Part 15

“Resolved: That this board of directors have received with much regret intelligence of the death of the late president of the company, Mr. John Pratt, whose long and valuable services in its behalf secured for him the gratitude, not only of the directors, but of every shareholder in the company. The directors desire to offer to his family the deep sympathy of every member of the board in the loss they have sustained, and to assure them of the high esteem in which the late Mr. Pratt was universally held.

“Hugh Allan, president. “J. N. Beaudry, secretary. “Thomas Caverhill. “Andrew Allan. “William McNaughton. “Adolphe Roy. “D. Masson. “M. H. Gault. “Robert Anderson.”

THOMAS W. RITCHIE.

One of the most prominent members of the provincial bar was T. W. Ritchie, who specialized in the practice of commercial law in Montreal and represented many important corporations in his professional connection. A native of Hatley, Quebec, he was born in 1828. After careful preparation for active law practice he was called to the bar in 1852 and opened an office in Sherbrooke. In 1860 he removed to Montreal and became a member of the firm of Rose, Monk & Ritchie. It was in 1867 that he was appointed queen’s counsel. No dreary novitiate awaited him at the outset of his professional career. He brought to its starting point several rare gifts, strong individuality, marked strength of character and high professional ideals, in addition to comprehensive knowledge of the principles of law and ability to correctly apply these. He continued in active practice as a member of the firm of Rose, Monk & Ritchie until Mr. Monk was appointed to the bench. The partnership relation under the firm style of Rose & Ritchie then continued until Sir John Rose left Canada for England. Mr. Ritchie was then joined by J. L. Morris and W. Rose, but the latter left soon afterward and later Mr. Morris retired. Mr. Ritchie then took in as partner Mr. G. H. Borlase, who remained with him until 1879, when he retired. Mr. Ritchie then admitted his son W. F. Ritchie to a partnership under the firm style of Ritchie & Ritchie. The father was one of the most prominent members of the bar of the province, ranking high as an advocate in the department of commercial law and sustaining many important professional relations. At the time of his death, on the 4th of September, 1882, he was solicitor to the Bank of Montreal and the Hudson’s Bay Company and was both director and solicitor to the Montreal, Portland & Boston Railway. For many years he acted as crown prosecutor for the district of Montreal. The court records attest his high standing and his ability whereby he engraved his name high on the keystone of the legal arch. It is the theory of the law that the counsels who practice are to aid the court in the administration of justice, and perhaps no representative of the Montreal bar has been more careful to conform his practice to a high standard of professional ethics than did T. W. Ritchie.

ALBERT GEORGE NICHOLLS, M. D.

One of the well known members of the medical profession in Montreal, Dr. Albert George Nicholls has made continual progress, and in the field of scientific attainment and research is recognized as one of the most eminent in the profession in the city. His investigations, carried far and wide, have brought forth many valuable truths, and his contributions to medical literature are largely accepted as standard.

Dr. Nicholls was born at Shotley Bridge, Durham, England, April 16, 1870, a son of the late Rev. John Nicholls and Mary Elizabeth (Harland) Nicholls. The father was the well known pastor of St. Mark’s Presbyterian church in Montreal for twenty-two years. In England he became identified with the Methodist clergy and was given charge of churches at Shotley Bridge, Durham; Chester-le-Street, Hetton and Blyth, Northumberland. He was born at Willenhall, Staffordshire, England, in 1840, and had reached the age of fifty-eight years when he passed away in Montreal on the 4th of May, 1898. He had been a resident of Canada for almost a quarter of a century, having arrived in this country in 1874. It was after he came to the new world that he connected himself with the Presbyterian church and for twenty-two years remained pastor of St. Mark’s. The names of few are so closely interwoven with the history of moral progress in this city. For some years he was a member of the Protestant Ministerial Association, was editor of the Bible Reporter, and was a frequent contributor to the press upon questions relative to the work of the church and the extension of Christian influence. At the time of the smallpox epidemic in Montreal he served on various committees formed to relieve the situation and opened his church for the distribution of relief. He was also one of the originators of the Fresh Air Fund and while thoroughly versed upon dogmas and the principles of theology, his religion was ever of that practical character which found expression in good deeds, in ready sympathy, and in immediate helpfulness. The survivors of his family are Mrs. Nicholls; Dr. Albert George Nicholls, whose name introduces this review; and a daughter, Miss Amy Nicholls, B. A.

Education received high rating in the Nicholls home and the son was afforded excellent opportunities for acquiring knowledge that would fit him for any field of labor to which he might choose to devote his efforts. He attended McGill Model School, the Montreal high school and afterward entered McGill University, where he won the Bachelor of Arts degree and became gold medallist in classics in 1890. Three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree and in preparation for the medical profession he pursued a course of study in McGill, which won him the M. D. and C. M. degrees in 1894. In 1909 the Doctor of Science degree was conferred upon him and in 1908 the honor of F. R. S. C. Holding to the highest professional standards and wishing to reach the highest possible point of proficiency, Dr. Nicholls has gone abroad for study, doing post-graduate work at Erlangen, Prague and Vienna. A successful practitioner in Montreal, he has devoted much time to original research, more especially in the scientific side of medicine. He is perhaps best known for his work in connection with typhoid fever, Brights disease, tuberculosis and some of the more obscure phases of chronic inflammation and his views have been referred to in several of the more recent authoritative text-books. He is the author of more than forty monographs and other publications on medical subjects, and his writings have largely been accepted as standard by the profession in this section of the country. He was joint author with Professor Adami of The Principles of Pathology, a work of recognized value. He is equally well known as a lecturer on clinical medicine and assistant professor of pathology and bacteriology in McGill University. He is out-patient physician to the Montreal General Hospital and assistant physician and pathologist to the Western General Hospital.

In May, 1907, Dr. Nicholls was married to Miss Lucia Pomeroy, the youngest daughter of the late William H. Van Vliet of Lacolle, P. Q., and they have three sons, George Van Vliet, John Van Vliet and Robert Van Vliet. Dr. Nicholls is a conservative and an ardent imperialist. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian church, and he is a member of the University Club, Montreal, and the Authors’ Club, London.

Those life forces which work for betterment, for progress and improvement elicit his attention and receive his support, and he is today recognized as a man of splendidly developed talents and well balanced powers, so that he has become a forceful factor in the world’s work.

CAPTAIN GEORGE HILLYARD MATTHEWS.

Success in business resulting entirely from capable management, keen discrimination and unfaltering enterprise came to Captain George Hillyard Matthews, who for many years was president of the Sincennes-McNaughton Line. His birth occurred in Montreal on the 14th of August, 1846, and he passed away at the comparatively early age of fifty-seven years, dying on the 19th of January, 1904. He was a son of George Matthews, of Mount Victoria, Hudson and Montreal. The father came to Canada from Essex, England, as a young man and in this country married a Miss Hudson, also a native of England. They became the parents of six children, including Captain Matthews, who received his military education at Sandhurst, England, in 1871. The following year he entered the army and served for a period of eight years, when he resigned. He was an honorary member of the officers’ mess of the Third Victoria Rifles and also honorary president of the Army and Navy Veterans Association. He never ceased to feel a deep interest in military affairs and believed in the maintenance of a high standard of service in connection with the army and navy.

Captain Matthews’ business affairs also brought him prominently before the public. For many years he was president of the Sincennes-McNaughton Line and during his term of office the major portion of the harbor fleet of tugs was built under his supervision. As opportunity offered he made judicious investments in real estate and became the owner of a large amount of property in Montreal. Following the death of Baron de Longueuil, he took charge of his estate, which he wisely managed.

In 1878 Captain Matthews was united in marriage to Miss Virginia Pratt, a daughter of John Pratt, one of the early settlers of Montreal. He held membership in the St. James Club and he was interested in various significant and vital questions of the day, especially in fish and game protection. He also took an active interest in politics. He was acquainted with all of the different phases of public life having to do with the prosperity and progress of his city and province, and his aid and cooperation could always be counted upon to further movements for the general good.

DAVID BURKE.

One of the best known insurance and financial men of Montreal was the late David Burke, who passed away on December 5, 1913. He was born in Charlottetown, P. E. I., in 1850, being the youngest son of Edward and Mary (Acorn) Burke, both of whom were natives of Prince Edward Island. He received his early education in the schools of that province. In early manhood he turned his attention to the insurance business, being but sixteen years of age when he entered upon the field of labor in which he was to attain to importance, making his name one well known in insurance circles not only in Canada but also in the United States. In 1869 he came to Montreal, where he was associated in business with his brother, the late Walter Burke, then general manager for Canada of the New York Life Insurance Company. On the death of the latter in 1879 the company retired from Canada owing to differences with the insurance department at Ottawa. In 1883, being willing to conform to the regulations set down by this department, the company reentered Canada, and Mr. David Burke was appointed general manager. In 1897 he retired from his connection with this firm to organize an insurance company of his own, the Royal Victoria Life Insurance Company, which was absorbed by the Sun Life in 1911. He thus bent his energies to administrative direction and executive control and his opinions were largely accepted as authority upon matters connected with the complex problems of insurance and the control of the business. In 1882 he was elected an associate of the British Institute of Actuaries, being one of its oldest members, and in 1897 was made a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society of Great Britain. In 1904 he was honored with election to the vice presidency of the Economic and Statistical Society of Montreal and in 1906 was chosen president of the Canadian Life Insurance Officers Association. For two years he held the presidency of the Life Managers Association of Canada, a body formed solely of the executive heads of insurance companies in Canada, each company being represented in the association by only one member. He studied every phase of the insurance business with a thoroughness that made his opinions standard, and he was the author of a valuable paper published in 1908 entitled “Insurance as a National Economy.” The Montreal Witness spoke of him as one “recognized as a most capable insurance administrator,” and his contemporaries and colleagues speak of his business ability and resourcefulness in terms of high admiration.

Mr. Burke was married in 1875 to Miss Rose Maclear, the youngest daughter of the late Thomas Maclear, founder of the Maclear Publishing Company of Toronto, and they were parents of four sons and two daughters, as follows: Edmund A., the noted vocalist; Louis, of New York; Alan, of Boston; Maurice N., of Montreal; Mrs. Fred C. Budden, of Montreal; and Miss Marjorie Burke, of Montreal.

Mr. Burke was a member of the St. James Club and in religious faith an Anglican, while his political belief placed him in the position of an imperial protectionist. His views of life were those of a broad-minded man who delved deep into the questions of vital importance and who proved himself the master of those forces which made up his life’s experience.

JAMES JOHN EDMUND GUERIN, M. D., LL. D., T. C. D., K. C. S. G.

Dr. James John Edmund Guerin, medical practitioner and educator, and an influential figure in the political history of the province, having served with distinction as a member of the Marchand and Parent cabinets and later as mayor of Montreal, was born July 4, 1856, in the city which is still his place of residence, a son of the late Thomas Guerin, C. E., chief hydraulic engineer of the department of public works, Ottawa, and a brother of the Hon. Edmund Guerin, one of the judges of the superior court, Montreal. Dr. Guerin made his studies at the Montreal College, and later entered McGill University for the purpose of pursuing a course in medicine. He was graduated M. D., C. M. in 1878, and has since engaged in active practice in his native city where he has also done important hospital work. He is the president of the medical board of the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital and one of the governors of the Notre Dame Hospital; in educational circles he is well known as professor of clinical medicine in Laval University. He holds to the highest professional standards of ethics and enjoys the warmest regard of fellow practitioners. He is a director of the Royal Edward Institute and a governor of the Victorian Order of Nurses, and in 1909 he was appointed a member of the royal commission to prevent the further spread of tuberculosis.

Capable and prominent as is Dr. Guerin in his chosen profession, he has also become equally widely known in connection with political activity and has done much important work. In 1895 he was elected president of the St. Patrick’s Society and was reelected in 1896 and 1897. In the former year he was a delegate to the Irish National Convention at Dublin. In October, 1895, he was returned to the legislature for Montreal in the liberal interests by a majority of twelve hundred and fifty-four. In 1897 he was reelected in the general election and was called to the Marchand cabinet without portfolio on the 25th of May of that year. He was a minister without portfolio in the Marchand and Parent administrations from 1897 to 1904, and in 1901 was appointed member of the council of public instruction of the province of Quebec. His opinions carried weight in provincial councils and a discussion of any vital question with him at once indicated how widely and thoroughly he was informed concerning the points at issue. In February, 1910, as the candidate of the citizens’ party, he was elected mayor of Montreal by a majority of twelve thousand nine hundred and eighty-three and in his administration sought at all times to further the best interests of the city. He conducted its civic affairs along economical lines and yet never fettered municipal progress by a narrow conservatism. He represented the city of Montreal at the funeral of King Edward in London in 1910 and at the coronation of King George and Queen Mary in 1911. In 1911 he was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, and in 1912 he received the degree of LL. D. from Trinity College, Dublin.

In 1883 Dr. Guerin was married to Miss Mary Carroll O’Brien, daughter of the late Hon. James O’Brien; she died in 1886. Dr. Guerin resides at No. 4 Edgehill Avenue. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church. Aside from serving as president of St. Patrick’s Society he has been president of the Shamrock Lacrosse Club and of many other organizations. He is a member of the Mount Royal Club, the University Club and the Montreal Jockey Club. His activity along various important lines indicates his worth and value as a citizen, and his indorsement at the polls testifies to the confidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens. His ideals of citizenship are high, while in his professional career he manifests the keenest appreciation for the responsibilities and obligations which devolve upon him.

ANDREW STUART EWING.

Andrew Stuart Ewing, for almost half a century one of the best known business men of Montreal, was born in 1838 at Lisdillon House, Londonderry, Ireland, and was a representative of an old family of Irish origin, his parents being Samuel and Margaret (Hamilton) Ewing, who crossed the Atlantic to Canada with their family when their son, Andrew, was seven years of age. He was educated in the public schools of Montreal and in 1860 entered into partnership with his brother, Samuel H. Ewing, in the ownership and management of the extensive coffee and spice mills formerly owned by his father, who founded the business in 1845. In 1860 the firm style of Samuel Ewing & Sons was assumed and in 1892, after the retirement of Samuel H. Ewing, Andrew S. Ewing became sole proprietor of the business which was conducted at No. 55 Cote Street. The enterprise was one of extensive proportions and yielded a substantial profit as a result of careful management and wise direction.

During the last fifteen years of his life Mr. Ewing was a prominent member of the Montreal Board of Trade and was interested in its various projects for promoting the material progress of the city and advancing affairs of municipal and civic interest. In politics he was a conservative and a strong supporter of the national policy.

Mr. Ewing died at his home in Montreal, January 8, 1902, and was survived by his widow until June, 1913. The surviving children are Andrew Stuart and Royal L. H. Ewing and two daughters, Mrs. Robert Starke and Miss Adelaide Ewing. The sons are members of the firm of Ewing & Ewing, real estate and insurance, which was established in September, 1906, by the brothers in connection with A. F. Gault, but the last named retired from the firm May 1, 1912. A. Stuart Ewing is a member of the Art Association of Montreal, the Canadian Club, the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, the St. James Club, the Manitou Club and the Park Toboganning Club, of which he is vice president.

Mr. Royal L. H. Ewing is a member of the Art Association of Montreal, the Montreal and Canadian Clubs, the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, the Mount Royal Lawn Tennis Club, the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, the St. James Club, the Manitou Club and the Park Toboganning Club. The sons are worthy successors to their father, not only in business activity but also in that business integrity for which the family name has always stood.

FRANK RICHARDSON ENGLAND, M. D., C. M.