Ontario Canada

Biography of George W. Badgerow, M.P.P

The subject of this short sketch, George Washington Badgerow, very properly ranks among that younger class of Ontario’s deserving men, just entering public life, but whose previous career, though brief, gives promise of ultimate success. He is a native of the Province, and was born on the 28th of May, 1841, in the township of Markham. His parents were Martin and Elizabeth (Harrington) Badgerow. Martin Badgerow was a native of the State of New York, but came to Canada with his parents about the year 1810, and settled in Markham, engaging in farming. They were a well to do family, … Read more

Biography of Hon. David Christie

Senator Christie, son of Robert Christie, of the Christies of Durie, Fifeshire, Scotland, was born in Edinburgh, in October, 1818. His mother was Jean McGeorge, daughter of Rev. William McGeorge, minister of Mid-Calder, near Edinburgh, and granddaughter of Rev. John Hepburn, mentioned in Scotch church history. He was educated in the high school, Edinburgh; came to Canada in 1833, with his father, and after living twenty-five years in South Dumfries, removed to the township of Brantford, having been long engaged extensively in farming and stock raising. He has been a member of the Board of Agriculture and of the Council … Read more

Biography of Rev. William Williams

William Williams, pastor of the Norfolk Street Methodist Church, Guelph, dates his birth, in Stonehouse, Devonshire, England, January 23, 1836, his parents being William and Margaret Williams. His mother was a daughter of Robert Pearse, of Cornwall, member of a numerous Methodist family in that place. Mr. Mark Guy Pearse, author of “Daniel Quorn,” and other works, is a member of the family, and Rev. William Burgess, deceased, was connected with it by marriage. In 1842, William Williams, senior, brought his family to Canada, settled in Toronto, and was there engaged in mercantile pursuits, being still alive, and residing near … Read more

Biography of Robinson Lyon

One of the best known men in the county of Renfrew, is Robinson Lyon, more than forty years a hotel keeper in the Province of Ontario. He is a son of George and Elstet (Phillip) Lyon, and was born in Inverury, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, January 13, 1811. His father was bailie of that place for 49 years. In 1830 our subject married Miss Mary Ann Bank, of Bath, Eng., and six years afterwards came to Upper Canada, settling at Richmond, county of Carleton, where he was a farmer and hotel keeper for four years. The next fourteen years he was in … Read more

Biography of Hon. Samuel H. Strong

Samuel Henry Strong is a native of Dorsetshire, Eng., and was born in 1825. His father, Rev. Samuel T. Strong, was at one time Rector of Bytown, now Ottawa. Our subject was educated in Ottawa and Toronto; was called to the Bar at Hilary term, 1849; practiced at Toronto, and soon distinguished himself as a Barrister. He was created a Queen’s Counsel in 1863; was elected a Bencher of the Law School of Upper Canada, in 1860, and was a member of the Commission for consolidating the Public General Statutes of Upper Canada and Canada respectively, from December 20, 1856, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of David Bell

The town of Pembroke, the seat of justice of the county of Renfrew, owes its rise, growth and present status to its lumber interests; and among the enterprising men who have aided to make the town what it isa place with about 3,000 inhabitants, fine churches, large school houses, commercial blocks, and spacious and elegant hotelsis the subject of this short sketch, who settled in Pembroke when it had two buildings, “all told.” Mr. Bell is a son of William Bell, Tanner, and Margaret, nee Wilson, residents of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, where he first saw this world’s light, on the 3rd … Read more

Biography of George D. Morton, M.D.

George Deane Morton, the oldest medical practitioner in the County of Simcoe, was born in the County of Wicklow, Ireland, August 31, 1822, his parents being Francis and Elizabeth Anne Morton. His grandfather, James Morton, was a Captain in the British Army, with which his great-grandfather also was connected. The Mortons are an old and highly respectable Irish family. Our subject was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he also studied medicine, and from whence he graduated. In 1849 he came to this country, took honors &c. at Toronto University, and passed his medical examinations before the old Medical Board … Read more

Biography of Rev. Michael Stafford

Rev. Michael Stafford, Priest of the Roman Catholic Church, Lindsay, is a native of the County of Lanark, Ontario, the son of a pioneer settler, Thomas Stafford, and was born March, 1, 1832. His father was from Wexford, Ireland; his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth McGarry, from West Meath, same country. His family fought for Irish separation, and that was the reason Thomas Stafford came to Canada. Up to fourteen years of age our subject was educated at a district school near Lanark, his teacher, Robert Lees, still living, and filling the office of County Attorney of Carleton. The … Read more

Biography of Hon. George Brown

George Brown, Senator, managing director of the Globe Printing and Publishing Company, and one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Canada, is a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, where he was born on the 29th of November, 1818. His father was Peter Brown, merchant, of Edinburgh, but later connected with the newspaper publishing business in New York and Toronto, and his mother was the only daughter of George Mackenzie, Esq., of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. He was educated at the Edinburgh high school and afterwards spent a few years in London. In 1838 he accompanied his father to New … Read more

Biography of Hamnett Hill, M.R.C.S

One of the oldest medical practitioners in Ottawa is Hamnett Hill, son of John Wilkes Hill, many years a successful physician in the City of London, England, where the subject of this sketch was born, December 15, 1811. The maiden name of his mother was Mary Elizabeth Pinhey. He received his literary education at Albion House, Camberwell, a suburb of London, in the private school of Nicholas Wanostrocht, L.L.D., celebrated for his epitome of Blackstone’s Commentaries; and his medical education at the London Hospital, Whitechapel, receiving his diploma of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1834. Dr. Hill practiced three … Read more

Biography of James S. Thorburn, M.D.

Dr. James Thorburn, is a native of Canada, and was born on the 21st day of November, 1830, at Queenston, Ontario. The names of his parents were David Thorburn and Isabel nee Thompson. Mr. Thorburn came from Scotland to this country, where he engaged for many years in merchandising, He also entered politics and became a prominent and influential leader of the Reform Party, holding various positions of honor and trust: For about sixteen years he sat for the Counties of Welland and Lincoln in the old Canadian Parliament, in which body he took a leading and active part during … Read more

Biography of James Fraser

James Fraser, is a son of the late Col. Alexander Fraser, formerly of the 49th regiment, and afterwards of the New Brunswick “Fencibles,” was born at Perth, county of Lanark, April 23, 1825. His father took an active part in the war with the United States, in 1812-14, and fought against General Scott, at Queenston Heights and Stony Creek, distinguishing himself especially at the latter place. The subject of this sketch was educated at the Perth grammar school; left there at twenty years of age; settled at Bytown, now the city of Ottawa, and first had an appointment with Messrs. … Read more

Biography of Thomas W. Johnston M. D.,

Thomas W. Johnston, Sarnia’s pioneer physician, was a native of Ireland, and was born in Omagh, County of Tyrone, on the 24th of March, 1813. He was the son of Hugh Johnston, merchant and contractor, of the same place. His early studies were prosecuted at the High School in Omagh, under the direction of Sir William Smith. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to John Hamilton, a surgeon of great local celebrity; and the nature of the duties imposed upon the young apprentice will be inferred from an extract from the indenture executed by the parties at the … Read more

Biography of Hon. David Reesor

The subject of this biographical notice is of German desent, his great-grandfather, Christian. Reesor, a Mennonite minister, going from Menheim to Pennsylvania, as the leader of a small colony, and settling in Lancaster County, where some of the family yet reside, the original homestead, a splendid farm of three hundred acres, being still in their hands. In 1801, the grandfather of our subject, Christian Reesor, junior, his father, Abraham Reesor, and three uncles, settled in Markham, county of York, where David Reesor was born on the 18th of January 1823. His mother was Anna Dettwiler, who was also from Lancaster … Read more

Biography of Hon. Henri Elzear Taschereaut

Judge Taschereau, of the Supreme Court of the Dominion, comes from one of the most eminent families in what is now the Province of Quebec. The progenitor in this country, Thomas Jacques Taschereau, came to Canada in the early part of the 18th century, and in 1726 was appointed Treasurer of the Marine, and obtained the cession of a seignior on the banks of the Chaudiere, of which Judge Taschereau is still in possession. Members of this family have held very high positions in the Government of Lower Canada and in the Dominion. In the judiciary alone, not less than … Read more

Biography of David J.Hughes

David John Hughes, Judge of the county of Elgin, was born in Kingsbridge, Devonshire, England, May 7, 1820, his father being the Rev. David Hughes, a dissenting minister, and of a very old family from the South of Wales. His mother, whose maiden name was Jane Morrish Higman, belonged to an old Cornish family. In 1832 the father of our subject came with his family to Lower Canada, and two weeks after reaching Montreal, died of cholera at Coteau du Lac, and the widow returned to England with a daughter. The son, then twelve years of age, was afterwards adopted … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Martin O’Gara

Martin O’Gara, one of the leading barristers in Ottawa, was born in the county of Mayo, Ireland, October 28, 1836, being the son of Patrick O’Gara, a farmer. The maiden name of his mother was Catharine Duffy, Mr. O’Gara received a classical education in his native country; came to Canada in 1857; read law with Messrs. Mowat and Maclennan, barristers, Toronto, and was graduated LL.B., at the University of Toronto in 1861, being admitted to the Bar, and made a barrister the same year. Mr. O’Gara settled at Ottawa, and has here been in steady practice nearly twenty years. He … Read more

Biography of John Page

The subject of this sketch, the Chief Engineer to the Department of Public Works, is a native of Fifeshire, Scotland, where he first saw the light of this world, on the 9th July, 1816. His father was John Page, a contractor. He received his early mental training in the University of Glasgow, not, however, completing the full college course. He was bred an engineer, and, before leaving his native land, served a while as Engineer of the Northern Lighthouse Board, under Robert Stephenson. Mr. Page crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1838, and was engaged for four years on the Erie … Read more

Biography of Walter Lambert, M.D.

Walter Lambert, mayor, and the oldest and most prominent medical practitioner in Amherstburg, his birth taking place on the 10th of April, 1832, in the township of Niagara, Ontario. His father, Robert Lambert, a farmer, was the son of Cornelius Lambert, one of the United Empire Loyalists, belonging to “Butler’s Rangers,” and living in New Jersey at the time of the Rebellion of the American Colonies. Walter spent his younger years exclusively in study. After receiving a grammar school education, he studied medicine with Dr. Theophilus Mack, of St. Catharines; attended lectures in the Medical Department of Trinity College, Toronto, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George Kempt

George Kempt, sheriff of the county of Victoria, born in the ‘town of Cromarty, Scotland, in 1822, is a son of Kenneth and Anne (Williamson) Kempt, members of the agricultural class. The family immigrated to Canada when George was ten years old, and settled in the township of Dummer, Peterborough county, where our subject finished his education in the public schools. At thirteen he commenced learning the mercantile business, and was in trade for himself in the county of Peterborough until 1853, when he removed to Lindsay, the seat of justice of the county of Victoria. Here he was a … Read more