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=Gill, Robert=, of Ottawa, a gentleman well known to the seniors of Canadian finance, is one of the best known citizens of the Canadian capital, where he has resided since 1876. He has been especially identified with the history of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, of which institution he was a trusted officer for over forty years. He was born at Dundas, Ont., on September 30, 1851, the son of William and Alison (Sanderson) Gill, both his parents being of Scottish Border origin. He was educated at Upper Canada College, Toronto, and entered the service of the Bank of Commerce at the age of nineteen. This was in 1870, and the Bank was but three years old. In its expansion during the next few years Mr. Gill actively participated; his promotions were rapid, and in 1874 he was appointed manager of the Galt, Ont., branch. In 1876 he was transferred to the Ottawa branch, which was regarded as one of the most important in the Bank of Commerce chain of agencies. In 1880 he was appointed an Inspector of the Bank and retained that position until 1887 when he was appointed Manager of the Ottawa branch, which had attained a very important position in the financial life of the capital. Under his regime it attained a wide expansion of business and he continued to direct its affairs until 1911, when he retired on pension after forty-one years’ service. During his career with the Bank of Commerce he proved himself not only a practical banker with a complete understanding of the needs of the business community, but an able thinker and essayist on financial questions. Among his publications was one on the subject of Post Office Savings Banks reprinted in the “Canadian Banker’s Journal” for the use of the United States Currency Commission. Since his retirement from active business he has lent his services and influence to the promotion of patriotic and other objects of public welfare, and during the late war was Vice-President of the Executive of the Ottawa branch of the Canadian Patriotic Fund. He is also a Life Governor and Vice-President of St. Luke’s Hospital in that city, and in June, 1916, was appointed a member of the Military Hospitals Commission. From 1899 to 1906 he was honorary captain and paymaster of the Governor-General’s Foot Guards. He is a prominent figure in the social life of his chosen city, and in 1914 was elected President of the Rideau Club of Ottawa, a position he still holds at the time of writing. He is also a member of the following other clubs: Country (Ottawa), St. James (Montreal), York (Toronto), Ottawa Golf, R.C.Y.C. (Toronto) and the Constitutional (London, Eng.). He is a Past President of the Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society, member of St. Andrew’s Society (Ottawa), the Royal Canadian Institute and the Archæological Society of America, and a life member of the Royal Colonial Institute (England). His recreations are golf and angling; in religion he is an Anglican and in politics, a Conservative. Mr. Gill was first married on September 20, 1881, to Caroline, daughter of John Gilmour of “Marchmont,” Ottawa, by whom he has one surviving son, Major Allan Gilmour Gill, who during the late war commanded the 45th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, overseas. This lady passed away on April 19, 1884, and Mr. Gill married again on November 20, 1899, Anna Louise, daughter of the late W. R. Thistle, by whom he has three sons, Henry Robert Thistle, Evan William Thistle and Francis Egan Thistle. His permanent residence is at 281 O’Connor Street, Ottawa, and he has a summer residence, “Gillcairn,” at St. Andrew’s, N.B.
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=Wright, Alexander Whyte=, late Vice-Chairman Workmen’s Compensation Commission of Ontario, was born in the township of Markham, York County, Ontario, December 17, 1847, the son of George and Helen (Whyte) Wright, who came to Canada from Glasgow, Scotland, some years previously. He was educated in the public schools of New Hamburg, and after a short time in a drug store, learned the woollen business, later engaging in the woollen manufacturing business at Linwood, Waterloo County, and subsequently in Preston, St. Jacobs and Guelph. At an early age he joined the 29th Battalion, and responded to the call to arms for the Fenian raid. When the first Riel rebellion broke out he joined the Red River Expedition under General Sir Garnet Wolseley (afterwards British Commander-in-Chief Earl Wolseley), serving as a sergeant. On returning he rejoined the 29th Battalion as sergeant-major. In his later teens and early twenties he had quite a local reputation as a fine lacrosse player and fast runner. He had always been a great reader and taken an interest in politics, and in 1873 left the woollen business to become a reporter on the Guelph “Herald,” soon after being engaged as editor of the Orangeville “Sun.” He next edited the Stratford “Herald,” then the Guelph “Herald.” In 1878 he came to Toronto as editor and joint publisher of “The National,” making it an ardent advocate of the national policy, which the late Sir John A. Macdonald had adopted as his platform after having been urgently pressed to do so by a deputation consisting of the late Hon. Isaac Buchannan of Hamilton the late William Wallace, M.P. for Simcoe, the late John Maclean (father of W. F. Maclean, M.P. of the “World”), the late Thomas Cowan of Galt, the late W. H. Fraser and Mr. Wright. During the election campaign, he wrote many articles in the “National” that were extensively quoted by the Conservative press. Shortly after his return to power, Sir John A. Macdonald wrote Mr. Wright a letter in his own hand, in which he said:—“I wish to thank you most sincerely for your splendid work in the campaign which has just ended so satisfactorily. Your speeches and writings did more, I believe, than anything else to convert the people to protection. I only had the good fortune to hear you once—in the amphitheatre—but I was then struck with your wonderful grasp of the question and the extraordinary fund of information you possessed, and no less struck with the admirable way in which you marshalled your facts and presented your arguments. I hope to be able to express my gratitude to you in a more substantial way, and will be delighted if you will give me an opportunity to do so.” Mr. Wright returned to Guelph in 1879 as editor and joint publisher of the “Herald.” The proposed Government agreement for the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway did not meet with Mr. Wright’s approval, and, as the “Herald” had always been a Conservative paper, he gave up his interest in it, and wrote a series of articles published in the “Mercury,” advocating its being built and owned by the Government and paid for by a national currency—not notes or promises to pay, but bills of different denominations, reading “Legal tender for all debts, public and private.” He called a meeting to explain his plan in Guelph city hall, which was packed. At the conclusion of his address he moved a resolution calling on the Government to adopt the plan. On sitting down, the late Mr. Donald Guthrie—father of Hon. Hugh Guthrie, and at that time member of the legislature—arose and said that he had attended for the purpose of opposing the scheme, but Mr. Wright’s explanation had so clearly demonstrated its feasibility and incalculable value that he was converted to it, and had much pleasure in seconding the resolution. On those in favour being asked to raise their hands, the audience, with the exception of one man, rose to their feet and cheered for several minutes. In thanking the audience for their almost unanimous endorsation of this plan, Mr. Wright declared that the one exception was an unlooked-for further compliment. For his independent thought and action the “Mail” undertook to read Mr. Wright “out of the party.” Sir John A. Macdonald wrote Mr. Wright, repudiating its assumed authority, recognized his right to personal opinion, good standing as a Conservative, and assured him of his personal friendship, and continuing said: “I have read a report of your speech at Guelph, and, while I am sorry you saw occasion to make it, I confess I was struck with the plan you outline for the building of the railway. Possibly, under different conditions it might be practicable, but do not think it could be carried out now.” His ideas, however, were over a generation in advance of the people’s desire for public ownership, and, as a consequence private capitalists draw some $40,000,000 in bond interest and dividends yearly, besides adding large sums to reserve, which the people pay; while the people are out a huge land and money bonus, have neither the national railway nor a national currency, but instead a huge octopus of capitalists that dominates our legislation and is an ever-watchful and valiant defender of “vested rights”—whether rightly or wrongly obtained. Mr. Wright was invited to speak at the convention of the U.S. Greenbackers in Chicago in 1880, and accepted, as well as during the subsequent campaign. He returned to Toronto in 1881, and became editorial writer on the “World.” The following year he became Secretary of the Canadian Manufacturers Association, continuing till 1886, when, owing to the lines of cleavage between capital and labor becoming marked, he resigned and established the “Labor Reformer,” the first paper in Canada to advocate public ownership and a workmen’s compensation act. While secretary of the Canadian Manufacturers Association he drafted a factory act which he urged the Dominion Government to pass, providing equal protection and conditions to the workers in all provinces, as well as for manufacturers against unequal labor conditions. This the Government failed to adopt. The draft, however, was made the basis of the Factory Act passed by the Ontario Government shortly after; but this, of course, could give no protection to the Ontario manufacturer (and indirectly to the workers as well) against the longer hours and lower labor conditions obtaining in the Province of Quebec. In 1886, he was appointed Dominion Government agent for the Antwerp and the Indian and Colonial Exhibitions, and acted as one of four commissioners representing Canada in London at the latter. In 1887, he represented Toronto District Assembly at the General Assembly of the Knights of Labor, and was the first Canadian elected member of the General Executive Board, and immediately after was appointed editor of the “Journal of the Knights of Labor,” Philadelphia, official organ of the order, continuing to hold both positions till 1892, when he removed to New York as editor of “The Craftsman.” In 1896, he was appointed by the Laurier Government special commissioner to investigate and report on the sweating system in Canada, and was subsequently asked by that Government to investigate and report on the Japanese difficulties in British Columbia, but was unable to accept. From 1898 to 1904, he was organizer of the Conservative party in Ontario, engaging in three campaigns, being in charge of the campaign that resulted in Sir James Whitney becoming Premier. For a number of years he was president of the Canadian Public Ownership League, which did valuable work in educating the public as to the advantages of the idea now so firmly rooted in the Province of Ontario. He was a candidate for the Ontario Legislature in West Toronto, on the public ownership platform in 1908, but was defeated in the three-cornered contest. In 1910-11, he spent about eight months in Britain writing and speaking in the interest of Imperial preferential trade. On the Ontario Government in 1914 constituting a commission to put in operation the Workmen’s Compensation Act, Mr. Wright was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Board, his appointment said to be the last in which Sir James Whitney took any personal interest. The appointment met with the unanimous approval of organized labor. During the recruiting campaign, Mr. Wright took a very active and effective part in speaking throughout the city and elsewhere. He married, January 26, 1876, Elizabeth R., eldest daughter of the late Robert Simpson, at that time of Guelph, but formerly and latterly of Toronto. Mrs. Wright died in 1913. He is survived by his daughter, Mrs. W. E. Hunter of Toronto, a grandson and granddaughter, and a brother, Daniel W., of Cashmere, Washington, U.S. For some time he had been troubled with blood pressure and in September, 1918, sustained a slight stroke at his place in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where he delighted in birds, flowers, and fruit, in the cultivation of which he was well versed. In April he had a severe attack of neuritis, which, together with heart trouble, resulted in his death, June 12, 1919, at his home, 105 Macdonnell Avenue, Toronto. Of him, Dr. James L. Hughes wrote: “A. W. Wright was a vitally progressive force in Canada for half a century. He was a true democrat who recognized the right of women as well as men to freedom. Few men of his time so fully represented and so powerfully expressed justice and consideration for others as the basis of brotherhood. He was a charming comrade, a faithful friend, and an eloquent orator. All who knew him were better for his influence. No man could think a mean or base thought in his presence.” In a touching letter to Mrs. Hunter from Washington, D.C., T. V. Powderly, formerly General Master Workman of the Knights of Labor, wrote, in answer to a notification of Mr. Wright’s death:—“It was withheld from me until this morning; for a good reason, I suppose. . . . Anyway, I want to remember your father as I last saw him at my home here four years ago. His going was a blow to you and all his friends. He drew his sunshine from no niggard store, and spread more of it across life’s dark pathway than any man I ever met. His picture, framed, had a vase of Marie Pavia roses before it this morning. I understood—for your father gave that rosebush to me thirty years ago, and when we moved here from Scranton in 1899 we took it with us; we call it Marie Pavia Wright. I have known your father for forty years, and though for part of that time we were officially associated in the K. of L., our friendship was confined within no official band. . . . For years I had a dream. It was that some day I could so manage as to live close to your father and John Devlin. D. died a year ago. Perhaps we may live together yet—who knows? Soon I shall take up the journey they have begun, and when that hour comes I hope it may be said of me as I now say of your father:—
“Out through the portals of death he passed To that ultimate, Unknown land; The chart of right and of deeds well done, Held in his cold, dead hand. For the words he traced to his latest breath Are unclouded by wrong or ruth; And stamped on all, as he met his death, Was the seal of love and truth.”
Writing in the “World,” W. F. Maclean, M.P., said “The late A. W. Wright was an able man who played a leading part in making the destiny of Canada. . . . He had wit, a beaming way, and a radiant kind of sociability.” The “Hamilton Herald” said:—“Few Canadians of the last generation contributed more to the upbuilding of Canada than A. W. Wright. Much of the success of the Workmen’s Compensation Act is due to his sagacity and clear, swift insight. As a newspaper writer Alex. Wright was one of the most forceful of his time. As a platform speaker, when dealing with a subject with which he was familiar, he was unsurpassed. He had bright, incisive style and a talent for keen analysis. He was at his best when heckled. He courted interruption, for no one could get the better of him in a clash of wits.” In a review of his career, “Saturday Night” spoke of him as “a man of remarkable intellectual powers and charming personality,” and of his youth, “he made a hobby of economics and by the time he was thirty was recognized as one of the ablest writers and speakers on such subjects in this country.” When nickel was discovered in Ontario he urged on the government to establish a customs smelter to treat it, to sell at cost to actual users of it in Canada, and to place a heavy export duty on it, thereby giving Canadians a great advantage in manufacturing high-grade machinery of nickel steel, thus greatly stimulating industry here, and assuring Canada millions of dollars annually from export duty on nickel which outsiders must have at any cost. Instead of this a foreign concern was given a practical monopoly to refine Canadian nickel in the U.S. with the right to sell to Germany or any other enemy of Canada and the empire. Both as writer and speaker he was keenly analytical, logical, and constructive in his chosen style, but in dealing with an unfair opponent he was equally at home in using forceful denunciation, bitter irony, scorching sarcasm, or ludicrous burlesque, while in flashing and apt repartee he was unrivalled. He was widely read in prose and poetry, and, possessing a remarkable memory and facile power of expression, was a charming conversationalist, usually the centre of a group of appreciative auditors in any informal gathering. As raconteur he was inimitable. Continual optimism, constant cheerfulness, and unvarying kindliness were his outstanding characteristics, and won for him the friendship of all who knew him.
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=Roche, Francis James= (Toronto, Ont.), Clerk of Assize of the Supreme Court of Ontario, was Conservative candidate for Parliament in West Ontario in 1900, as also for North Toronto 1904, opposing Sir William Mulock, then Postmaster-General. He practised law in Toronto for several years, and served as a member of the Collegiate Institute Board of Trustees of Toronto from 1902 to 1905. He was appointed Official Referee of the Supreme Court in 1914. Mr. Roche was born at Whitby, Ont., October 10, 1865, the son of John R. Richmond Roche, M.A., and Sarah Danford Bryan Roche. He was educated at the Toronto Collegiate Institute and University College, graduating as B.A. in 1886 and as M.A. with honours in Natural Sciences in the following year. He married Lena, daughter of Hon. Theodore Bruere, attorney-at-law, St. Charles, Mo., U.S.A., and State Senator of Missouri, November 28, 1894. Mr. Roche is a Past-President of the United Irish League of Toronto, and is a member of the Canadian Military Institute and Empire Club of Toronto. He joined “K” Company, Queen’s Own Rifles in 1882, and served later in the Cavalry, retiring in 1910 from the Governor-General’s Body Guard with the rank of Major. An Anglican in religion and a Conservative in politics.
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=Whitney, Edwin Canfield= (Ottawa, Ont.), one of the leading capitalists of that city, and especially identified with the Canadian lumbering industry. He was born at Williamsburg, Ont., in the St. Lawrence Valley, on October 29, 1844, the son of Richard Leet and Clarissa Jane (Fairman) Whitney. The Whitney family is of United Empire Loyalist stock and descended from Henry Whitney, who came to New England from Herefordshire, England, in 1640. The late Sir James Whitney, Prime Minister of Ontario from 1905 to 1914 was an elder brother of the subject of this sketch. Edwin Canfield Whitney was educated at the public schools of his district, and subsequently moved to Minneapolis, Minn., where he engaged in the lumbering industry, and in the course of years built up a substantial fortune. He later removed to Ottawa, where he engaged in the lumber business as General Manager of the St. Anthony Lumber Company, Ltd., until 1912, when he retired from active business with the winding up of the company. He is also Vice-President of the Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Company. He was also one of the directors of the Keewatin Flour Mills Company, Ltd. He is a Director of the Bank of Ottawa and of the Toronto General Trusts Company, Ltd. The philanthropies of Mr. Whitney have been of a most enlightened character. He is one of the Governors of Protestant General Hospital, Ottawa, and in 1905 erected at an expense of $68,000 and presented to the University of Toronto a residence for male students. In the same year he was appointed a Trustee of the University Residence Fund, and in 1906 became one of the Governors of the University proper. Among his other gifts to the institution have been a valuable collection of works on Egypt and its antiquities, now in the University library. In 1911, he made a standing offer of $30,000 toward the erection of a general hospital in Ottawa, if the balance of the required sum could be raised. The good-heartedness and generosity of Mr. Whitney in connection with charities is indeed proverbial with all who know him, and during the great war his gifts to patriotic and other funds were on a generous scale. In association with Mrs. Whitney, he gave $5,000 to Trinity University (of which his brother, Sir James Whitney, was a distinguished graduate), and also a memorial church to the Anglican parish of Williamsburg, Ont., of which he was a member when a boy. Mr. Whitney is an adherent of the Anglican communion, and has on many occasions been a delegate to the Synods of that church. In March, 1879, he married Sarah, widow of the late Glossop McQuire, C.E., and daughter of the late J. P. Chrysler, M.P.P. Mrs. Whitney is also interested in philanthropic effort, and has been especially active in the Ottawa Humane Society. In politics Mr. Whitney is an independent. He is a member of the Masonic order and of the Country and Hunt Clubs, Ottawa.
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=Vaughan, Marshall= (Welland, Ont.), is one of the leading business men of the Niagara peninsula, and was born at Elcho, Gainsboro township, Lincoln County, Ont., on March 16, 1884. His father was Wilford Vaughan, and his mother’s maiden name was Orpha Augusta Evans. The Vaughans and the Evans were United Empire Loyalists, who came to Canada from New Jersey and Virginia after the American Revolution, and the names in both cases indicate Welsh descent. The subject of this sketch was educated at Smithville Collegiate Institute, and later commenced his business career in Welland, where his firm deals extensively in wholesale seeds and are growers, re-cleaners and exporters of those commodities. Mr. Vaughan has also taken an active part in the municipal affairs of Welland. He had the honour of being elected Mayor of that municipality for 1917, the year in which it achieved the status of a city, and on July 1, of that year presided over the inauguration proceedings in connection with that happy event. He also filled the office of Mayor for the year 1918, having been re-elected by acclamation. He takes an active part in all movements for the advancement of Canada from every standpoint, and is especially interested in proposals to obtain increased agricultural production. Mr. Vaughan is an Anglican in religion, and a Conservative-Unionist in politics, and during the great war was the representative of the Royal Flying Corps for the promotion of recruiting in his district. He is a member of the Masonic and Orange orders, and also of the Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the Welland Club, the Temple Club, the Country Club of Lawrence County, N.Y., and the Buffalo Automobile Club. On December 13, 1911, he married Evelyn Maud, daughter of Albert House, of Ancaster, Ont.
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=Wylie, Newton= (Toronto, Ont.), Journalist and Student of and Lecturer on Social and Political Economy and Affairs, son of John H. Wylie and Mary Jane Bernhardt, was born on September 12, 1892, at Toronto, and received his education at the Orangeville High School, Calgary Normal School, University of Toronto and Harvard University, graduating in 1917. When but a boy in his early student days, he interested himself in public affairs, and early gave evidence of talent both as a writer and a public speaker. Mr. Wylie is noted particularly for his work as a prohibition propagandist. He was the chief instrument in organizing the Ontario Young Manhood Association, which in 1914 presented a petition signed by 10,000 young Conservatives in Ontario to the late Sir James P. Whitney, then Prime Minister of the Province, asking provincial prohibition, and which contested unsuccessfully the constituency of Parkdale in the general election of June in that year. Mr. Wylie is also credited with having originated the Citizens’ Committee of One Hundred, of which he became General Secretary, and organized the six months’ whirlwind campaign throughout Ontario which resulted in the passing of the Ontario Temperance Act in March, 1916. Previous to that he had participated in the provincial prohibition campaign in Alberta in 1915, touring that Province and speaking in all the chief cities, as well as invading some of the mining districts. Mr. Wylie is a close personal friend of “Billy” Sunday, and has spoken on “No Booze” in the noted evangelist’s tabernacles in Trenton, Baltimore, and Boston. For some years he was a member of the staff of the “Globe,” Toronto, and wrote over the pseudonym of “Will Silo.” He has also contributed to several other newspapers and magazines. Twice since the outbreak of the war he offered his services to the army, but each time was rejected on account of injuries received in a serious automobile accident in 1913. He has, however, taken a prominent part in recruiting work, giving his services freely as a speaker and as an organizer in various schemes for raising funds, especially in connection with the 126th, 182nd and 201st Battalions. He is a member of the following clubs:—Canadian Club, Toronto Board of Trade, Walt Whitman, Harvard Union, Toronto Press Club, Toronto Canoe Club, Ontario Young Manhood Association, Citizens’ Committee of One Hundred, Canadian Suffrage Association, National Brotherhood Federation, Social Service Council of Canada, Canadian Red Cross Society, Canadian Patriotic Fund Association, Y.M.C.A., A-R Men’s Association. In religion Mr. Wylie is a Presbyterian, and in politics an independent.
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=Mackenzie, Daniel D., M.P.= for the riding of North Victoria, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, is one of the most prominent representatives of the Liberal party in the House of Commons, and served as Parliamentary leader of that party following the death of Sir Wilfrid Laurier in February, 1919, until the return to the House of Hon. W. L. M. King, the leader elected by the National Liberal Convention which assembled in the summer of the same year. He was born on January 8, 1859, at Lake Ainslie, in the heart of the Highland Scottish settlements of that island, the son of Duncan and Jessie (McMillan) Mackenzie. He was educated at the Public Schools and at the Sydney (C.B.) Academy, and became a barrister and attorney-at-law, practising at North Sydney. He early became prominent in politics, and has been a most successful candidate. In nearly a score of elections, municipal, provincial and federal, where he has been a candidate, he has never met defeat. He served as Commissioner of Schools for Cape Breton for a time, and was elected ten times to the Municipal Council of North Sydney, serving as Mayor for five years. He was elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature in 1900 as a Liberal, and again at the general elections of 1901. Prior to the general elections for the House of Commons in 1904, he resigned his seat in the Legislature to become a Federal candidate and was elected. He resigned, and was appointed Judge of District No. 7, County Court of Nova Scotia, on February 16, 1906, continuing in that office until October 15, 1908, when he retired and became again a candidate for the House of Commons. He was elected, and was equally successful at the general elections of 1911 and 1917. When the House assembled after the latter contest, he was the chosen desk-mate of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, then leader of the Opposition; and on the death of that statesman was elected by the Liberal caucus to the Parliamentary leadership. At the National Liberal Convention of August, 1919, he unwillingly allowed his name to go before the delegates chosen to elect a leader, yielding to pressure from his Scottish friends in Nova Scotia, but on the election of Mr. King extended to the latter his heartiest co-operation and support. At the conclusion of the regular Parliamentary session of 1918-9, he had the honour of seconding Sir Robert Borden’s resolution of thanks to the Canadian troops who had fought and died on the battlefields of France and Flanders. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and on January 28, 1891, he married Miss Florence N. McDonald, by whom he has one son, Charles Russell Mackenzie, born May 5, 1895. His home is at North Sydney, C.B.
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=Coristine, Major Stanley B.=, is a member of the Board of Pension Commissioners for Canada, with headquarters in Ottawa, and had a distinguished career in the great war. He was born at Montreal, Que., the son of James Coristine, a prominent business man of that city; was educated at the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ont., from which he graduated in 1906, and also took a course at McGill University, Montreal. After graduation he was for a time connected with James Coristine & Co., Ltd., but on the outbreak of the war immediately offered himself for service overseas, and on September 10, 1914, was gazetted Captain of the 5th Royal Highlanders of Montreal, becoming Adjutant of the regiment on October 1 of that year. On permission being granted to organize the 42nd Battalion, R.H.C., he was appointed adjutant for the period of organization and when the Battalion went overseas was at his own request placed in command of a company. The 42nd Battalion was transferred to France in October, 1915, and took part in much heavy fighting. In June, 1916, during the heavy fighting at Ypres, known as the “June show” he was seriously wounded and after two months in hospital was sent home to Canada. In April, 1917, he was discharged as permanently unfit for further service at the front, and in May of that year was appointed Secretary of the Pensions Board of Canada. He showed a very exceptional capacity for dealing with the problems which came before the Board, and his military record gained him the confidence of the many injured soldiers with whom his duties brought him in contact. In 1918 he was appointed a Commissioner to fill the vacancy created on the Board by the resignation of Major J. L. Todd, and the choice was generally approved in military circles throughout Canada. He is a Protestant and a member of St. Paul’s Lodge, A.F. & A.M. His recreations are golf and tennis, and he is a member of the following clubs: St. James and University, Montreal; Rideau, and Country, Ottawa. In 1909 he married Nina, daughter of John McLean, Montreal, and has three sons: Philip, born 1910; Edward, born 1912; and James, born 1918.
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=Watson, Senator Robert=, moved from Ontario to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, in 1876, where he built a mill, and later built another mill at Stonewall. He prospered, became popular, and was well received and appreciated by the entire community, irrespective of politics. Owing to his enterprising activities, his generosity, and his sympathetic and tangible conduct towards those less fortunate than he, he was soon elected to the Municipal Council, and as a councillor was instrumental in the adoption of municipal measures that aided in a marked degree the progressive and harmonious state of affairs in that thriving town. The Provincial Government and the Province’s representative in the House of Commons had been Conservative from the time, July 15, 1870, the Province entered Confederation, and with the return of the Conservatives to power at Ottawa in 1878, and Hon. John Norquay as Prime Minister, President of the Council, and Provincial Treasurer at Winnipeg, and four Conservative spokesmen for the Province occupying seats in the House of Commons, the young Province was but a helpless political toy in the hands of those who were elected to, and should have, looked after its best interests. Suffering for want of proper railway facilities, the situation became unbearable. Led by Hon. John Norquay, Provincial railway charters were being issued, only later to be disallowed by the Dominion Government, all of which, while the public was being led to believe differently, was fully understood and agreed upon beforehand by both Governments. Something had to be done to save the Province, and to place it on a higher plane. An agitation arose, several indignation meetings were held and finally, in the town of Portage la Prairie, the Provincial Rights Party was born, and Robert Watson, Portage la Prairie’s millwright, became the ideal candidate of the party to carry the banner for Marquette at the general Dominion election. In each of the five Manitoba Dominion constituencies (a new constituency for the Province had been created by the Dominion Government), a Provincial Rights Party candidate was nominated, and three of the five were elected, Winnipeg and Provencher, with Captain Thos. Scott and Joseph Royal, remained Conservative, but Lisgar, Marquette and Selkirk, with A. W. Ross, Robert Watson and Hugh Sutherland, became Provincial Rights constituencies. Out of these three, however—Ross, Watson and Sutherland—from and including 1882 and 1887, Mr. Watson was practically the only Liberal member in the House of Commons west of Lake Superior, and he is just as true and reliable to-day as he was when he first entered political life in 1882. Senator Robert Watson is the son of the late George Watson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, who came to Canada in 1847, and his wife Elizabeth McDonald, of Inverness-shire, Scotland. He was born at Elora, Ontario, April 29, 1853. In 1876, he moved to Manitoba, and was elected to the House of Commons for Marquette at the general elections in 1882, 1887 and 1891. He resigned to accept the portfolio of Minister of Public Works in the Greenway Administration, 1892, and was elected at the general elections of that year to the Legislature for Portage la Prairie, and again at the general election of 1896. At the general election of 1899 he was defeated. January 29, 1900, he was summoned to the Senate. July, 1880, Senator Watson married Isabella, daughter of Duncan Brown, of Lobo, Ontario. He is a Presbyterian, and his home address is Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.
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=Sutherland, Fred C.=, Stock Broker, 12 King St. East, Toronto, was born March 17, 1880, in West River, Nova Scotia, and received his education at Pictou Academy. He entered his present business in 1909 and became actively engaged in the development of Northern Ontario’s natural resources, being instrumental in bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars for the advancement of mining interests in the districts of Porcupine, Kirkland Lake, West Shining Tree and Fort Matachewan. The firm of F. C. Sutherland & Co. is one of the largest of its kind in Canada, besides its large and finely appointed head office, having branch offices in Montreal, Boston, Springfield, Buffalo, Detroit and New York. He has surrounded himself with a staff of the most capable mining experts, and his sound judgment, based on first-hand information has proven of great value to his large clientele of investors. Though his time is constantly in demand by his clients and the investing public as well as in directing both internal and external affairs of his extensive interests he is invariably genial and unruffled, having the happy faculty of being able to divert his attention rapidly from one subject to another yet keeping closely in touch with each till disposed of. He is a member of The Board of Trade, the Lambton Golf Club, a Protestant, a Unionist in politics and the possessor of an unusually pleasing personality.
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=Taylor, Lt.-Col. Hon. George= (Gananoque), the second son of the late William Taylor and his wife Ann Graham, both of the north of Ireland. Was born at Lansdowne, County Leeds, Ontario, March 31, 1840, and has been for years one of the most popular figures in the public life of this Dominion. Educated in the Public Schools of Lansdowne, the Hon. Mr. Taylor began life in the mercantile business as a clerk in a country general store at the age of eleven years, where he worked for £1 a month, and continued with the same firm as partner over twenty-five years. On retiring from the mercantile business above mentioned, the Hon. Mr. Taylor re-organized the Ontario Wheel Company, to manufacture carriage wheels, and has been President of the Company for thirty years. He has been Reeve of Gananoque for seven years, and Warden of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, of which he was County Auditor, 1881. Was first elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative candidate for the County of Leeds in the general elections of 1882, and was re-elected at every general election held since up to 1911 when he resigned his seat to create a vacancy for Sir Thomas White, who had been appointed Minister of Finance in the Borden Cabinet. During his long parliamentary career Hon. Mr. Taylor was chief Whip of the Conservative party for twenty-five years under Sir John A. MacDonald, Sir John Abbott, Sir John Thompson, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, Sir Charles Tupper and Sir Robert Borden. Shortly after his retirement from the House of Commons, on November 17, 1911, the subject of this sketch was summoned to the Senate, and since his appointment to the Upper Chamber has taken an active part in its deliberations. On retiring from the House of Commons, he received a handsome testimonial of esteem from his colleagues. Hon. Mr. Taylor, during his career in public life, has always received the good will of all classes of citizens. He is the soul of good humor, broadminded, generous and a liberal gentleman, and has been called “The John Hampden” of this Dominion. He is the Honorary Colonel of the 156th Battalion of Leeds and Grenville and President of the Peace River Land Company and a member of the following societies: Orange, Masonic, Oddfellows, United Workmen, Royal Arcanum and Foresters. Senator Taylor was married on September 10, 1863, to Margaret Ann Latimer, daughter of James and Ellen Latimer and ward of Major James Kirker of Gananoque. They celebrated their golden wedding Sept. 10, 1913. Mrs. Taylor died Mar. 12, 1917. Mr. Taylor afterwards married Lilian Coleman, daughter of the late Mr. Anson Clark Coleman and his wife Hannah Witton, of Delta, both Canadians of English descent.
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=Richardson, John= (Toronto, Ont.), was born in Scarboro Township, County of York, Ontario, in 1843, on the farm of his father, the late Ezekiel Richardson. He received his education at the Public School, Scarboro Village, at the Grammar School, Markham Village, and at Victoria College, Cobourg. After completing his education he returned to his old home and engaged in the business of farming until 1894. Early in life he took an active interest in public affairs in his native township. In 1875 he was induced to accept nomination and was a successful candidate for a seat in the Township Council and was re-elected for nineteen years consecutively, three years as Councilman, two years as Deputy Reeve and fourteen years as Reeve. In 1885 he was elected Warden of the County of York, the highest municipal position in the County. The City of Toronto and the County of York are united for judicial purposes. Mr. Richardson was for many years Chairman of the Legislation Committee and as such had much to do with framing legislation beneficial to the Metropolitan City and County. In December, 1894, he retired from the Reeveship of Scarboro, he having been elected by the constituency of East York as their representative in the Ontario Legislature, which position he held for ten years, being re-elected in 1892 and 1902. He was a Liberal in politics and was a supporter of the administrations of Sir Oliver Mowat, Hon. A. S. Hardy and Sir George W. Ross. In 1902 he lost his health, the strenuous life of a politician was too severe for him. In 1904 he was compelled to forego his political ambitions and withdraw from political life. In December of that year Sir George W. Ross, then Premier of Ontario, appointed him to the position of Clerk of the County Court of the County of York, which position he held until his death. Mr. Richardson’s father emigrated from the North of Ireland in 1824, and settled in Scarboro. In 1831 he married Miss Mary Hunter, an English girl. Their descendants being five sons and four daughters. James and Ezekiel, who were ordained Methodist Ministers, and Joseph and Samuel, who graduated in medicine, now deceased. Three sisters survive—Mrs. A. Barber, Bowmanville; Mrs. E. Draper and Mrs. H. Aylard, of Toronto. He was a Director of the York Fire Insurance Co., a member of the Acacia Lodge A.F. & A.M., and a Methodist in religion. He was a philanthropist, in a quiet way, many owing their success in life to his generosity. By his honest and straightforward actions in both his political and private life, he won the confidence and respect of the community at large. Mr. Richardson died at Toronto, in September, 1914, after a very active career.
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=Doughty, Arthur George, M.A., C.M.G., Litt.D., LL.D., F.R.S.C., F.R.C.I.=, Archivist for the Dominion of Canada, is perhaps the greatest living authority on Canadian history, and a scholar of international repute. He was born at Maidenhead, England, on March 22, 1860, the son of William John Doughty. He was educated at the public schools, Maidenhead, Lord Eldon College, London, New Inn Hall, Oxford University, and Dickenson College, Carlisle, when he was awarded the M.A. degree in 1890. Ten years later he became Docteur de Lettres of Laval University, Montreal, and in 1912 received the Honorary Degree of LL.D. at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont. As a young man Dr. Doughty contemplated entering the Church, and was engaged in religious work at All Hallows Mission, Southwark, London, and in other institutions. Circumstances, however, altered this intention and in the nineties he came to Canada and was engaged for a time in commercial pursuits at Montreal, utilizing his leisure for literary work. In 1897 he was appointed Private Secretary to the Minister of Public Works at Quebec, and in 1899-1901 served in a similar capacity with the Provincial Treasurer of Quebec. In the latter year he was appointed joint librarian of the Quebec Legislature, and on May 16, 1904, became Dominion Archivist and Keeper of the Records for Canada, with headquarters in the Archives Building, Ottawa. His indefatigable labors in that office have raised it to very large importance. In 1907 he was appointed a member of the Canadian Historical Manuscripts Commission, and in 1908 a member of the literary committee of the Quebec Battlefields Commission. In 1909 he became a member of the Dominion Geographic Board. One of the greatest historical services he has been able to render Canada was at the conclusion of the great war in 1918 when he went to Great Britain and France and secured a magnificent collection of war trophies as the permanent possession of Canada, to be apportioned among various Canadian cities. Dr. Doughty early acquired rare skill as an illuminator on vellum and decorated the book presented to the present King and Queen on their visit to Quebec in 1901. He is also an expert in shorthand, and has published an edition of Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” in that script. At the same time he has been prolific in many forms of literary effort, as the following list of publications shows: “The Life and Works of Lord Tennyson,” 1893; “Rose Leaves,” 1894; “The Song Story of Francesco and Beatrice,” 1896; “Nugæ Canoræ,” 1897; “The Site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham,” 1918; “The Siege of Quebec,” in six volumes, 1901-2 (written in collaboration with George W. Parmalee); “The Struggle for Supremacy,” 1905; “Documents relating to the Constitutional History of Canada” (with Prof. Adam Shortt), 1907; “The Cradle of New France,” 1908; “Index and Dictionary of Canadian History” (with L. J. Burpee), 1911; joint editor of “Canada and Its Provinces,” in twenty-two volumes; joint editor of “Documents Relating to the Constitutional History of Canada from 1791 to 1818,” published 1914; Editor of General Knox’s “Journal of Campaigns in North America,” published in three volumes by the Champlain Society, 1914; “The Acadian Exiles,” 1915; “A Daughter of New France,” 1915. Dr. Doughty has also contributed to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, Encyclopedia Americana, the Catholic Encyclopedia, and to many magazines and historical journals. His lighter efforts have included the libretto of a comic opera “Bonnie Prince Charlie.” He is a member of the Canadian Society of Authors, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain, and a member of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. In 1905 he was honored with the decoration of C.M.G. He married, first, Bertha Van Kehrweider, in June, 1886, who died January, 1910; secondly, Kathleen Rathbun Browne, daughter of George A. Browne, Montreal, in June, 1911. In religion he is a Roman Catholic, and is a member of the Rideau Club, and the Ottawa Golf Club. He resides at 490 Wilbrod St., Ottawa.
A Cyclopædia of Canadian Biography · The Wunder Library — complete classics, free to read, with narration.