Ontario Canada

Biography of Thomas Jull

The subject of this brief notice is a descendant of a family of English agriculturists, and dates his birth in the County of Kent, February 17, 1817. His parents were Henry and Harriet (Farris) Jull. The name is not very common either in England or Canada; there are few families of that name in this Province. Thomas received an ordinary English education; did some farming with his father in boy hood; learned the trade of a millwright, and then abandoned it; in the autumn of 1835, left his fatherland; came to Trafalgar, in the County of Halton, and farmed and … Read more

Biography of Hon. A. McKellar

Archibald McKellar was born in February, 1816, within about three miles of Inverary, Argyleshire, Scotland, his parents being named respectively, Peter and Flora (McNab) McKellar. In the spring of 1817, the family emigrated to Canada, landing at Quebec after a nine weeks’ voyage across the Atlantic; it then taking as many weeks as it now does days to make the trip. From the old capital they proceeded to western Canada, and finally settled at Aldboro’, in the county of Elgin, Ontario. They were amongst the early settlers of that part of the country, and like many others were called on … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Michael Sullivan, M.D.

Michael Sullivan, professor of surgery and histology in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Kingston, is a native of Killarney, county of Kerry, Ireland, and a son of Daniel and Joanna (O’Connor) Sullivan, his birth being dated February 13, 1838. When he was four years old the family immigrated to Canada, settling in Kingston. Here he received an English and classical education, at the Regiopolis College, and his medical training in the medical department of Queen’s University, being graduate from the latter institution in 1858. He has been in general practice for twenty-one years, having a good run of … 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

Biographical Sketch of Henry Hilker

Henry Hilker, of the firm of Ruby and Hilker, general merchants and grain dealers, was born in the city of Blumberger, Prussia, December 24, 1824, his parents being William and Henrietta (Beckman) Hilker, both natives of Prussia. In 1834 the family went to the Island of Jamaica, and in June, 1837, came to Canada, and settled in the county of Waterloo, where his father bought land, near Guelph, and settled. In 1853 our subject came to the site of Port Elgin, then an unbroken forest, the nearest family being two miles off. He took up 200 acres, on much of … Read more

Biography of William R. Meredith

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

Biography of Hon. John Simpson

John Simpson, Senator, was a son of John Simpson, senior, who came from Scotland in 1815, and settled at first on the “Scotch Line” in the county of Lanark, subsequently removing to Brockville. The family in the old country county of Forfarshire were largely traders, builders, and physicians, our subject being a second cousin of the celebrated James Simpson, so eminent in surgery. Mr. Simpson was born at Rothes, near Elgin, Scotland, on the 12th of May,1812, his mother being Margaret Petrie Simpson, a native of the town of Elgin. He received a common school education; when between twelve and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Charles S. Hutchinson

Charles Hutchinson, County Crown Attorney, since 1858, a Son of Francis Hutchinson, a Physician and Surgeon, and Frances nee Losh, and was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, England, June 22, 1826. His grandfather, Charles Hutchinson, from whom he was named, was an officer in the East India Company’s service, there spending his life. Our subject was educated in the Royal Grammar School of his native town; came to London, Ontario, in 1846, and the next year was articled to Henry C. R. Becher, barrister; was called to the Bar at Michaelmas Term, 1852; was a partner of Mr. Becher for … Read more

Biography of Lieut-Colonel David Wylie

David Wylie, generally called “the father of the Press,” and certainly a journalist of great experience as well as ability, is a son of. William and Mary (Orr) Wylie, who were married in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland, in 1804, and reared a family of five children, of whom David was the fourth child. Two of his brothers were sea captains, one of them of the Inman line of steamers. David was born in the village of Johnstone, parish of Paisley, March 23, 1811. Fortunately for him his father, who was a shoe dealer, was very fond of books, and encouraged David … Read more

Biography of John Charles Rykert, M. P.

John Charles Rykert, member of the Dominion Parliament, was born in the house in which he now lives, on the 10th of March, 1832. His father, George Rykert, who died in 1857, was among the pioneers in the Niagara district; surveyed no inconsiderable part of the country in this vicinity; was manager of the Commercial Bank at St. Catharines for a long period, and represented the County of Lincoln in the Upper Canada Parliament from 1832 until the union of the two Canadas in 1841. His mother, who is still living, and whose maiden name was Ann Maria Mittleberger, was … Read more

Biography of William Moffat

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

Biography of Hon. William McMaster

He who possesses a good name, a well earned reputation for probity, integrity, and high moral character, and of whom it can be said that all he has attained is attributable to perseverance and pluck, individual enterprise and sagacity, is far worthier a place in this volume than he who simply boasts a long genealogical record. In this liberal age and country, ancestry, no matter how ancient or honorable, amounts to little in comparison with personal worth. Such a man, possessing these qualities, is the subject of our sketch, whose present high position, commercially, socially, and politically, is almost exclusively … Read more

Biography of Andrew Irving

Andrew Irving, the pioneer school teacher in what is now the town of Pembroke, and registrar of the county of Renfrew since 1866, is a native of the Province of New Brunswick, his birth being dated at Miramichi, December 14, 1820. His father, Andrew Irving, senior, a second cousin of the celebrated Edward Irving, was born in the parish of Middlebee Dumfriesshire, Scotland; came to New Brunswick in 181; was a farmer many years at Miramichi, and died in 1864. His mother, whose maiden name was Margaret Henderson, also a native of Dumfriesshire, came to this country in 1820, and … Read more

Biography of Alexander Meiklejohn

Alexander Meiklejohn, first reeve of the village of Harriston, first mayor of the town, and its oldest merchant, was born on the field of Bannockburn, near Stirling, Scotland, April 3rd, 1830, his parents being John and Janet (Muirhead) Meiklejohn. He was educated at a parish school; served apprenticeship to the grocery trade; in 1851, when of age, came to Canada; clerked two years in a grocery store at Toronto; went to Stratford, and was in a store one year with U. C. Lee, then went to Carrenbrook (now Dublin), in same county, and had charge of a branch store for … Read more

Biography of Rev. John Thomson

The subject of this sketch was born in Norham, England, December ’31, 1834. Situated on the banks of the Tweed, the town is celebrated for the beauty of. its location, and it is also in the heart of one of the finest agricultural districts of Great Britain. Norham, like all the border land, is historic, and crowded with the memory of the olden time. Though but a small village, it stands on classic ground, and has its feudal castle, the ruins of which are still an object of interest to the traveler. The whole place has been glorified by the … Read more

Biography of Reuben Smith Hamlin

Reuben Smith Hamlin, one of the leading manufacturers in the County of Ontario, is a native of Madison County, N. Y., being born in the town of Fenner, July 12, 1827. His parents, Solomon and Lucinda (Stannard) Hamlin, belonged to the thrifty farming community of that county, and his grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution. Our subject spent his youth on the farm, finished his education at the Cazenovia Seminary, in his native county, and for eighteen years was engaged in the patent medicine business, traveling, during that period, in all the New England and Middle States, in most … Read more

Biography of Right Rev. John T. Lewis, L. I. D.

John Travers Lewis, Bishop of Ontario, is a native of the County of Cork, Ireland, and was born June 20, 1825. He is a son of Rev. John Lewis, M. A., once rector of St. Anne’s, Shandon, Ireland, and grandson of Richard Lewis, at one period Inspector-General of Revenue in the South of Ireland. He was educated at the University of Trinity College, Dublin, and was graduated in 1846, being gold medalist and senior moderator in ethics and logic, and obtained classical and mathematical honors in his under graduate course. Some years later he had conferred on him the degree … 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 William I. Robinson

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

Biography of Robert Bell

One of the oldest families in the County of Lanark, Ontario, is that of the Bells, the first settler here of that name of any prominence being the Rev. William Bell, a native of Leith, near Edinburgh, Scotland, his father, Andrew Bell, owning at one time most of the present site of the city of Airdrie. William Bell prepared himself for a missionary and was about to start for the Isle of Ceylon, when, at the suggestion of Lord Bathurst, then Colonial Secretary, Mr. Bell changed his mind, and came to Canada, in 1817, settled at Perth, and was forty … Read more