Locock, physician to the Queen, was born in Yorkshire, England, May 17, 1814. In 1819, the family came to Canada, and settled in Quebec, and there the father died four years afterwards. William received a commercial education, spent two or three years in a merchant’s counting room, and leaving Quebec in 1831, settled at Cobourg, and has been a resident of this place from that date. Here he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, J. Vance Boswell, and was a mercantile trader until 1865, and was … 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 William Furby

One of the oldest journalists in the county of Durham, or this part of the Province of Ontario, is William Furby, a native of Bridlington, Yorkshire, England, and a son of John Furby, a school teacher, who, during the winter season, made a specialty of instructing sailors in navigation. Our subject was born September 5, 1799, and at the time of preparing this sketch is in his 80th year. He was educated by his father; learned the printer’s and cabinetmaker’s trade; in 1819 crossed the Atlantic ocean, and spent five or six years with an older brother, Robert Furby, at … Read more

Biography of William Elliot

William Elliot, one of the founders of the village of Iroquois, is a, son of William Elliot, senior, whose calling was a shepherd, and Mary Cranston, both natives of Roxborough, Scotland. William was the third child in a family of four sons and four daughters. He came to the United States in 1828, locating at Lansingburgh, N.Y., on the Hudson river, where he learned the malting and brewing business with E. Parmelle and Son, and afterwards had charge of their business. In 1840 he came to Moulinette, County of Stormont, Ontario, commenced brewing there on his own account, operating a … Read more

Biography of William D. Ardagh

William Davis Ardagh, mayor of Barrie, is a son of Stephen Ardagh, who is descended from a Welsh family that settled in Ireland about the time of Edward I. He was born in the county of Tipperary, March 21, 1828, but spent most of the first twenty years of his life in the county of Kilkenny. In 1848 he came to Barrie, and finished his education in the grammar school; studied law with John Strathy, of this town, and was called to the bar at Hilary term, 1855. Mr. Ardagh commenced practice in Toronto, in partnership with Hon. John Crawford, … Read more

Biography of William Coburn, M. D.

Doctor Coburn, son of John and Eliza (Walker) Coburn, was born near Bradford, County of Simcoe, November 11, 1837. His father was born in the City of New York; his mother, near Belfast, Ireland. His paternal grandfather was also from Ireland, and moved from New York to Upper Canada when the father of our subject was a youth, settling near the Village of Bradford. John Coburn became a wealthy farmer, and is still living in the old homestead, hale and robust, having always been a man of industrious and, in every way, correct habits. His (the Dr’s) mother died December … 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 William Bucking

William Buckingham, late Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of Canada, was born in Crediton, Devonshire, England, being a son of Robert and Jane (Ellis) Buckingham, both natives of the same county. When about twenty years of age he removed to Yorkshire, and became shorthand reporter for the Halifax Guardian. In 1857 Mr. Buckingham came to Toronto, Canada, and took a position as Parliamentary reporter on the Toronto Globe. Two years later, in company with William Coldwell, he established the Nor Wester at Fort Garry, the first newspaper published in what has since become the Province of Manitoba. Shortly afterwards … Read more

Biography of William Buck

William Buck, one of the leading manufacturers in Brantford, and President of the Board of Trade of this city, dates his birth at the old town of Ancaster, August 22, 1828, his parents being Peter and Hannah (Yager) Buck. Both are still living, and they reside in Brantford, the father in his 88th year, and the mother in her 76th. Mrs. Buck, as her name would indicate, is of German pedigree. Peter Buck was a soldier in the rebellion of 1837-1838, and was wounded at the battle of Chippawa, still carrying a ball received on that occasion. Both parents of … Read more

Biography of William Bannerman, M.P.

The subject of this notice, the member of Parliament for South Renfrew, is of full Scotch blood on both sides of the family, being a son of Thomas and Barbara (McCoy) Bannerman, and born in the parish of Kildonan, Sutherlandshire, Scotland, on the 5th of November, 1841. His father was a seafaring man, and after the son had received a fair drill in a parish school, he served an apprenticeship at the same business. Not caring to continue this precarious aquatic life any longer, in the autumn of 1857, our subject came to Canada West, and for seven years was … Read more

Biography of William Allison, H.R.

William Henry Richey Allison, a prominent barrister in the county of Prince Edward, and surrogate judge of the Maritime Court of Ontario, was born near Brockville, on April 17, T836. His father, Rev. Cyrus R. Allison, a noted Wesleyan minister, was also a native of this Province, preached for many years in the vicinity of the Bay of Quint, and died at Picton, in 1869. The mother of our subject was Eve Hoover, also a native of Ontario, and the daughter of a United Empire Loyalist. She is still living. Mr. Allison was educated at Victoria College, Cobourg; studied law … Read more

Biography of William A. Willoughby, M.D.,

The subject of this sketch is a descendant of that branch of the Willoughby family that went from Somersetshire, England, to Ireland, about the time of Cromwell, his father George H. Willoughby, coming to Canada, and settling ona farm in the Township of Essa, County of Simcoe, about 1837. There William Armson Willoughby was born, February 2, 1844, his mother, before her marriage, being Sarah Armson. She died at Elmwood, Illinois, in 1866. George H. Willoughby is now living with his son in Colborne. Our subject received a grammar school education at Bradford, County of Simcoe; studied medicine with Dr. … Read more

Biography of Will McCraney, A.M.

William McCraney, leading business man of Oakville, and a member of the House of Commons from 1875 to 1879, was born in the township of Trafalgar, two short miles from Oakville, on the 15th of December, 1831. His grandfather, William McCraney, for whom he was named, was a U.E. Loyalist, leaving the States about the time of the Revolution, and settling at first at Caledonia, in the county of Haldimand. The father of our subject was Hiram McCraney, who was born in 1801, in what is now the county of Brant, came with the family to Trafalgar, county of Halton, … 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 Warring Kennedy

Like many others who have made their mark in Canada, the subject of our sketch, Mr. Warring Kennedy, is an Irishman, having been born in the County Down, in 1827. When young in years Warring Kennedy was taken to Londonderry, and placed in a school, where he received an ordinary education sufficient to qualify him for a business career. He commenced life in a dry goods store in the town of Kilrea, but at the expiration of his apprenticeship he went to Belfast, where he lived many years, earning for himself a reputation second to none for intelligence, undivided application … Read more