Ontario Canada

Biographical Sketch of John M. Lawder

John Marjoribanks Lawde Et, late Judge of the County of Lincoln, dates his birth at Greenock, Scotland, August 16, 1824, his parents being John Lawder, Custom House officer at Greenock, and Jane Hervey, a native of Glasgow. Both died while he was young, and in 1837, an orphan boy, he came to Upper Canada, having completed his school studies before leaving the old country. He studied law at Toronto with Robert Hervey, now of Chicago; was called to the Bar at Hilary term, February, 1845; practiced at Niagara a little more than twenty-two years; was appointed county attorney and clerk … Read more

Biography of Rev. Henry Patton

The Rev. Henry Patton, D.C.L., Trinity College Toronto, and Archdeacon of the Diocese of Ontario, died at Belleville, April 30, 1874. He was born at Chelmsford, Essex, March 27, 1806, and received his early education in England; came to Canada with his father, the late Major Patton, 45th Regiment, in 1816; completed his education at the Brockville Grammar School; and studied Divinity at Chambly in Lower Canada. In 1829 Dr. Patton was ordained Deacon by the late Bishop Stewart in the Cathedral at Quebec, and the year following was made Priest by the same Bishop in St. James’ Church, York, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Godfrey P. Baker

Godfrey Phipps Baker, postmaster of Ottawa, descended from the Bakers of Sissinghurst, Cranbrooke, England, and is the second son of George William Baker, by Ann, the eldest daughter of John Cole, once Mayor of Norwich. Was born at Shooter’s Hill, Woolwich, England, in August 1822. His father was a captain in the Royal Artillery, and having sold his commission, came in 1832 to Upper Canada, settling at Bytown, then a village in its infancy, and very unpromising at that. Two years later, Captain Baker was appointed post master, to fill a vacancy caused by the demise of Matthew Connell; and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George R. Van Norman, Q.C.

George Robinson Van Norman, Q.C., County Crown Attorney and Clerk of the Peace, is a son of Joseph Van Norman, whose sketch appears on preceding pages, and was born in Canandaigua, New York, March 12, 1821, the family removing to Canada before he was a year old. He finished his literary education at Cobourg Academy, now Victoria College; studied law two years with William Salmon, of Simcoe, and three years with Hon. Robert B. Sullivan, of Toronto, afterwards Judge of the Superior Court; was called to the Bar at Hilary term, 1847, and created a Queen’s Counsel in February, 1873. … Read more

Biography of James Young

James Young, member of the Dominion Parliament from 1867 to 1878, and now of the Ontario Legislature, is a son of John and Jeanie (Bell) Young, and was born in Galt, May 24, 1835. Both parents were from Roxburghshire, Scotland, his father coming to Galt the year before the son was born. Our subject was educated in his native town, and chose the printing business as a trade. Before he was 18 years of age, he purchased the Dumfries Reformer, Galt, which he edited from 1853 to 1863, and is the author of two prize essays: “The Agricultural Resources of … Read more

Biography of John McCleod

The subject of this sketch is a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was born on the 13th of September, 1816. His father, John MacLeod, senior, was a type founder, and foreman for years of the only foundry of that class in the City of Edinburgh. The family were from the Highlands. The mother of our subject, before her marriage, was Ann Gordon. He was educated in part in the common schools of Edinburgh and Inverness; in 1832 came to Nova Scotia, finished his literary studies at Pictou, and there read law; went to New York city, having the legal profession … Read more

Biography of Lieut-General E. S. Smyth, K.C. M.G.

The General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada, Sir Edward Selby Smyth, was born at Castleton, near Belfast, Ireland, March 31, 1820, being the only son of the late Colonel John Selby Smyth, then of the Royal Scots, and of Surrey, England. His mother was Isabella Thomson, of Irish birth, and Scotch descent. He was educated at Chiswick, Middlesex, and Putney College, Surrey. He entered the army in January, 1841, in the 2nd Queen’s Royal Regiment, then stationed in Central India, and was there employed, both regimentally and on the staff; for four years, including the campaign in the Southern … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Finlay McCallum

Finlay McCallum, County Treasurer, is a son of Finlay and Christian (Campbell) McCallum, and was born in Breadalbane, Perthshire, Scotland, January 12, 1813, and received his education in the parish schools of that county, including the classics. He is good in mathematics. He became a school teacher at fifteen years of age; came to Canada in 1833, and continued teaching until 1853, the first two years in Toronto, and after that mainly in the County of Halton. From 1853 to 1855 Mr. McCallum farmed in the Township of Nassagaweya; then became Deputy Registrar of the County, and occupied that position … 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 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 Fredrick Schofield

Fredrick Schofield, son of James Lancaster Schofield, nearly thirty years Treasurer of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Ontario, was born at Smith’s Falls, Leeds, January 10, 1836. His grandfather and great-grandfather were United Empire Loyalists. The mother of Frederick, was Maria Campbell, a native of the County of Leeds, and of Scotch pedigree. Her father was an officer on the British side, during the American Revolution. The subject of this brief sketch was educated at the University of Trinity College, Toronto, graduating in 1856; read law with Sherwood and Steele of Brockville; was called to the Bar in … Read more

Biography of Peter White, M.P.

Peter White, son of Peter White, senior, was born at Pembroke, county of Renfrew, on the 30th of August, 1838. His father was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, born December 31, 17 94; at fourteen years of age went to sea, and during the war with the United States, in 1812-14, was on a British vessel, fighting on the American lakes, remaining connected with the service until the close of that contest, and then concluding to make his home in this country. He commenced lumbering on the Ottawa river, below where Pembroke now stands, and in 1828 moved to this … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Hon. Lewis Wallbridge

The subject of this sketch, one of the oldest and most prominent barristers, and an ex officio bencher of the Law Society, in the Province of Ontario, was born in Belleville. He is a grandson of Elijah Wallbridge, a United Empire Loyalist, who settled in Canada shortly after the War of Independence of the American Colonies; is a son of William H. Wallbridge, lumber merchant, who died in Belleville, March 12, 1832. Asa Wallbridge, an older brother of Elijah, erected the first house where the city now stands. The family were ‘from Dorsetshire, England, and took sides with the Duke … Read more

Biography of Robert A. Lyon, M.P.P.

Robert Adam Lyon, who represents the Algoma District in the Ontario Legislature, is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, having been born October 21, 1829. His father, John Lyon, was a gardener in the old country, and a farmer in this, coming to Upper Canada in 1832, settling on bush land at Esquesing, county of Halton, and cultivating the soil until his death in 1877. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Catharine McFarlane, died in 1856. Mr. Lyon attended a common school until seventeen years of age, and then went into the general mercantile business at Milton, the … 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 Charles Raymond

Charles Raymond, one of the leading manufacturers in Guelph, is a son of Daniel and Sarah (Greene) Raymond, and was born in Ashburnham, Mass., January 6, 1826. He acquired his education in the district schools of his native village and Fitchburg, and the Dracut (now Lowell) Academy. His father was a carpenter and joiner, and later in life a carriage maker, and the son early showed marked skill in handling tools. Specimens of his juvenile manufacture, exhibiting decided mechanical talent and ingenuity, are still preserved as keepsakes, by his friends in his native town. At the age of seventeen, Mr. … Read more

Biography of James Metcalfe

James Metclafe, one of the leading citizens of Toronto, and ex-member of Parliament for the East Riding of York, is an Englishman by birth, and was born in Cumberland in the year 1822. The Metcalfe family, though very numerous, are all of the same stock and descendants of a very ancient family, justly entitled to the compliment paid them by the compiler of the life of Lord Metcalfe, a gentleman of our time, well known in Canada, viz., that they were industrious, honest, and unassuming people, whose integrity was a better inheritance than titles. One of them was knighted 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 John Peter Featherston

John Peter Featherston, Mayor of the City of Ottawa in 1874 and 1875, is a native of Durham, England, and’ was born at Mewbus Grange, November 28, 1830. His parents were Jonathan Featherston, M.D., of Her Majesty’s 24th Foot, and of Blackhall, Northumberland, and Janet Dunbar Nicolson, daughter of Rev. Patrick Nicolson, of Thurso, and niece of Sir Benjamin Dunbar, of Hempriggs, Caithness. He was educated at Richmond School, Yorkshire; in 1858 he came to Canada and settled in Ottawa, where for ‘sixteen years he was engaged in the drug business. He was elected Alderman of St. George’s ward in … Read more

Biography of Angus Morrison, Q.C.

The subject of this sketch was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, January 20th, 1824, and came to this country when but eight years old, in company with his father Hugh Morrison, and other members of the family. Mr. Hugh Morrison was killed by an accident at the old Market Square in Toronto, while taking part in a political meeting in 1836. He had been one of the famous 42nd Highlanders and served with his regiment through the Peninsular War. Angus Morrison was educated partly in Belfast, Ireland, and partly in Upper Canada College; Toronto, but after a short attendance at the … Read more