Torrington, Frederic Herbert, Organist of the Metropolitan Methodist Church, Toronto, Conductor of the Toronto Philharmonic Society and of the great Toronto Musical Festival, 1886, and without doubt the most prominent executive musician in Canada, was born at Dudley, Worcestershire, England, October 20th, 1837. He commenced playing the violin at the early age of seven years, and as he even then showed marked ability, he was placed under competent musical instructors at Birmingham, and articled, after the good old English fashion, to James Fitzgerald, then organist and choirmaster of St. George’s and Mary’s Churches, Kidderminster. At the age of sixteen he became organist and choirmaster of St. Anne’s Church, Bewdley. In 1857 he left England for Montreal, where he was, immediately on his arrival, appointed organist of Great St. James street Methodist Church, a post which he occupied for twelve years. During this period he founded several vocal societies and the Montreal Amateur Musical Union Orchestra, and was for two years bandmaster of the 25th regiment (regulars). Visiting Boston in September, 1868, he gave a performance on the Great Music Hall organ, which was warmly noticed inDwight’s Journal of Musicand the Boston daily press. Shortly after, at the invitation of P. S. Gilmore, he formed the Canadian orchestral contingent for the first great Boston jubilee. A few weeks after the close of the festival, Mr. Torrington accepted the position of organist at King’s Chapel, Boston, and held it for four years. During this period he was one of the regular solo organists at the Music Hall, one of the first violins in the Harvard Symphony Orchestra, a teacher of the piano at the New England Conservatory of Music, and conductor of six vocal societies. On several occasions he was solo organist at the concerts in Henry Ward Beecher’s church, Brooklyn. In 1873 he came to Toronto, and was appointed organist and choirmaster of the Metropolitan Church, and conductor of the Philharmonic Society. This society was, at this time, in its infancy, and in a languishing condition, but Mr. Torrington’s energy and the enthusiastic music-lovers with whom he was able to surround himself enabled him to develop it into the greatest factor in the musical world of Canada, and into one of the greatest societies on the American continent, as will be shown by a glance at the society’s performances in fourteen years:—“Messiah” (4), “Elijah” (5), “Creation” (3), “Lay of the Bell” (2), “Fridolin” (2), “St. Paul” (2), “Stabat Mater” (2), “May Queen” (3), “Hymn of Praise” (2), “Walpurgis Night,” “Naaman” (2), “Spring’s Message,” “Bride of Dunkerron,” “Judas Maccabæus” (2), “Gypsy Life,” “The Last Judgment,” “Acis and Galatea,” “Preciosa,” “Redemption” (2), “Rose Maiden,” march and chorus (Tannhæuser), “March Cortege” (Reine de Saba), “Crusaders,” “Fair Ellen,” “Rose of Sharon,” “Mors et Vita,” “Spectre’s Bride,” “Golden Legend.” To this imposing list of choral works must be added numerous unaccompanied part songs, and the following orchestral works:—Larghetto, Second Symphony (Beethoven), Larghetto, Jupiter Symphony (Mozart), Surprise Symphony (Haydn), Hymn of Praise Symphony (Mendelssohn), the Maritana, Martha, Oberon and Preciosa overtures, Andante, First Symphony (Beethoven), G minor Concerto (Mendelssohn), Beethoven’s Piano Concerto, Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, Arditi’s L’Ingenue Gavotte, and Delibes’ Valse lente e pizzicati, many of these works being heard for the first time in Canada, and some for the first time on this side of the Atlantic. The influence of the Philharmonic Society is most strikingly reflected in the immense improvement in the condition of church choirs throughout the city, and in the establishment of other flourishing vocal societies. But Mr. Torrington’s greatest work in the cause of music was undoubtedly the initiation and successful performances of the great musical festival of 1886. In this a monster chorus of over nine hundred voices, accompanied by an orchestra of one hundred skilled musicians, sang Handel’s “Israel in Egypt” and Gounod’s “Mors et Vita” with a degree of musical splendor that astonished every auditor. The soloists were of world-wide repute, being Fraulein Lilli Lehmann, Mrs. E. Aline Osgoode, Mrs. Gertrude Luther, Miss Agnes Huntington, Mr. Albert L. King, Mr. Max Heinrich, Mr. D. M. Babcock, Mr. Frederic Archer, Mr. Otto Bendix, Mme. Josephine Chatterton, Herr Henry Jacobsen, and Mr. Fred Warrington. Two miscellaneous concerts were also given in which the soloists and orchestra were assisted by a chorus of over one thousand three hundred school children, in whose training he was ably assisted by E. W. Schuch and A. P. Perrin. Mr. Torrington conducted these performances, which have been unparalleled outside of four or five of the largest American cities. The support and interest of the public were most gratifying, the receipts being $13,561.48, yielding a net profit, after all expenses were paid of $599.19, and entirely obviating the necessity of calling on the immense guarantee fund of $35,000. In the respect of being self-sustaining, the festival was unique, this rarely being the case, even in the largest cities of the United States. The ability of the city to provide such immense choral forces, and to support such an undertaking so liberally, may clearly be traced to the confidence placed in Mr. Torrington by the musical public, and to the great influence exerted by his unwearied efforts to advance and popularise the cause of true and pure music in Toronto. Mr. Torrington has laboured assiduously to organise a permanent orchestra in Toronto, and his efforts have been crowned with success; an efficient orchestra of sixty instrumentalists being now one of the chief musical features of the city, and one of its principal musical educators. Mr. Torrington’s wisdom in introducing the amateur element into this orchestra is shown by the fact that a well-balanced band, which is capable of performing oratorio accompaniments, is now in active life in the city. His labors have extended to Hamilton, where, as conductor of the Hamilton Philharmonic Society, he has produced “The Lay of the Bell,” “Messiah,” “Elijah,” “Hymn of Praise,” “Naaman,” “Rose of Sharon,” “The Three Holy Children,” and “Samson.” As conductor of the University College Glee Club, he has produced Mendelssohn’s music to “Antigone,” and Max Bruch’s “Frithjof.” As a composer, he has produced several church services, hymn tunes, organ voluntaries, secular choruses and songs. Mr. Torrington was brought up a member of the Church of England, but has for many years been connected with the Methodist church as organist. He is a Freemason, being a life member of Ionic lodge, Toronto, and is a fellow and gold medallist of the Society of Science, Letters and Art, London, England. He has also been, for the past five years, director of the musical department of the Ontario Ladies’ College, Whitby.
Owens, John, St. John, New Brunswick, an enterprising ship-builder and shipowner, but better known in these latter days as a public spirited and philanthrophic citizen, was born in St. John, New Brunswick, in the year 1790, and died in his native city in the year 1867. The Owens Art Institution of St. John is the outcome of his bequest “to be applied by his executors for the purpose of establishing a gallery, or school of art, for the instruction of young persons in drawing and other works of art.” The fact of this institution having been created without any outside assistance, and of its being operated with the view to be self-sustaining through voluntary support on its merits alone, warrants some reference to the circumstances which led up to its present efficiency as a thoroughly equipped art educational establishment. Hence, it may be said, the amount left for art purposes proving to be quite inadequate to effect the object as set forth, led the executors to believe the testator intended the amount so left to be merely a nucleus, to be added to by other persons desirous of promoting a love for the fine arts. From the outset the money was much sought after, but the fund remained unapplied, in consequence of all propositions for its use being destitute of the practical and financial accompaniments which the executors deemed absolutely necessary for the accomplishment of the object, in accordance with the terms of the will. A church property, together with a limited endowment fund, formed another bequest, vested in five trustees and their successors, the clergyman officiating in the church to be of either the Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Independent or Episcopal persuasion. By reason of a combination of restrictions and limitations governing the trust, so much difficulty was experienced in its administration that a cessation of the church services took place in the year 1882, with little prospect of their early renewal. In this state of the two interests it became the opinion of the then sole surviving executor, Robert Reed, and the trustees of the church estate, namely, Robert Reed, Francis Jordan, Thomas Jordan, John Hegan, and Andrew D. Robertson, the latter having succeeded John Duncan, deceased, who was Mr. Owens’ business partner for about forty years, under the firm of Owens & Duncan, that if the several trusts were concentrated upon art, that object which the testator had in view might possibly be carried out; whereupon they joined in an application to the legislature to change the trusts, which was done by an act passed in the session of 1884. Immediately thereafter steps were taken, by the same trustees, to remodel the church edifice into what now appears to be a building thoroughly adapted for the purpose of art education, with the view of making the institution as attractive and as useful as possible under the circumstances; thereby hoping to create a more general interest in the fine arts, the trustees have put forth the whole strength of the means at their command, resulting in the gallery walls being covered with high class work, consisting mostly of examples from the brush of English Royal Academicians and other eminent artists of the present and previous two centuries, besides a very full and complete school outfit of casts from the antique, and drawing examples by leading artists, characteristic of the South Kensington schools. In consequence of the funds being thus exhausted, the institution is now solely depending for its income upon its school fees and a charge for admission to the gallery, but its being thus sustained solely on its intrinsic merits, is a problem now in course of solution. If the experiment succeeds in its aims it will prove to be a new departure in the maintenance of educational establishments of a kindred character. The school is in charge of John Hammond, a native of Montreal, who, in addition to being a professional artist of many years’ standing, has, since his connection with the Owens Art Institution, spent two years in European art study, and his works having been repeatedly hung in the annual exhibition of the Royal Academy of London, and the Paris Salon, gives him rank as among the leading artists of the day. In addition to the patronage from the city and outlying districts of New Brunswick, the school has thus far attracted pupils who have registered respectively from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Maine and Massachusetts.
Corning, Thomas Edgar, Barrister, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, is of English descent. His ancestors came to America in 1640, and settled in Beverley, Massachusetts. His great grandfather removed in 1764, and was one of the first settlers in Yarmouth. His father is Nelson Corning, of Chegoggin, Yarmouth. Mr. Corning was born at Chegoggin on the 11th April, 1842. He received his early education in Acadia College, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and graduated on the 6th June, 1865. Besides holding the degree of bachelor of arts, he has been elected a scholar and member of the senate of the University of Acadia. This latter event occurred in 1883. Having finished his classical studies, Mr. Corning entered upon the study of the law, and was admitted to the bar on 30th October, 1869. His thoroughness and practical business turn of mind soon secured to him a fair share of the legal business in Yarmouth, and he now enjoys the reputation of being one of the best lawyers in Yarmouth county. He is head of the firm of Corning & Chipman. In politics he is a Liberal-Conservative, but resides in a constituency which has always been intensely Liberal. However, at the general elections in 1882, Mr. Corning was elected as a supporter of the then Liberal-Conservative government led by the Hon. J. S. D. Thompson, now minister of justice at Ottawa. This government resigned shortly after the elections, giving place to the Liberal government first led by the Hon. Mr. Pipes, afterwards by the Hon. Mr. Fielding. In the House of Assembly Mr. Corning took a leading part in all the debates, and carefully considered every question upon its merits, aiming to give an intelligent vote always. Although staunch to his party, his candor and fairness made him popular and respected by the dominant party. On the dissolution of the house, in 1886, he was nominated by his party. But the secession agitation had begun, and the Fielding ministry went to the country with the cry of “Repeal.” To this issue Mr. Corning presented an unwavering opposition, but the popular enthusiasm was too great for him, and he was defeated in June, 1886, by a majority of one thousand. Since then he has continued in private life, but his integrity and ability will, no doubt, before many years bring him again to the fore in political matters. Mr. Corning has never travelled much outside of his native province. He has held the office of treasurer of the municipality of Yarmouth since 1874. Although one of the largest towns in the province, Yarmouth has never been incorporated, and is still managed in the old way. Nine of the county councillors, elected in the limits of the polling district of Yarmouth town, manage its affairs. Mr. Corning married, on the 25th August, 1880, Jane Alden Baxter, daughter of John Baxter, of Yarmouth. He is a Baptist in religion.
Black, J. Burpee, M.D., Windsor, N.S., was born at St. Martin’s, New Brunswick, on the 15th August, 1842. Dr. Black is of Irish extraction, his father, Thomas Henry Black, having been a native of county Armagh, Ireland. His mother’s maiden name was Mary E. Fownes, and resided in St. Martin’s. Dr. Black received his early education in St. Martin’s, and continued his course in St. John, New Brunswick, and at the Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy, Sackville, N.B. His family were Baptists, but, owing probably to his educational associations, Dr. Black has for twenty-five years worshipped with the Methodists, and has for some years been an active member of their church. Having completed his studies at Sackville, where he made the acquaintance of the lady who afterwards became his wife, he studied medicine at Berkshire Medical College, in Massachusetts, and received the degree of M.D., after finishing his course at the University of Philadelphia. He commenced the practice of his profession in the village of Hantsport, Hants county, N.S., but after residing there for five years removed to Windsor, where he has since resided, and has worked up one of the largest practices in Nova Scotia. Hantsport has been in its growth one of the most prosperous villages in Nova Scotia. It owes the greatest part of its success to the business ability, integrity and enterprise of the Hon. Ezra Churchill, who worked his way up from the humblest beginnings to the position of M.P. in Nova Scotia before confederation, and a senator of the Dominion. When he died, at Ottawa, in the spring of 1874, he owned a fleet of upwards of forty ships of various sizes, and his property was estimated at $800,000. He literally made Hantsport, most of the houses there having been erected under his supervision. His daughter, Bessie, was married to Dr. Black at Hantsport, on the 11th May, 1864. They have been blessed with a family of ten children, nine of whom are living, and one, the eldest, is married. Like his father-in-law, Dr. Black has always been a Conservative in politics, and in some campaigns has taken the stump in behalf of his friends. He has also been freely spoken of as a possible candidate for legislative honors. He was elected a member of the town council of the town of Windsor in October, 1882, and held the position until his time of service expired in 1884, when he was elected warden of Windsor without opposition. Windsor became an incorporated town in the year 1878. Previous to this time its affairs had been administered by justices of the peace sitting at quarter sessions. Its public moneys were voted at a town meeting held once a year. The chief officers were the town clerk, the commissioner of streets, and the collector of rates. During Dr. Black’s period of service as councillor the town was supplied with water from a reservoir on Fall Brook, a stream of water running from lakes on the South Mountain, six miles in rear of the town. The actual length of the water mains is about three miles. The cost of this public work, the greatest yet undertaken by the town, was $48,000, and $8,000 has since been expended in extending the system. Debentures paying five per cent in two half-yearly instalments were issued to raise this sum, which was readily procured, and has proved to be excellent stock, the bonds now selling considerably above par. All parts of the town are supplied cheaply and plentifully with excellent water, while the pressure, 86 lbs., is so great that the town has no need of fire engines, the supply from the hydrants being sufficient to quickly extinguish any fire which has yet broken out. Dr. Black was chairman of the water committee, and the works under his management were constructed for a less cost than that estimated by the engineer—a result very rare in public works. Dr. Black has also been interested in most of the new manufacturing enterprises of the town. On the expiry of his first term of service as warden, in 1884, he was re-elected by acclamation, and held the office until he retired in 1885. He is connected with no secret society except the Masonic fraternity. He was made a Mason in Mount Lebanon lodge, R.E., Prince Edward Island, in 1866. He held the office of master of Poyntz lodge, at Hantsport, from 1867 to 1870. In 1873 he became high priest of Hiram Chapter, at Windsor. He was also district deputy grand master of the Nova Scotia Grand Lodge in 1883 and 1885.
Bingay, Thomas Van Buskirk, Yarmouth, N.S., was born in 1814, at Shelburne, Nova Scotia. He comes of an old loyalist family. His mother, Sarah Van Buskirk, was the daughter of Jacob Van Buskirk, who saw stirring times during the American revolution. In the first American war he held the position of major, and during the war of 1812 he was colonel. Later on he became a judge of the old inferior court of Common Pleas, of Nova Scotia, in the list of the judges of which court occur some of the brightest names of Nova Scotians, such as Judge Haliburton (“Sam Slick”), John G. Marshall, and Peleg Wiswell. Jacob Van Buskirk’s father was Abraham Van Buskirk, who was colonel in the 4th battalion of New Jersey Volunteers, and second in command to Brigadier-General Arnoldin his expedition to New London (being specially mentioned in his despatches for active exertions), and who, at the close of the revolutionary war, in 1784, settled in Shelburne. Shelburne was then a city of some ten thousand inhabitants, and Abraham Van Buskirk was its first mayor. Mr. Bingay is the eldest son of the late John Bingay, of Shelburne, who for some years represented the county of Shelburne in the provincial parliament, and who was deputy-sheriff of the county of Yarmouth, and subsequently, in 1836, first high sheriff of the county, which office he held until his death, which occurred in 1851. He was educated at Church Point, in Digby county, with the venerable Abbé Sigogne, for many years parish priest of the Acadian district of Clare, in which settlement he exercised great influence, and where his name is still held in great reverence. The abbé was a great friend of T. C. Haliburton whilst that author practised law in Annapolis Royal and represented the county of Annapolis in the House of Assembly. He was not only a very learned man, but also a typical country clergyman, being consulted by his flock on all occasions about affairs of every class. Mr. Bingay subsequently attended school in Halifax. He began to study law in Liverpool, N.S., but completed his term of apprenticeship in Halifax, where he was enrolled as attorney in 1835. In those days, a year elapsed before an aspirant for forensic honours after becoming an attorney, could be admitted to practice at the bar of this province. In 1835, Mr. Bingay became a barrister and began the active duties of his profession in Yarmouth. In 1839, he was appointed judge of probate, and in the next year, master in chancery. He was also a captain of the Yarmouth militia in 1839. In 1852 he left Yarmouth and made a voyage to Australia. On his way home he stopped in California, where his son, Thomas V. B., was born. He returned to Yarmouth in 1857, and has resided there ever since. Mr. Bingay has lived through the most prosperous times of Yarmouth. Has seen the rise, good times, and decadence of one of the most enterprising shipbuilding eras of this province, and has been professionally connected with most of the leading enterprises of his town. His first wife was Lois, daughter of the late Joseph Tooker, by whom he had two sons, who both died in early manhood, and a daughter who died in infancy. His second wife was Margaret J., daughter of the late James Budd Moody, who was a brother of the late Elisha W. B. Moody, and grandson of Col. James Moody, of New Jersey. Col. James Moody, at the close of the American war, settled in Weymouth, N.S. Of this marriage there were eight sons and a daughter, of whom two sons and the daughter died in infancy. Of his sons, the oldest three reside in Yarmouth. These are James Wentworth Bingay, Q.C., revising barrister, and major of Yarmouth county militia; George Bingay, barrister and captain of militia, and Thomas V. B. Bingay, accountant in the Exchange Bank of Yarmouth. All of these are men in first-rate standing. Mr. Bingay and his two oldest sons constitute the legal firm of Thomas V. B. Bingay & Sons. They are the solicitors of the following local corporations, viz.:—The Bank of Yarmouth; The Western Counties Railway Company (James Wentworth Bingay, sec’y.-treasurer); The Mutual Relief Society of Nova Scotia (James Wentworth Bingay, director and trustee); and the Yarmouth Water Company (George Bingay, sec’y.-treas.). Of the latter company George Bingay was one of the three original corporators. From his family antecedents, as well as his professional and social environment, as may be supposed, Mr. Bingay’s sentiments lean strongly towards Conservatism. He is the oldest representative of a family, which for a hundred years, has held a very prominent position in the western counties of Nova Scotia. His ancestors made great sacrifices for British connection. The family are Episcopalians in religion.
Shields, John, of Toronto, was born at Crammond Bridge, nine miles from Edinburgh, Midlothianshire, Scotland, on the 26th day of June, 1842. His father was Alexander Shields, a farmer from Fifeshire, Scotland, and mother, Margaret West. They came to Canada in 1854, and settled in the township of Markham, afterwards removing to the township of the Gore of Toronto. The subject of this sketch commenced his education at Edinburgh, and afterwards attended the Collegiate Institute, Toronto, graduating with prize honours. He then passed a regular examination which enabled him to take a position as head master of a school in the township of Toronto, which occupation he continued at for two years. He then successfully passed the civil service and excise examination, taking a clerkship with John Morrow, who now holds the position of inspector of Inland Revenue, Toronto. At the time excise duty was put on petroleum he was sent to Petrolia and Sarnia by the Dominion government to organize the staff for the Inland Revenue department. After getting this branch of the service in active operation, he resigned in 1872 and commenced the production of oil by sinking a large number of wells on his own account. After a very short time he became one of the largest Canadian oil operators, continuing in this business a number of years. During this time his fellow operators and the citizens generally having seen that his administrative talent would be of great service to the town of Petrolia, they elected him in 1875 to the office of reeve, he being the youngest member ever elected to the county council. This was his first experience in politics, and from that time forth he took an active part in the interests of the Liberal-Conservative party by fighting in that Reform stronghold the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie and his brothers. From oil he gradually began the formation of railway companies, and was largely interested with the late F. C. Cline, in promoting and building the Kingston and Pembroke Railway. About this time, while still reeve of Petrolia, he organized the Erie and Lake Huron Railway, which was afterwards carried out to a successful issue in 1876. He removed again to the city of Toronto, since which time he has been actively engaged in building railways, canals, bridges and other large works of a public character, among which may be mentioned that most difficult engineering undertaking of the Canadian Pacific Railway between Lake Superior and the city of Winnipeg. This part of the line was considered the most inaccessible part of the road between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He and hisconfrèrefinished this difficult task one year before the allotted time, much to the surprise of the government, the officials of the board, and the public generally. This unheard of result showed to great advantage his ability in controlling a large body of men. After finishing the line, he operated the same for traffic purposes for a year, and inaugurated the first through train service, when it was taken over by the company. During this time he saw the opportunity and necessity for a large business in the lumber trade, in which he, with his usual enterprise, at once embarked, and built the first saw-mill and the first house in Brandon, Manitoba. He also built several other extensive saw-mills in various parts of the province. In 1886-7 he rebuilt and enlarged the Welland Canal, and also built a considerable portion of the St. Catharines and Niagara Central Railway, being the sole contractor for that line. In 1887 he commenced to build the Harvard bridge, between the cities of Boston and Cambridge. This bridge will have twenty-six spans, will be over half a mile long, and when completed will doubtless reflect great credit on Mr. Shields as a builder, justifying the confidence his American cousins have placed in him. He also owns and develops large granite quarries on the coast of Maine, particularly at Deer Isle. Mr. Shields is a consistent member of the Church of England, and was first married on the 8th of October, 1870, to Essie Annis Smiley, of St. Catharines, who died on the 20th July, 1881, at Rat Portage, leaving four children to mourn her loss, two sons and two daughters. Mr. Shields afterwards married a second time Matilda Esther Gould, at Rochester, N.Y., on the 5th of November, 1884.
Hale, Hon. John.—The late Hon. John Hale belonged to an ancient and distinguished family, and was a descendant of Nicholas de Hales, of Hales Place, one of whose sons, Sir Robert, treasurer of England, prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, temp. Edward III., 1381, was killed by the insurgents in Wat. Tyler’s insurrection; and of Thomas Hale, who, in 1400, held Codicote, the family seat in Hertfordshire, England, as per inscription in the old mansion there, which was pulled down and rebuilt in 1774; and of Richard Hale, of King’s Walden and Stagenhoe, in Hertfordshire, temp. Elizabeth, 1567 and 1588. His father, General John Hale, came to Canada with General Wolfe in 1758, and as colonel commanded the 47th Regiment at the memorable battle on the Plains of Abraham, September 13th, 1759, and was the one chosen by Wolfe, during his dying moments, to carry home the despatches. We give an extract fromThe Literary Gazette, London, December 11th, 1847: —
For a change of subject we proceed to an original notice of an eminent native of Cleveland, General Hale, a companion of Wolfe at Quebec, from the pen of an affectionate daughter, the eldest representative of the family, which can hardly fail to be interesting to readers: —“My father, General Hale, was born in 1728. Being intended for the bar, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, but becoming associated with his brother Bernard, then in the Guards, he finally determined to follow the profession of arms. He obtained a commission in the 47th Regiment (then called Lascelles), and in 1752 was ordered to join in the disastrous struggle in America. The war with France in 1755 caused the attack, in 1758, on Louisbourg and Cape Breton, which were taken by the army under Wolfe. In the spring of 1759 Wolf attacked Quebec, whilst Amherst attacked Montreal, and the battle of September 13th, 1759, decided the fall of the province. My father commanded the 47th on that day. I have heard him state that he remonstrated with Wolfe for wearing a new uniform, as he thereby became conspicuous to the Indian marksmen. My father was dispatched home in theLowestokefrigate, with the news of that glorious battle and the death of that brave commander, in the arms of victory. For that Service he was rewarded with the sum of £500, and an order to raise the 17th Light Dragoons, which regiment he resigned on being appointed governor of Londonderry and Culmore forts. (This regiment he raised at his own expense.) He married, in 1764, on his return from the Havanna (where he went as military secretary to Lord Albemarle, and received prize money to the amount of £10,000), Mary, second daughter of William Chaloner, Esq. Her dower was the estate of Tockett’s Hall, afterwards called ‘Plantation,’ about a mile north-east of Gisborough, where was an ancient house to which the General added largely and made it his residence.”
For a change of subject we proceed to an original notice of an eminent native of Cleveland, General Hale, a companion of Wolfe at Quebec, from the pen of an affectionate daughter, the eldest representative of the family, which can hardly fail to be interesting to readers: —
“My father, General Hale, was born in 1728. Being intended for the bar, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, but becoming associated with his brother Bernard, then in the Guards, he finally determined to follow the profession of arms. He obtained a commission in the 47th Regiment (then called Lascelles), and in 1752 was ordered to join in the disastrous struggle in America. The war with France in 1755 caused the attack, in 1758, on Louisbourg and Cape Breton, which were taken by the army under Wolfe. In the spring of 1759 Wolf attacked Quebec, whilst Amherst attacked Montreal, and the battle of September 13th, 1759, decided the fall of the province. My father commanded the 47th on that day. I have heard him state that he remonstrated with Wolfe for wearing a new uniform, as he thereby became conspicuous to the Indian marksmen. My father was dispatched home in theLowestokefrigate, with the news of that glorious battle and the death of that brave commander, in the arms of victory. For that Service he was rewarded with the sum of £500, and an order to raise the 17th Light Dragoons, which regiment he resigned on being appointed governor of Londonderry and Culmore forts. (This regiment he raised at his own expense.) He married, in 1764, on his return from the Havanna (where he went as military secretary to Lord Albemarle, and received prize money to the amount of £10,000), Mary, second daughter of William Chaloner, Esq. Her dower was the estate of Tockett’s Hall, afterwards called ‘Plantation,’ about a mile north-east of Gisborough, where was an ancient house to which the General added largely and made it his residence.”
Mrs. Hale was sister of Anne, Countess of Harewood, and was one of the celebrated beauties of the day, her portrait having been painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds as “Euphrosyne.” This life-size painting now forms the centre picture in the gallery of the Earl of Harewood. The portrait of her husband, the general, also painted by Sir Joshua, is now in the possession of his great-grandson, Edward John Hale, of Quebec.
“Mrs. Hale died in 1803, and General Hale in 1806, and both are buried in Gisborough Church, leaving issue ten sons and eleven daughters; but of this large family not one is now to be found in the Vale of Gisborough. ‘Plantation’ was purchased in 1809 by Robert Chaloner, Esq., and again added to the Gisborough estate, and the mansion demolished in 1829. In addition to the above, we append the following particulars in a letter to the late Thomas Small, of Gisborough, by the same writer:—‘I have read the copy of your letter to my nephew, George Grote, M.P. (the historian), and as I am now left the eldest member of the Hale family, being sister of the late Mrs. Lewin, whose daughter Mr. Grote married. I cannot but thank you for the faithful history of the late General John Hale. With regard to my father beingaide-de-campto General Wolfe, I think you are incorrect, for Wolfe’s words were, after receiving his mortal wound, “I am aware it is theaide-de-camp’sprivilege to carry the despatches home; but I beg as a favor to request that my old friend, Colonel Hale, may have that honour.” Also, General Hale’s portrait is not inserted in that fine print of Wolfe’s death, and why? Because he would not give the printer the sum of £100, which he demanded as the price of placing on a piece of paper what his own country knew so very well, viz.: that he (General Hale) fought in the hottest of the battle of Quebec, whether the printer thought fit to record it or not. In reply to another part of your letter respecting the quantity of land granted to my father, for his services at Quebec, the whole of it merged, through lapse of time, to the Crown, and was never available to my brothers; but my brothers possessed very extensive property there, and such property is termed in Canada, seigniory, or what we should call here a lordship. My eldest brother, Mr. Hale (the Hon. John), died at Quebec last Christmas (1838), at the age of 73 years, leaving the office of receiver-general to his second son, Jeffrey.’”
“Mrs. Hale died in 1803, and General Hale in 1806, and both are buried in Gisborough Church, leaving issue ten sons and eleven daughters; but of this large family not one is now to be found in the Vale of Gisborough. ‘Plantation’ was purchased in 1809 by Robert Chaloner, Esq., and again added to the Gisborough estate, and the mansion demolished in 1829. In addition to the above, we append the following particulars in a letter to the late Thomas Small, of Gisborough, by the same writer:—‘I have read the copy of your letter to my nephew, George Grote, M.P. (the historian), and as I am now left the eldest member of the Hale family, being sister of the late Mrs. Lewin, whose daughter Mr. Grote married. I cannot but thank you for the faithful history of the late General John Hale. With regard to my father beingaide-de-campto General Wolfe, I think you are incorrect, for Wolfe’s words were, after receiving his mortal wound, “I am aware it is theaide-de-camp’sprivilege to carry the despatches home; but I beg as a favor to request that my old friend, Colonel Hale, may have that honour.” Also, General Hale’s portrait is not inserted in that fine print of Wolfe’s death, and why? Because he would not give the printer the sum of £100, which he demanded as the price of placing on a piece of paper what his own country knew so very well, viz.: that he (General Hale) fought in the hottest of the battle of Quebec, whether the printer thought fit to record it or not. In reply to another part of your letter respecting the quantity of land granted to my father, for his services at Quebec, the whole of it merged, through lapse of time, to the Crown, and was never available to my brothers; but my brothers possessed very extensive property there, and such property is termed in Canada, seigniory, or what we should call here a lordship. My eldest brother, Mr. Hale (the Hon. John), died at Quebec last Christmas (1838), at the age of 73 years, leaving the office of receiver-general to his second son, Jeffrey.’”
The Hon. John Hale came to Canada as A.D.C. and military secretary to his Royal Highness, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, in 1793. Returning to England in 1798, he married, in April of that year, at St. George’s, Hanover Square, London, Elizabeth Frances, the talented and highly accomplished daughter of Gen. Wm. Amherst, and sister of Earl Amherst, who was governor-general of India in 1825. In June, 1799, he returned to Quebec as paymaster-general of the forces, which office he held until it was merged into the duties of the commissariat. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada. He purchased from the De Lanaudière family the seigniory of St. Anne de la Pérade, where he lived to a ripe old age, at the manor house, on the best of terms with his tenants, amongst whom he introduced many improvements. He returned with his family every winter to Quebec, where he and Mrs. Hale were prominent leaders in the social life of the ancient capital. In 1824 he was appointed receiver-general of the province, which office he held up to the time of his death, the duties being discharged during the infirmities of his last illness by his son, Jeffrey Hale, who retired from the navy and devoted his life to good works, and established in Quebec the first savings bank, the first Protestant Sunday school, and was the founder of the Jeffrey Hale Protestant Hospital. Mrs. Hale died in June, 1826, and Mr. Hale in December, 1838; both are buried in Mt. Hermon cemetery, Quebec. There were twelve children issue of this marriage, eight sons and four daughters. Three died in their infancy. Of the surviving seven the Hon. Edward, of Sherbrooke, was in public life; Jeffrey, captain in the Royal Navy; Bernard, a barrister-at-law, in London; Richard, captain in the 81st regiment; William Amherst, captain in the 52nd regiment, and George Carleton remained at the seigniory of St. Annes after the death of his father. Frances Isabella died unmarried; Mary married Rev. Henry Hotham; and Elizabeth Harriot married Admiral Orlebar. Mr. Hale was of the old school, with the usual liberality and independence of an English gentleman. He had some strong hereditary feelings about the duties of a public officer, which were better securities than the strictest laws and superintendence in those times when offices were frequently sought and obtained through intrigue and popular favor. He neither gave nor asked for favors, but ever prepared to do all that he was authorized to do. Both in public and private life he carried out to the full the family motto, “Vera sequor.”
Trenaman, Thomas, M.D., City Medical Officer, Halifax, N.S., was born in Halifax, July 16th, 1843. He is a son of Samuel and Mary Ann Trenaman, who settled in Nova Scotia from the West of England, about the year 1835. Dr. Trenaman was educated at King’s College, Windsor, N.S. He pursued his preparatory medical studies in the office of Hon. D. McN. Parker, M.D., Halifax, and graduated in 1869 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. The degree of doctor in medicinead eundem, was conferred by the University of King’s College, Windsor, N.S., at its Ericœnia in 1887. From the date of the formation of the 66th Volunteer Battalion of Infantry—the Princess Louise Fusiliers—in 1869, to the spring of 1885, he was one of its surgeons. The pressing nature of professional duties, which were continually increasing, necessitated his retirement, at this date, from active service. In the year 1876 Dr. Trenaman was chosen by acclamation to represent his fellow citizens in the city council for ward two, the one in which he resides, and was for three successive terms, of three years each, returned as alderman for that ward. From 1879 to 1882 he was, a member of the Board of School Commissioners of the city of Halifax, the last year of which he was honored by his brother commissioners in being made chairman of the board. Dr. Trenaman was elected county physician in 1881, and in 1883 was chosen by the city council, city medical officer, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the previous incumbent. Our subject is also, at this writing, attending physician to the Victoria General Hospital, visiting physician to the Poor’s Asylum, and also to the city prison, as well as being police surgeon and surgeon to the fire department. Dr. Trenaman was initiated into the mysteries of the Masonic craft in St. Andrew’s lodge, No. 1, R.N.S., F. & A. M., in 1871. In 1877 was elected its worshipful master, and at the present time fills the office of district deputy grand master for district No. 1, R.N.S., and is also representative of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, near the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia. Dr. Trenaman is a companion of Royal Union Chapter, No. 1, R.A.M. The doctor is also a member of Mystic lodge, No. 18, I.O.O.F., and a patriarch of Halifax Encampment, No. 12, belonging as well to the Manchester Unity of that order, being a member of Prince of Wales lodge, No. 5291, and its surgeon, and that of Lansdowne lodge, No. 6703. Dr. Trenaman is surgeon to the St. George’s Society of Halifax, and is the medical examiner for some of the leading life insurance companies doing business in Halifax. In June, 1881, our subject was elected president of the associated alumni of King’s College, Windsor, and has been continued in that office uninterruptedly since that time. In 1883 he was selected by the Dominion government statistical officer for the registration of mortuary statistics in the city of Halifax. Dr. Trenaman has travelled extensively through Canada and the United States, but has not as yet visited the old world. In religious belief he is a Methodist. In 1871, he married Harriett Helen Robinson, of Windsor, N.S. The doctor is, in the fullest sense of the term, a busy man, yet he finds time, notwithstanding his large and lucrative practice, to take an active interest in everything that pertains to the welfare of his native city. He is an enthusiastic supporter of its clubs for the development of aquatic and field sports, and generally is a citizen of whom Halifax has a right to be proud.
Machin, Henry Turner, Assistant Provincial Treasurer, and Secretary of the Treasury Board, Quebec, is one of the best known and most esteemed citizens of the ancient capital. He is of English and Scotch extraction. His father, the Rev. Thomas Machin, a clergyman of the Church of England, came of an old Gloucestershire family; and his mother, Emily Mackintosh Chisholm Fraser, a daughter of Simon Fraser, of Alvie, Inverness-shire, who was a cousin of the distinguished statesman and historian, Sir James Mackintosh. Mr. Machin was born at Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, on the 26th November, 1832, and came to Canada with his parents in 1840, the voyage from Liverpool to New York being made in the steamshipGreat Western, one of the first two passenger steamships that regularly crossed the Atlantic. He was educated at the Brockville Grammar School, and at Upper Canada College, Toronto. He entered business life in 1849, in the office of the British American Land Company, at Sherbrooke, P.Q., the commissioner of the company at that time being Sir A. T. Galt, and remained in the company’s service until 1860, when he retired from it to engage in commercial business in Portland, Maine. Respected by the whole community, he was, on leaving Sherbrooke, presented with a farewell address, to which the following reference was made at the time by the leading local newspaper:
It affords us a sincere pleasure, which will be shared by the numerous friends and admirers of Mr. Machin, who may peruse it, to insert the following address and reply. Mr. Machin, though a young man, has resided sufficiently long in Sherbrooke to develop those qualities which have secured for him the esteem and confidence of his numerous acquaintances and friends. On Monday last Rev. Mr. Reid, accompanied by several of the most respectable inhabitants, representing the signers of the following document, waited on Mr. Machin, to perform the pleasant duty of presenting him with a flattering, though only just, testimony of the public appreciation of his character. There is a feeling of regret at Mr. Machin’s departure from Sherbrooke, but that feeling is joined to hearty wishes for his future welfare and success. It must be a source of honest and legitimate pride to this gentleman to reflect that last week he was presented by his brother Free Masons with a testimonial of their esteem, and that this week a more general expression of the sentiment is spontaneously given by the public here.
It affords us a sincere pleasure, which will be shared by the numerous friends and admirers of Mr. Machin, who may peruse it, to insert the following address and reply. Mr. Machin, though a young man, has resided sufficiently long in Sherbrooke to develop those qualities which have secured for him the esteem and confidence of his numerous acquaintances and friends. On Monday last Rev. Mr. Reid, accompanied by several of the most respectable inhabitants, representing the signers of the following document, waited on Mr. Machin, to perform the pleasant duty of presenting him with a flattering, though only just, testimony of the public appreciation of his character. There is a feeling of regret at Mr. Machin’s departure from Sherbrooke, but that feeling is joined to hearty wishes for his future welfare and success. It must be a source of honest and legitimate pride to this gentleman to reflect that last week he was presented by his brother Free Masons with a testimonial of their esteem, and that this week a more general expression of the sentiment is spontaneously given by the public here.
In 1873, Mr. Machin returned to Canada, and in 1874 he was appointed the first inspector of public offices of the province of Quebec. His executive and financial abilities soon pointed him out for preferment, and in October, 1874, he was elevated by the Quebec government to the still more important and responsible position of assistant treasurer of the province, which office he still holds. In his official capacity he has been connected with all the financial operations of the province since 1874, and in 1878 he was sent by the government to New York, where he materially assisted in the successful negotiation of the provincial loan for $3,000,000. He has been chiefly instrumental in bringing the organisation of the treasury department to its present state of efficiency. He has never taken a leading part in politics, but has had the confidence and respect of every administration, whether Conservative or Liberal, that has been in office since his appointment as a deputy minister of the Crown. As one of the founders of the Quebec and Levis Electric Light Company, of which he is a director, the city of Quebec is indebted to his enterprise and spirit for a vast improvement in street and interior lighting, the electric current being generated at the famed Falls of Montmorency, nine miles from the city. Mr. Machin is a member of the Church of England, is a Freemason, and has held a commission in the militia. In 1863, he married Lucy Anne, daughter of the late Hon. Edward Hale, of Sherbrooke, a member of the Legislative Council of Quebec, and grand-daughter of the late Hon. Chief Justice Bowen, of Quebec.
Martin, Joseph, LL.B., Advocate, Quebec, is one of the rising members of the Lower Canadian bar, and a young man of considerable note and influence in the politics of that province. He was born at Champlain, in the Three Rivers district, on the 1st May, 1855, his parents being Zephirin Martin and Sophie Vivier, both French Canadians. He was educated at the Christian Brothers’ Commercial School, Three Rivers, and the De La Salle Institute, Toronto, and studied law at the Montreal branch of the Laval University, where he took his degrees. Admitted to the bar of the province of Quebec, after a brilliant examination, on the 14th January, 1881, he practised law in Montreal till 1882, when he was appointed one of the secretaries to the commission named to revise and consolidate the statutes of the province, and took up his residence in Quebec. A Conservative in politics, he separated from the party represented by the Ottawa government on the question of the North-west rebellion, and the execution of its leader, and took a very active and prominent part in the Riel agitation and the formation of the National party in the province of Quebec, besides contributing in no slight degree by his exertions to the wave of popular opinion which carried the present premier of that province, Hon. H. Mercier, and his friends, into office at the general elections in October, 1886. In January, 1887, on the eve of the general elections for the Dominion, Mr. Martin resigned his position of secretary to the commission, on being chosen as the National-Conservative or Opposition candidate for the important county of Quebec, against the minister of militia, Sir A. P. Caron, and, although almost a complete stranger to the constituency, was only defeated by a very narrow majority. In religion, Mr. Martin has always been a Roman Catholic. On the 9th May, 1883, he married Olierie de Bondy, daughter of Dr. A. Douaire de Bondy, of Sorel, by whom he has had three children.
Mackay, William, M.D., M.P.P., Reserve Mines, C.B., was born on 11th Sep., 1847, at Earltown, in the county of Colchester, Nova Scotia. For a sketch of his parents, John Mackay and Dolina Mackay, see “Paterson’s History of the County of Pictou,” page 278. His father was one of the pioneer settlers in Earltown, and took a prominent and leading part in all the public affairs of the place from the time of settlement there until his death, in 1869. A granite monument from his native hills, Rogart, Sutherlandshire, Scotland, presented to the family by his Grace the Duke of Sutherland, was shortly afterwards erected to commemorate a life largely devoted to advancing the interests and ameliorating the wants of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood in which he lived. His mother is still living and among the few who can recall the incidents relating to the early history, both of church and state in eastern Nova Scotia, her residence being often the temporary home of churchmen and statesmen. The subject of this sketch was educated at Truro, and graduated at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, in 1873, and after graduating he practised medicine for one year with his brother, Dr. D. G. Mackay, at Little Glace Bay, Cape Breton. In May, 1874, he was appointed resident physician to the Loway, Emery, and Reserve collieries, in Cape Breton county, In 1879, Dr. D. G. Mackay removing from Little Glace Bay, he received the appointment (in addition to the former) of physician to the Little Glace Bay, Caledonia, and Ontario collieries, and in 1885, was appointed physician to the old Bridgeport mine, in addition to the above. The appointment to the Caledonia mine he has since resigned. He was instrumental in organizing and perfecting a system of quarantining of infectious and contagious diseases for the mining districts which worked so satisfactorily that the municipal council have caused it to apply to the whole county. He has been a member of the board of health of Cape Breton county for the last five years, and is also a member of the provincial medical board. He has been twice elected president of the Cape Breton Medical Society, and is now president of the Nova Scotia Medical Society; he is also a P.M. of Tyrian Youth Lodge, No. 45, R.N.S., A. F. & A. M., and a past high priest of Prince of Wales Chapter No. 10, R.A.M., of Nova Scotia. Dr. Mackay is a Liberal-Conservative in politics, and was elected to represent Cape Breton county in the local legislature of Nova Scotia at the election in June, 1886. A liberal government being in power, and it having been sustained at the election, Dr. Mackay was, at the first meeting of the newly elected legislature, honoured with the position of leader of the opposition. In religion, he is a consistent and honoured member of the Presbyterian church. He was married on November 10th, 1875, to Catherine Campbell Sutherland, youngest daughter of Gilbert Sutherland, of “the Falls,” Colchester county, N.S., by whom he has one son and two daughters.
Carson, Rev. W. Wellington, Pastor of the Dominion Methodist Church, Ottawa, Ontario, was born in the township of Osgoode, county of Carleton, Ontario, on the 7th of January, 1845. He is a son of Thos. and Maria Carson, who came to Canada from Ireland in the year 1833, and who were among the pioneer settlers in that now prosperous part of Ontario. The subject of this sketch attended the Ottawa Grammar School, and the academy in Iroquois, being assistant teacher in the latter previously to commencing a course of theological study. He was called to the ministry of the Methodist church in 1867, and was received into full connection and ordained by the late Rev. W. Morley Punshon, in 1871. After ordination he held the pastorate of the First Methodist Church, Hamilton; Brant Avenue Church, Brantford; the Woodstock Church, and Centenary Methodist Church, Hamilton. He was missionary treasurer of the London conference four years; examiner of ministerial candidates on apologetics and hermeneutics, and also held the office of chairman of district, 1884-5. He has travelled extensively over this continent, and over nearly half the world, including, of course, various parts of Europe, England, and France, all this being done with the view of enlarging his knowledge of mankind, and the religious institutions of other nations. His religions views may be known by his identification with the Methodist church, but his credal beliefs are wider than those of any denomination. His present charge is the Dominion Church, Ottawa, where he is exceedingly popular and, what is better, useful. His congregations are large, and the church prosperous. An intimate friend of the reverend gentleman writes as follows: “I have known Mr. Carson from the time of his commencing his theological studies, and his entrance on the work of the ministry. He is one of the most devoted and studious of the Methodist ministry, not confining himself to the literature of his own sect, but making himself master of most lines of modern thought. His firm and unwavering belief in the verities of Holy Scripture guards him against the reception of every wind of doctrine that blows from this or that point of the compass. In preaching, he is calm at the beginning, energetic as he proceeds, fervent and eloquent in his perorations. Hearing him frequently, it may be added that he is progressive, and capable of grasping the highest and best form of thought, distinct in annunciation, and clear in his modes of expressing his conclusions.”
Reed, Robert, St. John, New Brunswick, was born in the north of Ireland, on the 28th April, 1814. After a shipwreck on the Atlantic in 1820, he arrived with his parents at their original destination, St. John, New Brunswick, in June of the following year. In January, 1830, he became chief clerk in the shipping and steam-boat office of James Whitney, who was then entering upon that fuller development of steam communication on the Bay of Fundy and River St. John for which he afterwards became famous. In 1835 Mr. Reed joined his brother in general business, the partnership continuing until 1886, under the firm of J. and R. Reed. The fact of this name having now, after a successful and creditable career of half a century’s duration, passed from the arena of commercial life with an honorable record for the strictest business integrity, into a mere historical item, warrants more than a passing notice. Hence it may be said the affairs of this house were from the first of a progressive character, reaching to business relations with nearly every important sea-port in the several oceans and seas, and thus their operations as importers, as exporters, as manufacturers and as shipowners became at times among the largest of a New Brunswick character. And in order to show the business habits and precautionary financial arrangements of its members, it may be mentioned that throughout the many commercial panics and business convulsions which occurred during the long period of the firm’s existence, its financial engagements,whether at home or abroad, were in all cases duly met, free from protest. Mr. Reed having had no aspirations towards political distinction, holds no office or title in the gift of any government. His political record is embraced in the following. In 1856 he consented to be one on a ticket formed to run a provincial election in support of a prohibitory liquor law passed the previous session; but the whole party being defeated, a repeal of the law followed. This, and the acceptance, during a temporary residence in England the following year, of a government appointment in connection with the purchase of rails and bridge material for the European and North American Railway, then under construction, embrace his entire association with active political life. But as a private citizen he has ever been noted for a generous public spirit, willing to assist in any movement which he deemed for the interest of the city and province of his adoption. He has travelled much, coupled with observation, consequently his ideas, whether of a private or public character, have always kept pace with the progress of the age. He is president of the Owens Art Institution, of St. John, to the development of which, as a leading art educational establishment, he has, from its inception in 1884, devoted much of his personal attention. His latest effort for the general good is set forth in a prospectus for a first-class hotel, of large capacity, having in view making St. John “a grand central rendezvous and diverging centre” for summer tourists visiting the maritime provinces. For that purpose he proposes the utilization of his private residence, with other and prospective erections within a plot covering eight acres, situate on the summit of an eminence overlooking the city and its surroundings as far as the eye can reach. The scheme appears feasible, and got up with a due regard to existing facts bearing upon its financial success. Its consummation would undoubtedly be a benefit to St. John, and the province generally. Mr. Reed, though well advanced in years, is at this writing still full of energy, and bids fair to yet see many years of usefulness added to his already full and useful life.
Girouard, Theophile, Quebec, is one of the most prominent, enterprising and successful of the French Canadian businessmen of the ancient capital, and its subsidiary districts. Born at Gentilly, Nicolet county, on the 1st December, 1826, of the marriage of Joseph Girouard and a French lady named de Cormier, he is essentially a self-educated and a self-made man, and an admirable specimen of the class of his fellow-countrymen who have done so much of late years to develop the resources of their native province. As a lad, he laboured hard to instruct himself, and thus succeeded in acquiring a good French and English education. As a man, he has, with similar energy and perseverance, striven to make his way in the world, and his efforts have been crowned with equal success. His experience has been varied. In 1849, he was impelled by the gold fever to California, like many other young and enthusiastic spirits of the time, but unlike not a few of them he was fairly successful during his stay of four years there. Returning to Canada, he engaged in the lumber business, in the province of Quebec, and has been connected with it ever since. For a number of years the principal seat of his operations was in the eastern townships, where he also resided; but in 1872 he extended them to the region along the north shore of the St. Lawrence below the Saguenay, where he founded the outpost of Betsiamits for the purpose of manufacturing and shipping lumber, and where he erected extensive saw mills at a cost of $152,000. These mills are supplied with the raw material from 750 square miles of limits, and the establishment employs from two to three hundred men. Mr. Girouard has also been the promoter of some of the largest manufactures in the province. Nor has he been without honours marking the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens. He has been a captain of militia and a justice of the peace, and the important municipality of Stanfold, in the eastern townships, elected him its mayor during seven years. In politics, he was a Conservative down to the time of the Riel affair, when he seceded, joined the Liberal ranks, and became a Nationalist. His travels have been extensive. Including his voyages to and from California, he has crossed the ocean over thirty times, has visited most of Europe, and by a singular coincidence which has happened in the lives of few men, was carried by a gale of wind to latitude 62½° south below Cape Horn, while he went on another occasion as far in the opposite direction as 62½° north during his travels in Sweden and the Gulf of Bothnia. In religion, he has always been a Roman Catholic. On the 9th October, 1861, he married Alexneia Pacand, daughter of Charles Pacand, of Arthabasca, by whom he has had issue five children. His eldest son, Raoul, has distinguished himself as an electrician at Ottawa.
Pacaud, Gaspard, M.P.P., Windsor, Ontario, editor ofLe Progress, and M.P.P. for North Essex, was born at St. Norbert d’Arthabaska, province of Quebec, on the 24th June, 1859. He was educated at St. Joseph Grand Seminary, Three Rivers, P.Q., and graduated therefrom in 1880. He then entered the law office of his brother, Ernest Pacaud, well known in Quebec city as a man of ability and learning, but the spirit of activity within him was such as to induce him to forsake the law for the equally honorable and more exciting profession of journalism, and accordingly, in 1881, he became editor ofLe Patriote, published in Bay City, Michigan, by another brother, H. A. Pacaud. In 1884 he returned to Canada, and took the editorial chair ofLe Progress, published in Windsor by still another brother, Aurèle Pacaud, and has edited this paper ever since.Le Progressis the only French paper published in Western Ontario, and has a high standing among the reform papers of the province. At the last general election Mr. Pacaud was returned by the Reformers of North Essex as their representative in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and there is no member of that body who tries more to advance the interests of his constituents than he does. A fact which may be taken as strong evidence of the magnetism and personal popularity of Mr. Pacaud is this, that although such a young man—young in years as well as in political life—and although resident but a short time in a county which never before elected a Liberal, yet he defeated Mr. Sol. White, who was so well known as the leader of the Opposition’s first lieutenant. The attention which Mr. Pacaud has given to his parliamentary duties, and the fluency of his speech when he has addressed the house, are evidences to his friends that, although the youngest member of the house, Mr. Pacaud is destined to make his mark, and possibly to rise to a yet higher position in the future. Mr. Pacaud is the son of Philippe Napoléon Pacaud, who so powerfully seconded Papineau, in 1837 and 1838, by putting his life and his immense wealth at the service of the great cause of his fellow countrymen, and is one of five brothers, three of whom are journalists, and two lawyers. Every reader of Canadian history knows the name of Pacaud, the bearers of this name having distinguished themselves in many ways. The Pacaud family, indeed, is well known as one of the oldest and most distinguished in the province of Quebec.
Mowat, Hon. Oliver, Q.C., LL.D., Premier of the province of Ontario, is descended of a stock that has given Canada many of its foremost men in almost every public department in the land, namely, the Canadian-Scotch. His father, John Mowat, was from Canisbay, Caithness-shire, Scotland. He was a soldier who had seen stern service during the Peninsular wars. His wife, Helen Levack, was also a native of Caithness-shire. They came to Canada in 1816, and settled in Kingston, where their son Oliver was born, on July 22, 1820. His education was as good as the schools of that city afforded at that date. At about the age of seventeen he entered the law office of Mr. (now Sir) John A. Macdonald, who, a young man but five years his senior, had just been admitted to the bar, and had settled down to practise his profession. At the outset of his student life young Mowat was called on to serve as a volunteer in the rebellion of 1837. It may well be supposed that the state of parties and affairs in Canada to which his attention was thus early and practically called must have afforded him food for thought, and had much effect in shaping his after course. It is certainly noteworthy, as indicating both mental independence and moral earnestness of no common order, that, born as he was of Conservative parents, surrounded with Conservative influences, and trained in the study of a profession which is more closely related to politics than any other, in the office and under the direct influence of a man whose brilliant talents and personal magnetism have long been and still are the strongest forces on the side of Conservatism in Canada, Oliver Mowat should have chosen that broad-minded, moderate Liberalism, of whose principles he has ever since been so able an exponent, and so steadfast a promoter. He was called to the bar in 1842, and commenced his practice in Kingston, but very soon afterwards came to Toronto, where he has ever since resided. At a time when the line of demarcation between common law and equity was much more clearly drawn than at present, Mr. Mowat chose the latter branch. He rose quickly to eminence at the Chancery bar. In 1856 he was appointed by the government of which Hon. John A. Macdonald was a member, as commissioner for consolidating the Statutes of Canada and of Upper Canada respectively, a position which he held until 1859. In 1857 he was elected to parliament as member for South Oxford, and continued to represent that constituency until 1864. Upon the fall of the Macdonald-Cartier government, in 1867, he was selected, though he had been but one year in the house, to fill the office of provincial secretary in the Brown-Dorion administration. He held the portfolio of postmaster-general in the Coalition government formed by Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald, in 1861, a position which he retained until the defeat of that government, in 1864. He was also a member of the memorable Union Conference which met at Quebec in 1864, and framed the confederation scheme; but his acceptance, a few months later, of the vice-chancellorship of Upper Canada deprived the framers of the Confederation Act of his services in the subsequent deliberations. When the Dual Representation Act compelled the retirement of Messrs. Blake and Mackenzie from the leadership of the Ontario legislature, in 1872, he was called on by the lieutenant-governor, acting no doubt on the advice of the retiring premier, to form an administration. His descent from the bench and re-entrance into political life gave occasion for a good deal of discussion at the time, on the part of those who thought, or affected to think, that the purity of the judicial ermine must be in some way contaminated by the change. The answer, if any is needed, to those who think that the position of head of the Provincial government is one requiring either mental or moral qualifications of a lower order than those of even the chancellor’s bench, is to be found in the record of sixteen years of able, upright, and progressive government of the affairs of Ontario. Those must be wilfully purblind who cannot now see that the judicial temperament and habit, with all of mental training and capacity, and of moral integrity they imply, furnish the very best of qualifications for the responsible and honorable position of virtual ruler of a great province. Sound discretion, marked ability, and sterling integrity have characterised Hon. Mr. Mowat’s career in each division of his professional and official life. As a lawyer, his talents quickly gained recognition, and, reinforced by his clear judgment and scrupulous conscientiousness, soon won for him a high place in the confidence of the profession and of the court in which he practised. Though not fluent, he was energetic, forcible, and convincing as a pleader. His patience was admirable, his industry untiring, his fertility in resources great. He was said to be endowed in large measure with the power of “thinking out” a subject, and was believed to be stronger in ability to go to the bottom of the subject than any of his contemporaries. As a judge, he exhibited qualities of both head and heart which, while they won for him respect and admiration, gained also esteem and friendship in high degree. His great business and executive ability quickly showed itself in the improved conduct and quicker despatch of the business of the court. As the head of the government, his record has long been before the people of Ontario. The mere enumeration of the reforms that have been effected, and the beneficial acts passed during hisrégime, would occupy more space than we have at our disposal. The judicious settlement of the vexed question of the municipal loan fund; the liberal and salutary provisions of the local Railway Acts; the consolidation of the Provincial Statutes; the local option principle reduced to practice in the Liquor Acts; the General Incorporation Act, by which so much economy of time has been secured in the Legislative Assembly; the well-considered and systematic aid to public charities; the changes by which the education department has been relieved of irresponsible and bureaucratic character, and put in charge of a responsible minister; the progressive legislation in connection with higher education and the University of Toronto; the introduction of the ballot in political and municipal elections; the liberalising of the franchise up to the verge of universal suffrage; all these, and many other legislative reforms wrought under thisrégime, will be lasting monuments of his statesmanship. Mr. Mowat’s legislation, though uniformly Liberal and progressive, has never been sensational. His opponents have sometimes charged him with timidity. That wise caution that refuses to move blindly under irresponsible pressure, that waits to look on all sides of a question, and goes forward only when the way is made clear, is certainly his. But that cowardly fear of censure which shrinks and hesitates on the brink of what is seen to be right and just, for fear of consequences, cannot be laid to his charge. No really urgent legislation in the interests of Liberalism and progress has been unduly delayed through his fault. The manner in which he has met and vanquished, not only in the local political arena, but in the highest court of the realm, Sir John A. Macdonald, with all the power and prestige of his own high reputation and the Dominion premiership at his back, sufficiently attests his courage in doing what he deems the right. The vindication of provincial rights in the matters of the Boundary, the Rivers and Streams Bills, and the license question, are services rendered by Oliver Mowat which will long be remembered by a grateful province. As leader of the Ontario government, in the house and out, Mr. Mowat’s address and tactics are admirable. Clear-headed and logical in debate; cautious in committing himself, yet, when occasion demands, prompt in decision and firm in action; uniformly courteous and affable, yet ready and keen in retort, and often turning the tables on an opponent most effectively; keeping himself thoroughly informed on all important questions; exhibiting on all occasions a sound judgment, combined with a ready wit, he inspires his colleagues and followers with confidence, and generally holds at bay or discomfits his most eager assailants. In some of these respects, notably in the extent and fulness of his knowledge of the subjects under debate, and in the soundness and acumen of his opinions on juridical and jurisdictional questions, his record compares most favorably with that of his great antagonist, the veteran leader of the Dominion government. To say that he may have sometimes made mistakes in judgment and policy, and that he has not uniformly steered clear of the dangerous reefs which abound in the streams of patronage, is but to admit that he is human and consequently fallible. Hon. Mr. Mowat has always taken a deep interest in social and religious questions. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and was for many years president of the Evangelical Alliance. Like most men who have wrought earnestly and conscientiously for the public good in any sphere, his philanthropy and integrity are, no doubt, deep-based upon the firm foundation of religious principle. It has been sneeringly insinuated that he has claimed for himself the high honor of being a “Christian politician;” but it is unnecessary to say that the charge is without foundation. It seems to have originated in a perversion of a hypothetical allusion in one of his speeches to what might be considered the duty of a Christian politician, in some specified case. To arrogate to himself the distinctive title was farthest from his thought, and a boast would be as repugnant to his good sense and taste as to the modesty for which he is distinguished. That he is a faithful and devout member of an influential Christian church is a crime which will be readily forgiven him in view of the great services he has rendered to society and the state.
Desaulniers, Denis Benjamin William, Nicolet, Governor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Province of Quebec, was born on the 5th of December, 1839, at St. Anthony de la Rivière du Loup, near Maskinonge. His father, Antoine Lesieur Desaulniers, was an agriculturist of Rivière du Loup. His mother was Maria Emelie Beland. The Lesieur-Desaulniers were a numerous family, and inhabited a large portion of the parishes of Yamachiche and Rivière du Loup. Our present subject was brought up with his family until the age of thirteen, and in the month of September, 1853, he entered the seminary of Nicolet, where he made his classical course with great success. In the month of May, 1860, he obtained from the Board of Physicians his license for the study of medicine, and studied two years under the patronage of Dr. Alexis Milette. In 1862, in the month of September, he entered the Laval University at Quebec to complete his course, and was the most solid and substantial of all the students of his time. During his last two years he carried off the first “Morin,” this prize having been only twice offered to the pupils whilst pursuing his course. On the 10th October, 1865, he was admitted to the practice of medicine, after a severe examination before the Provincial Board of Physicians, and the same year he established himself in the parish of Rivière du Loup, now Louiseville. A year after, in October, 1866, being equally successful in the practice of his profession as well as literary pursuits, he was called to Nicolet to take charge of the seminary there, the pupils and all connected with this important institution, a post which he still fills. Later, upon the establishment of the convent of the Sœurs de l’Assomption at Nicolet, he was made physician to the institution. In 1886, when L’Hotel Dieu of Nicolet was inaugurated by the SœursGrises of St. Hyacinthe, he was again selected as first acting physician to the house. Dr. Desaulniers has been very fortunate in the practice of his profession, but his great specialty has been midwifery. He has closely followed the progress of medicine in its many branches, and therefore is one of the foremost physicians of the day. His unprecedented success in the past promises a brilliant future. On the 31st of August, in the year 1881, he was appointed coroner, in conjunction with Dr. S. Ed. Badeau, for the district of Three Rivers, and occupied this office for two years, when he was obliged to resign to fulfil the requirements of his profession. Seven years after Dr. Desaulniers arrival at Nicolet, the village was raised to a town, and it then became necessary to form a town council, of which he was chosen and elected by a large majority first mayor of Nicolet. Of course he had everything to do, and the greater part of the rules and regulations now in force were passed during his administration. At the completion of his term of office he retired, and gave himself up entirely to the practice of his profession, which had become very extensive. In 1877, he was elected governor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the province of Quebec for the district of Three Rivers, and has held that position since that date. He was born in the Roman Catholic religion, and has ever remained faithful to his church principles. Dr. Desaulniers married on the 12th January, 1869, Marie Rose de Lima Proulx, second daughter of Hubert Proulx, of Nicolet, and in May, 1879, his wife died, leaving three infant daughters. He was married the second time, on July 13th, 1880, to Marie Célanire Gagnon, widow of late Louis Ludger Richard, and daughter of Antoine Gagnon, agent for the Crown lands at Arthabaskaville. In May, 1884, he again had the misfortune of losing his wife, who left an infant daughter.
King, James, Quebec. Few men engaged in the staple trade of the port of Quebec hold a more conspicuous position or enjoy a larger share of public confidence and respect than the subject of this sketch, not only for his business enterprise and success, but for his integrity in all the relations of life. Mr. King is the Quebec member of the great lumbering and lumber exporting firm of King Brothers and King Brothers & Co., which are among the largest operators in the province, their establishments being scattered all over, from the Eastern townships to Gaspé. In fact, few commercial houses have been or are more powerful contributors to Lower Canadian development. Theirchantiersand saw mills at St. Jean Deschaillons, Lyster, Levis, River Ouelle, Cedar Hall, Grand Pabos, and Robertson Station, give employment and support to considerable communities, the products of whose industry, chiefly in the shape of pine and spruce deals, are annually exported to the United Kingdom and the continent of Europe. The firms, of which Mr. King is a leading member, are also largely interested in the important asbestos industry of the province of Quebec, being the proprietors of extensive areas of asbestos-bearing lands in the eastern townships, and notably of the “Hampden” and “Thetford Royal” mines in Thetford, Megantic county; and Mr. King himself is a director and manager of the Asbestos Mining and Manufacturing Company of Canada. He is further largely interested in rural real estate, being the seigneur of the seigniories of St. Jean Déschaillons and Lake Matapedia. He is the youngest son of the late Charles King, of Lyster, Megantic, and was born at St. Antoine de Tilly, in Lotbinière county, P.Q., on the 18th February, 1848. Educated at Lennoxville, he took his degrees of B.A. in 1867, and of M.A. in 1873, at the University of Bishop’s College, and during his university course was a member of the college volunteer corps. In religion he belongs to the Church of England, and has been a lay delegate to the Synod of the diocese of Quebec. In politics he is a Liberal-Conservative, and has frequently been pressed to offer himself for Parliamentary honors, but has hitherto refused to accept nomination at the hands of his party, feeling that his business engagements absorbed too much of his time and attention. Nevertheless he has always taken a strong interest in educational matters. His travels have extended to the United Kingdom and the continent of Europe. He is unmarried, and a member of the Garrison Club, Quebec.
Davidson, Hon. Justice Charles Peers, Montreal, was born at Huntingdon, province of Quebec, where his family had long been prominent in the development of the county, and defence of the frontier. His grandfather, Colonel Davidson, came from Scotland, and was in command of the Huntingdon volunteers, in which his father held a captaincy, and which formed part of the brigade under the command of the late Major-General Campbell. Colonel Davidson, at the commencement of the troubles of 1837 and the following year, was sent for by the commander-in-chief of the British forces in Canada, Sir John Colborne, who requested him to raise a regiment. He accepted, and soon after his return to Huntingdon, succeeded in enrolling about six hundred stalwart men from among the farmers, most of whom were immigrants from the old country. The regiment, which was called “The Huntingdon Frontier Volunteers,” numbered in its ranks many men who afterwards became prominent in political and social life. One company was stationed at Russelltown, a second at Covey Hill, and the third as far as Hemmingford. Colonel Davidson, for the first year, was in command, not only of the regiment, but of the whole district; in the second year, Colonel Campbell, subsequently major-general, assumed command of the district, and the volunteers were enrolled in the brigade which was afterwards under the gallant Sir George Cathcart, then only colonel, who fell at the battle of Inkerman at the head of the 1st Dragoon Guards, which he commanded. One company of this regiment was commanded by Captain Reid, a veteran of Waterloo. In this company also was Sir John Rose, the eminent statesman and financier, now of London, England. The Huntington volunteers did good service, but were only in one action, that of St. Regis. From the foregoing it will be seen that Justice Davidson comes of a military family, his mother, Marion Peers, being the daughter of the late Lieutenant Peers, of Her Majesty’s Dragoon Guards. He went to the Huntington Academy, subsequently attended at Victoria College, Cobourg, and thence passed to McGill University, from which he received the degree of B.A. and M.A. in arts, and B.C.L. and D.C.L. in law, and was for a number of years one of its fellows. Even while a student he studied the public questions of the day, being a welcome contributor to the press, and for a time was assistant editor on theDaily News. Had he followed the profession of journalism, he would have achieved marked success. The press proved a good training school, and those who listened to Justice Davidson’s eloquent speeches gave him a high place among public speakers. He studied with the present Justice Cross, and subsequently entered that gentleman’s law firm as junior partner. Several years ago he was created Queen’s counsel by the Provincial government, but the Supreme Court holding that the provinces were without authority to confer this title, he subsequently received a new patent from the Dominion authorities. He has been a life-long supporter of athletic exercises, having been for sometime president of the Beaver Lacrosse Club, of the Montreal Snow-Shoe Club, and of the Victoria Skating Club. During theTrentaffair in 1862, which threatened to involve Great Britain in hostilities with the United States, he was one of the first to enrol himself in the ranks of the newly formed Victoria Rifles, and rose by successive promotions until he became its commanding officer. Hisbonhommieand dash render him very popular in his regiment, while his pre-eminence in athletic sports and engaging social qualities, make him as popular in society as his legal attainments, quick perceptive faculties, convincing oratory, devoid of florid ornamentation, did among the shrewd practical plutocrats of Montreal. In politics Mr. Davidson was a Conservative, having been president of the Junior Conservative Club for several years. In 1881 he was a candidate for the Quebec parliament for Montreal Centre, but was defeated by George Washington Stephens, a powerful opponent, by ninety-eight votes. He married Alice, daughter of the late Wm. Mattice, of Cornwall, who for a number of years represented Stormont in the parliament of the united Canadas. Mr. Justice Davidson was called to the bench of the Superior Court in June, 1887, upon the death of the late Justice Torrance.