Ontario Canada

Biography of Abram William Lauder, M. P. P.

Abram William Lauder, Member of the Provincial Parliament for East Grey, is a native of England, and was horn at Bewcastle on the 6th of June, 1834, son of the late Thomas D. Lauder, Esq., of Durham, Ont., and grandson of the Rev. William Lauder, late of Bewcastle, Cumberland, Eng., one of the most popular preachers of his time in the border counties. A collateral ancestor was one of the claimants for the Roxburgh Estates in 1812. His mother was of an English family named Forrester. Came to Canada with the rest of the family in 1855, and spent the … Read more

Biography of Agnew P. Farrell

Agnew P. Farrell, Registrar of deeds and County Treasurer of Haldimand, is the son of James Agnew Farrell of Magheramorne, County of Antrim, Ireland, being the youngest child in a family of eight children. His father was a land owner near Larne, The maiden name of his mother was Letitia Armenella Turnly. He received an English and classical education, and when a little past his majority, in 1833, emigrated to Upper Canada, settling in the Township of Dunn on the shore of Lake Erie, being the first permanent settler in that part of the township. The country was then very … Read more

Biography of James Dickson

James Dickson, registrar of the county of Huron, and a pioneer in the county, is a native of Roxburghshire, Scotland, and was born on the 26th of May, 1816. His father, Archibald Dickson, was the youngest son of Robert Dickson, farmer of Gladswood, near Dryburgh, on the River Tweed. His mother, Elizabeth Rutherford Turnbull, was the eldest daughter of James Turnbull, an enterprising and leading farmer in Teviotdale. Mr. Dickson, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the Jedburgh grammar school, and his education there was supplemented by one term at the Edinburgh University. In August, 1833, he with … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John D. Smith

In 1797 Elias Smith and Jonathan Walton received a grant of land, of three lots, first concession township of Hope, about 700 acres, lying along the shore of lake Ontario, on. condition that they would build a grist mill and saw mill, and encourage settlement. The latter they would naturally be disposed to do, as mills would be of no use unless there were people to patronize them. They induced many families to settle in the township of Hope, some arriving with them; and their mills, located at the mouth of Smith’s creek, soon became paying investments. This Elias Smith, … Read more

Biography of Very Rev. Joseph H. Tabaret, D.D.

Very Rev. Joseph Henry Tabaret, president of the Ottawa College, and a member of the Congregation of Oblates of Mary Immaculate, is a native of the Department of L’Isere, France, and was born on the 10th of April, 1828, his parents being Antony and Adele (Foret) Tabaret. His religious and missionary training began in the Novitiate of Notre Dame de L’Osier, a miraculous sanctuary and pilgrimage of Our Lady in the Department of L’Isere, not far from his native place; and was completed in the scholastic house of the Congregation at Marseilles. In the Autumn of 1850 our subject came … Read more

Biography of Col Darby Bergin, M. D., M. P.

Darby Bergin, son of William Bergin, Civil Engineer, was born in Toronto, Ontario, September 7, 1826. His father, who was a native of King’s County, Ireland, came to Canada in 1820, and was a merchant for some time in the city where the son was born. His mother, before her marriage, was Miss Mary Flanagan, daughter of John Flanagan of Charlottenburg, County of Glengarry, Ontario. The subject of this notice received his literary education at the Upper Canada College, Toronto; graduated M.D. at the university of McGill College, Montreal, in 1847, and has since been practicing at Cornwall, having an … Read more

Biography of Lieut-Col. Thomas Bog, J.P.

Thomas Joshua Pelton Bog, deputy registrar of the county of Prince Edward, and a resident of Picton, the shire town, for thirty-eight years, dates his birth at Montreal, November 26, 1826. His father, David Bog, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and an officer in the British army, retired on half pay, more than a half century ago, and died at Montreal, of cholera, in 1832; and his mother, who was English, and whose maiden name was Mary Wilkes, died at Picton in 1856. Thomas supplemented a common school education with one term at the Potsdam, New York, Academy; came to … Read more

Biography of Hon. Vice Chancellor Proudfoot

Prominent among the names of eminent men at present occupying the Judicial Bench in the Province of Ontario, is that of the subject of this sketch. William Proudfoot is a native of Perthshire, Scotland, where he was born in the year 1823, and is the third son of the late Rev. William Proudfoot, of London, Ontario. His mother was Isabella Aitchison from the vicinity of Edinburgh, Scotland. The Rev. William Proudfoot was one of the first missionaries to Canada, of the United Secession Church, and came to this country in 1832, settling near London, Ontario, in 1833. Here he organized … Read more

Biography of Sir William P. Howl, C. B. K. C. M. G.,

Among those who have achieved eminence solely by excellence of character, without any of the modern appliances by which unworthy persons seek an undeserved and transient popularity, the subject of this sketch occupies a prominent place. Modest and unassuming in disposition, courteous and suave in manner, self-poised and dignified in demeanor, thoughtful of the feelings of others, and respectful toward their opinions, honorable in the highest and best sense, possessing those delicate instincts which characterize the true gentleman, he affords a fine example of a successful career, as deserved as it is conspicuous. The Howlands are of English descent, their … 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 Robert Baird

Robert Baird, Warden of the county of Bruce, and the leading grain dealer in Kincardine, is a son of William and Margaret Baird, and was born at Picton, Upper Canada, June 4, 1832. His parents were from the county of Fermanagh, Ireland. Complying with the wishes of his father, Robert limited his mental drill to the common school; farmed in Prince Edward county until 1850, when the family removed to the county of Hastings, where his father bought a farm. In December, 1855, our subject left home; came to Kincardine, then a village of something like 300 inhabitants; clerked in … Read more

Biography of George McDonald

George McDonald, the first merchant in Clifford, and the leading business man of the place, was born in the county of Peel, June 14, 1835. His parents, John and Catharine (McDougall) McDonald, were from Argyleshire, Scotland, his father being a builder and contractor. His mother died when he was one year old. Partly on account of this loss, George received quite limited school privileges in his youth, but subsequently attended night schools, and acquired a fair knowledge of the elementary branches. He worked on his father’s farm until fourteen years of age, then spent four years at Brampton, in learning … Read more

Biography of Rueben S. Patterson

Reuben Spaulding Patterson, mayor of the city of Belleville, is descended from a family which was among the original settlers in Londonderry, N. H., emigrating from the north of Ireland in 1736. Peter Patterson, the progenitor of the Pattersons in New Hampshire, was from the county of Antrim, born in 1716, and dying in 1800. The colonists who came with him brought their minister and doctor, and everything which they thought would be necessary in starting a colony. The grandfather of Reuben was Thomas Patterson, who fought for the independence of the American colonies, and who was in the third … Read more

Biography of Robert Armour

Robert Armour, Registrar of the West Riding of Durham, is a native of Donne, Perth. shire, Scotland, dating his birth March 10, 1818, his parents being Samuel and Margaret (Douglas) Armour. The Armours were Huguenots, driven from France in the times of Catholic persecution. His mother’s branch of the Douglas family descended in a direct line from “Black Douglas,” who figures conspicuously in Scottish history. In 1820, the father of our. subject, with his family, emigrated to Canada in company with the father of Sir John Alexander Macdonald, and one or two other families from the same part of Scotland, … Read more

Biography of Peter R. Randall

Peter Rice Randall, Mayor of Port Hope, is a descendant of a United Empire Loyalist family on his mother’s, the Ferguson, side, and was born near Cobourg, in the Township of Hamilton, July 7, 1822. His grandfather, Robert Randall, a Highland Scotch man, was temporarily in the United States, when the father of our subject, John P. Randall, was born, and subsequently returned with his family to Great Britain. The father of Peter was an officer in the British Navy, serving on a man-of-war vessel for four years; was taken prisoner by Napoleon’s forces, and kept a prisoner one year … 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 J. G. Worts

An historical record of the eminent and successful men of the Province of Ontario would most assuredly be incomplete, without a sketch of the members of this firm. Few men have been so intimately connected with, and interested in the development of Ontario, and more especially that part of it embraced in the City of Toronto, than Mr. William Gooderham and Mr. J. G. Worts. From the following extract from an article, published in 1877, in the Montreal Gazette, an approximate idea may be formed of the commercial importance of the firm: “The active season of this firm’s business is … Read more

Biography of Rev. John Davison

Reverend John Davison, minister of the Primitive Methodist church, Toronto, the venerable clergyman whose name heads this sketch, is a native of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and was born November 23, 1799. In his early manhood he became much interested in home mission work, and at the age of twenty-four was called to the ministry in connection with the Primitive Methodist church, in. the north of England, and was stationed for several years chiefly in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire. During this period he pursued the study of the classics and acquired a knowledge of Rabbinical literature. In the … Read more

Biography of Thomas Miller

Thomas Miller, Judge of the County of Halton, is the son of an early settler in this county. Thomas Miller, senior, who came hither from the County Down, Ireland, in 1827. Thomas was born in the Township of Nelson, September 15, 1830. His mother’s maiden name was Margaret McWha, who was also from Ireland. The father of our subject who was an extensive agriculturist in Ireland, and farmed in this country, died in 1867; his mother in 1837. He was educated in the Grammar Schools of Palermo, in this county, and Queen’s College, Kingston, being graduated in 1853; studied law … Read more

Biography of Arthur C. Poussette, M.D.

Arthur Courthope Poussette, was born in the parish of Newington, London, England, on the 7th of December, 1835. He emigrated to Canada in July, 1839, with his father, Peter Taylor Poussette, who in England practiced as a solicitor, and settled in the township of Sarnia, county of Lambton, where the family resided until the spring of 1852, when Mr. Poussette being appointed postmaster of the village of Port Sarnia, (now the town of Sarnia), necessitated the removal of the family to this place, where they have since resided; Mr. P. T. Poussette, up to the time of his death, held … Read more