A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1878. He is a Roman Catholic in religion. He was married on the 12th
6221 words | Chapter 152
January, 1881, to Alide, daughter of L. T. Dorias, of St. Grégoire le
Grand, Quebec, M.P.P. for the county of Nicolet.
* * * * *
=Ross, Hon. James Gibb=, Quebec, Senator of the Dominion of Canada, is a
merchant in the ancient capital, occupying a prominent position among
the commercial men of the city, and wields an influence over several
branches of the local trade and industry. Hon. Mr. Ross is eminently a
self-made man. He was born, about sixty-eight years ago, in the small
village of Carlake, about eighteen miles from the city of Glasgow, and,
after receiving such education as the parish school could afford, came,
while still young, to Canada, where he entered as a clerk the office of
his maternal uncle, the late James Gibb, president of the Quebec Bank,
and then doing an extensive wholesale grocery business in the Lower Town
of that city. Here Mr. Ross acquired his business training and habits of
industry. On the uncle’s death, Mr. Ross continued the business, with
his brother, John Ross (deceased in September, 1887), and the
partnership was continued down to 1868, when it was dissolved. Long
before this, however, Hon. Mr. Ross had begun to turn his attention to
other investments for his large and increasing capital. The
ship-building industry at Quebec was then in its palmiest days, and in
it he became largely interested, advancing large sums of money to the
local ship-builders, and the Western timber producers. From
ship-building to ship-owning there was but a step, and a number of his
vessels, both sail and steam, soon dotted the St. Lawrence. He also
purchased large timber limits, built mills, became interested in
railways, steamboats, etc., and by this means helped to develop to a
large extent the resources of Canada and build up the local industries
of the city of his adoption. Quebec owes to him, in a large measure, the
successful construction of the Lake St. John and Quebec Central Railway,
and few local undertakings can be specified to which he has not given a
helping hand, and in which he is not concerned. At present, although a
wealthy man, he is still as punctual and hard working as the humblest
clerk in his office. He is to be found at his post early and late, and,
though he has considerably restricted his shipping interests of recent
years, his investments and speculations in other directions continue as
extensive as ever. He is president of the Quebec Bank, a large
stockholder in other institutions, financial and industrial, and
naturally wields a large amount, of local influence. A Conservative from
predilection, his life has, nevertheless, been always too busy a one to
allow of his taking an active part in politics. However, much against
his will, he yielded in 1873 to the solicitations and pressure of a
large body of his fellow-citizens, and at the general election of that
year for the Canadian House of Commons, he offered himself as a
candidate for Quebec Centre against that veteran politician, the late
Hon. Joseph Cauchon, then the vigorous editor of _Le Journal de Québec_,
and afterwards lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. The division was largely
inhabited by a French-Canadian population, party feeling ran very high
at the time, and religious and national prejudices were invoked against
Mr. Ross, with the result that, after a very severe and exciting
contest, he lost his election. At the general elections of 1878, he
again offered for the same division, against Jacques Malouin, who had
succeeded to the seat after Mr. Cauchon’s appointment to the
lieutenant-governorship of Manitoba, but was again defeated. But in
January, 1884, on the death of the Hon. David E. Price, he was called by
the government of Sir John A. Macdonald, to the great satisfaction of
the citizens of Quebec, to a seat in the Senate for Les Laurentides
division. He has always taken a deep interest in the political welfare
of Canada.
* * * * *
=Nelson, Hugh=, Victoria, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, was
born at Larne, county of Antrim, Ireland, on the 25th May, 1830. He
settled in British Columbia in June, 1858, and engaged in mercantile
pursuits until 1866, when he became a partner in the lumbering firm of
Moody, Dietry & Nelson, at Burrard Inlet. He was vice-president and
manager of the Moodyville Saw Mill Company until 1882, when he retired
from business. In November, 1870 he was elected to represent New
Westminster in the British Columbia legislature, which seat he held
until its dissolution in 1871, when the colony entered into
confederation with the Dominion of Canada. He was then returned to
represent the same constituency in November, 1871, and again at the
general election in 1872 by acclamation, when absent from the province.
He was a member of the Yale convention, and among the first promoters of
confederation in British Columbia. He received a diploma of honor for
services rendered in connection with the International Fisheries
Exhibition, in London, England, in 1883. He was called to the Senate of
Canada on the 12th December, 1879, and remained until the 8th February,
1887, when he was appointed lieutenant-governor of British Columbia. He
was married on the 17th September, 1885, to Emily, youngest daughter of
the late J. B. Staunton, civil service of Canada.
* * * * *
=Pugsley, Hon. William=, D.C.L., St. John, Speaker of the House of
Assembly of New Brunswick, is of Loyalist stock. One of his paternal
ancestors was an Englishman, and was one of the earliest settlers on the
Croton river, New York. After the Revolutionary war, John Pugsley, the
great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to New Brunswick
and settled on the Hammond river, in Kings county, but afterwards
returned to New York, and subsequently removed to England. His son,
Daniel Pugsley, settled in Cardwell, Kings county, N.B. Hon. William
Pugsley is a son of William Pugsley, sen., who worked a farm with much
success near Sussex, in one of the most fertile districts of New
Brunswick. Like so many of our best men, Mr. Pugsley received his
education in the common school. Having finished his preliminary studies
at Sussex, he entered the University of New Brunswick, at Fredericton,
and here he was highly successful. In his junior year he was gold
medallist, and he also took several scholarships. About this time the
Gilchrist scholarships, founded out of the savings of a wealthy and
eccentric Scottish doctor, were thrown open to competition in the
provinces of the Dominion. Mr. Pugsley was among those who tried for the
coveted distinction, and in 1868 took second place in the list of
competitors. He took his degree of B.A. in the same year. Shortly
afterwards he began the study of the law, and was called to the bar the
27th June, 1872. He at once secured a large and lucrative practice, and
soon after his admission to the bar was appointed reporter and editor of
the decisions of the Supreme Court _in banco_. He held this position for
ten years. Mr. Pugsley has always taken a warm interest in the politics
of his native province. For some years back, in the local house, the
government has been conducted by a virtually coalition cabinet. Mr.
Pugsley is an Independent Conservative, and was elected to the House of
Assembly in July, 1885, a vacancy having been created by the death of
Dr. Vail, M.P.P. In the debates of the house, Dr. Pugsley at once came
to the front, and was considered so well versed in parliamentary
procedure, that on the 3rd March, 1887, he was elected speaker of the
house. In this position his wide knowledge of law as well as his
acquaintance with the _personnel_ of the house and his unfailing tact
and good judgment, have stood him in good stead. The office of speaker
is one which calls for great patience and circumspection, and it is also
one which is eagerly sought for by politicians of every degree of
ability and popularity. A speaker must be also possessed of great
swiftness and sureness of decision, as in the many turns of debate, and
the inevitable clashing of opinion and personal jarrings, a delicate
adjustment of the rights of members may come up for settlement. Mr.
Pugsley has continued his early love of scholastic studies and
associations, and holds the degree of D.C.L. of Fredericton University.
In religious principles he is a Methodist. He married, on the 6th
January, 1872, Fannie, daughter of the late Thomas Parks, of St. John.
Though residing at Rothesay, Kings county, he practises his profession
in St. John.
* * * * *
=Slaven, John Wallace=, Druggist, Orillia, Ontario, is a native
Canadian, having been born in the county of Prince Edward, Ontario, on
the 16th August, 1834. His father, P. Slaven, and mother, Eliza Walsh,
both come from the county of Wexford, Ireland. Mr. Slaven received his
educational training in the public and grammar schools of his native
county. He holds a medical degree from an American medical school, but
preferring business, he has never practised his profession. He first
commenced the drug business in Wellington, Prince Edward county, in
partnership with the late Dr. Archie Campbell, of that place, and in the
fall of 1862 removed to Orillia, where he has continued the business
with fair success up to the present. Mr. Slaven attended the Military
School at Kingston, and in 1866 graduated from that institution. He
afterwards became lieutenant and then captain of the 7th company Simcoe
Foresters, which position he held for some time. He has served several
years in the Municipal council of Orillia, and was deputy reeve of the
same for two and a half years. He was elected once by a large majority
and twice by acclamation. He was appointed a justice of the peace for
the county of Simcoe by the Mowat government about eight years ago. Mr.
Slaven is public-spirited, and takes an active part in every thing that
tends to advance the town he has chosen as his home. He is a
Conservative, and in 1882 was induced to enter the field of politics,
and became a candidate of his party for the Ontario legislature, in
opposition to Charles Drury, of Oro township, Simcoe, but failed to be
elected. He at present is president of the Liberal-Conservative
Association of the riding of East Simcoe. He has found some time to
travel, and has visited the Pacific coast, the West Indies and many
other parts of the North American continent. In religion Mr. Slaven
belongs to the Roman Catholic church. He was married to Maggie McDonell,
of Barrie, in June, 1867.
* * * * *
=Pope, Hon. John Henry=, Minister of Railways and Canals for the
Dominion of Canada, M.P. for Compton, Quebec province, was born in 1824,
and received his educational training in the High School at Compton,
P.Q. The earlier period of his life was directed to agricultural
pursuits. Mr. Pope was fond of military life, and took a lively interest
in the volunteer movement. He commanded the Cookshire Volunteer Cavalry
for many years, and retired in 1862, retaining his rank as major. He is
president of the International Railway Company of Maine, and also of the
Compton Colonization Society. He takes a deep interest in education, and
for many years has been a trustee of the St. Francis College, Richmond,
P.Q. He is also a director of the Eastern Township Bank. In 1854, at the
general election of that year, Mr. Pope offered himself as a candidate
for the Legislative Assembly of Canada, for Compton, and was defeated;
but in 1857 he succeeded in carrying his election, and sat in this
legislature until the union of the provinces under confederation. He was
then elected a member of the House of Commons by acclamation, and has
been returned ever since by his old friends each time he has appealed
for their suffrages. On the 25th October, 1871, Hon. Mr. Pope was sworn
in a member of the Privy Council, and made minister of agriculture, and
this office he held until the defeat of the Macdonald ministry, on the
Pacific scandal question, in November, 1873, when he retired with his
leader. On the return of his party to power, on the defeat of the
Mackenzie administration, he was, on the 17th October, 1878, reinstated
into his old office of minister of agriculture. On the 25th September,
1885, he was made minister of railways and canals, and this office he
still retains. During the summer of 1880, Hon. Mr. Pope in company with
Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Charles Tupper, visited England, and took
an active part in the negotiations which led to the Pacific railway
contract, subsequently ratified by parliament. He is a
Liberal-Conservative in politics. The Hon. Mr. Pope is not given to
debate, but whatever he has to say, in or out of parliament, he says
with a terse vigor and conciseness of language that make a mockery of
ornate phrases. He has the disposition to work, an intelligent
appreciation of the wants of the country, and a well-studied
parliamentary experience of nearly half an average lifetime.
* * * * *
=Shorey, Hollis=, Wholesale Clothier, Montreal, was born in Barnston,
Eastern townships, Quebec province, on the 2nd December, 1823. His
father, Samuel E. Shorey, who was of English descent, was a native of
the United States, but came to Canada when a lad of eight years of age.
On reaching manhood, he married Fanny Jones, of Three Rivers, Quebec
province, who was of Welsh descent, and to this couple was born the
subject of our sketch. Hollis Shorey was sent to the academy at Hatley,
Eastern Townships, where he took a commercial course of education. On
leaving school, having reached the age of sixteen years, he entered
himself as an apprentice to a local tailor, and having faithfully served
the allotted term, he began business on his own account, at Barnston,
his capital amounting to a very small sum. Just as he had reached his
nineteenth year, his father died, and the responsibility of assisting to
bring up a family of eight children was thrust upon him. Mr. Shorey’s
first essay at his trade was the making of men’s, boys’ and youths’
clothing for customers who found their own cloth. He then took in a
partner, and for four years they worked together amicably, keeping a
general store as well as a tailoring establishment, but at the end of
this period he made certain discoveries not at all to the credit of his
partner, and a dissolution of the partnership ensued. This threw Mr.
Shorey again back to his starting-point, but he was not discouraged. A
short time after this event he entered into partnership with F. & J. H.
Judd, which continued for four years, when he left the place and came to
the city of Montreal. This was in 1861. Here he found employment, and
for six years travelled for the firms of Macfarlane & Baird and Wm.
Stephens & Co. (the now Sir George Stephens being then a member of the
latter firm), soliciting orders for ready-made clothing, dry goods, etc.
His field of operation was chiefly in the Eastern Townships, and he made
many friends during his journeys. Getting thoroughly tired of travel, he
resolved to begin business again on his own account, and then was laid,
December 1866, the foundation of one of the largest wholesale clothing
establishments in the Dominion. After two years he took in as a partner
his son-in-law, E. A. Small, to assist him. This partnership lasted for
about eighteen years when it was dissolved, and Mr. Shorey then
associated with him as partners his two sons, S. O. Shorey and C. L.
Shorey, who before this time had been very successful travellers for the
old firm. They now employ as outside hands, tailors, etc., 1450 persons,
and 150 more in the establishment. The firm, we are told, deals very
liberally with their employees, and the most kindly feelings exist
between them and their employers. For about fifteen years Mr. Shorey has
been a member of the Board of Trade of the city of Montreal, and takes a
deep interest in all its proceedings. During the small pox epidemic, in
1885, he was chairman of the citizen committee, which did so much to
alleviate the sufferings of those afflicted by the pest, and remove the
causes that produced it. Mr. Shorey has travelled a good deal, and found
time to visit the continent of Europe, as well as the United States. In
religion he is an adherent of the Episcopal church. He has been twice
married. First, in 1844, he espoused Fanny Wheeler of Barnston, province
of Quebec, who, dying in 1850, left two children, a boy and girl, and
since then he has been united to Clara Gilson, of Vermont, who has also
borne him a boy and a girl. His four children are all married, and he
has now fourteen grand-children.
* * * * *
=Tomkins, Rev. John.=—The late Rev. Mr. Tomkins, during his lifetime a
minister of the Methodist church, was born Nov. 12th, 1797, in the
county of Stafford, England. His father, James Tomkins, and also his
grandfather and great grandfather were natives of the city of Hereford,
and as his parents returned thither shortly after his birth, he was
accustomed to speak of that ancient cathedral town, as his native city.
His parents were devout members of the Established church, and in that
church his early religious training was received. He was naturally
serious and thoughtful, and while still a lad was led through the
preaching of a devout Anglican clergyman, the Rev. C. Glasscott, to turn
his attention earnestly to religious concerns. It was, however, through
the preaching of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, the Rev. Wm. Adams, that
he found that rest of spirit which he had sought in vain for several
years, in attendance upon the ordinances of his own communion. He
immediately united with the Wesleyan society, and soon began to exercise
his talents as a local preacher. Feeling called to devote himself wholly
to the work of the ministry, he abandoned his worldly pursuits, and
after due training, sought and obtained ordination in the old
Spitalfields Chapel, London, at the hands of that distinguished divine,
the Rev. Richard Watson, on the 18th of April, 1827. A few days after he
left his native shores forever, to engage in missionary labor, first in
Newfoundland and after in Canada. After a tedious voyage of nine weeks,
he reached St. John’s on the 22nd of June, 1827. His first appointment
was to Hants Harbor, a small fishing station, with less than three
hundred inhabitants. Here he labored one year, and was then removed to
Bona Vista, and the year following to Trinity, where he spent two years.
Two more years were spent at St. John’s and Harbor Grace. During these
six years of arduous toil among the scattered fishermen of Newfoundland,
he endured many hardships, and on one occasion came near perishing of
cold and hunger, having lost his way in a snow storm, while travelling
on foot with another missionary, the Rev. Mr. Knight, from one station
to another. In June, 1833, he was removed to the city of Quebec, where
he remained two years. At the expiration of this time he received his
first appointment to the Eastern Townships, where he spent forty-three
years of his active ministry and thirteen years in a superannuated
relation. His first circuit was the St. Armand, extending from the
Richelieu river to Sutton, a distance of about fifty miles. The Rev.
John Borland was associated with Mr. Tomkins on this field of labor,
which has since been divided into about seven circuits. In the year 1836
the Wesleyan Methodist church had in Lower Canada, including the cities
of Montreal, Quebec and Kingston, fourteen circuits, and a membership of
about as many hundred. At the time when Mr. Tomkins closed his ministry,
there were within the same territory eighty-one circuits, or stations,
and the number of members had increased fivefold. From St. Armand Mr.
Tomkins was removed to Odelltown, where he spent two years. His
subsequent appointments were as follows:—In 1838, he went to Shefford,
where he spent three years, in 1841 to Compton, where he remained three
years. In 1844 he returned to Odelltown, and spent three years. In 1847
to Dunham, three years, and in 1851, he was moved to Stanstead where he
spent four years. In 1854 he was chosen chairman of the Stanstead
district, which office he held during the following six years. In 1855
he removed to Clarenceville, and thence, in 1858, to Dunham, for a
second term of service. In 1861 he was re-appointed to Shefford, and
during the two years of his pastorate there he held the office of
Financial Secretary of the district. In the year 1863 he was again
appointed to Stanstead, and re-elected to the chairmanship, which he
held, with an interruption of a little more than a year, till the time
of superannuation. In 1866 Mr. Tomkins removed to Hatley, where he spent
three years, and in the summer of 1869 he retired from active work and
took up his residence at Stanstead, where he remained till the close of
his long and useful life, and where he continued to assist by every
means in his power in advancing the interests of his Master’s cause. As
a man, Mr. Tomkins was of a mild and equal temperament, of a most
affectionate disposition, and of a character marked by singular
transparency and simplicity. His judgment was reliable in matters
connected with the interests of the church, his conclusions being
generally justified by the event. As a preacher, he was clear in
exposition, sound in doctrine and happy in expression, often rising into
true eloquence as he kindled with his theme. All his ministrations were
marked by deep and serious feeling, and he impressed his hearers by
being so evidently impressed himself. As a pastor he was at once tender
and faithful, and his name and memory are still loved and honored
wherever he exercised his ministry. He departed this life September
21st, 1881, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, having been a
Methodist preacher for fifty-three years. In February, 1836, he was
married to Maria Whitcher, daughter of Dr. Isaac Whitcher, of Stanstead,
Quebec province. His son, Edwin F. Tomkins, is at the head of the
Cascade Narrow Fabric Company, Coaticook, P.Q., and was the first to
introduce into Canada the manufacture of mohair braid, etc.
* * * * *
=Unsworth, Joseph Lennon=, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, acting
superintendent of the Prince Edward Island railway, was born in
Liverpool, Great Britain, May 12th, 1840. His father was James Stanley
Unsworth, and his mother Mary Hatton, who was a sister of the celebrated
music composer, John L. Hatton, of London, England. Mr. Unsworth,
senior, was born in Goshen, in the eastern part of the county of
Lancashire, of an old-time family. An ancient tradition published in
“The Pictorial History of the County of Lancaster,” gives the following
legend of the Unsworth family: “One of the most interesting places in
this part of the country, at Goshen, about a mile and a half on the
south side of Bury, is an old farm-house, the residence in former times
of a family of some note, and still occupied by a lineal descendant. The
family of Unsworth has possessed this property, according to tradition,
ever since the time of the conquest, and there are certainly relics to
prove its antiquity. Amongst other curiosities, the house contains a
carved oak table, which is a source of some interest as being connected
with an old legend. The story is that in olden times there lived near
here a fierce and terrible dragon, which resolutely defied the prowess
of sundry brave heroes, who would fain have immortalized their names by
freeing the country from such a scourge. One, Thomas Unsworth, a warrior
of the beforementioned family, more courageous, or more fortunate, than
the rest, at last succeeded in the attempt, which he accomplished in a
manner that certainly did much credit to his ingenuity. Finding that
bullets were of no avail, he inserted his dagger in a petronel, and,
rousing the anger of the dragon, shot it under the throat at the moment
of raising its head. The table was made after this event, and, it is
said, carved with the dagger by which the monster was shot. Round the
table are St. George and the dragon, the lion and unicorn, the Derby
crest, and the veritable dragon which the aforesaid Thomas Unsworth
killed. There is also hung over the table in the old parlour, a painting
of the Unsworth arms, which were given them in former times for deeds of
honor, surmounted by another carving of the dragon. The crest is a man
in black armour, holding a hatchet in his hand, and it is said to be the
portrait of the renowned family ancestor, in the armour which he wore
during the battle, and in which he was encased at the time he performed
the celebrated feat which won him so much fame. Whatever credence may be
given to this story (and the present family firmly believe in its
truth), it is certain that a portion of land was once granted to one of
their ancestors for having freed the country from some dire monster, of
whatever kind it might be, and of course the property granted was that
said to be the favorite resort of the dragon; nor is it improbable that
the large and adjoining township of Unsworth, has originally derived its
name from some one of this family. They also possess several very old
books, treasured with due ancestral pride, and other relics more or less
interesting.” Mr. Unsworth, the subject of our sketch, received his
education in Montreal, and at St. Hyacinthe, in the province of Quebec.
Shortly after leaving school, in 1855, he entered the service of the
Grand Trunk railway company, at Longueuil, as an apprentice, under W. S.
McKenzie, and was employed by that company until March, 1872. From May,
of the same year, to November, 1874, he was engaged on construction of
the Inter-colonial railway between Rivière du Loup and Causapscal; from
November, 1874, to November, 1881, he was master mechanic on the same
railway at Rivière du Loup, and from November, 1881, to May, 1887, he
was mechanical superintendent of the Government railways in Prince
Edward Island, and from May, 1887, to the present time (Feb., 1888), in
addition to the latter duties, he has been the acting general
superintendent of the above government railways. For six years he was
lieutenant in the Grand Trunk railway volunteer regiment. He is a member
of the Canadian society of civil engineers. Mr. Unsworth, during his
busy life, has found time to devote to travelling, having crossed the
Atlantic and visited his fatherland. He has also travelled the greater
part of Eastern Canada and the United States. In religion he is an
adherant of the Episcopal church. He was married June 27th, 1866, to
Mary Jane Lomas, daughter of Adam Lomas, woollen manufacturer, of
Sherbrooke, P.Q., and sister of Alexander Galt Lomas, mayor of
Sherbrooke.
* * * * *
=Shearer, James Traill=, Contractor, Montreal, is a specimen of what
well-directed energy and perseverance can accomplish. Born at Rosegill,
parish of Dunnet, not many miles from far-famed John O’Groat’s,
Caithness-shire, Scotland, on the 31st of July, 1822, he received his
education in the parish school of Dunnet, and at Castletown, in the same
county. Leaving school before he had scarcely entered his teens, he was
obliged like many a lad in the far north of Scotland, to begin work
early, and was accordingly apprenticed to a carpenter and millwright in
the village of Castletown, and with him he faithfully served the alloted
term. To perfect himself in his trade, he removed to Wick, and worked
for about a year under D. Miller, a builder, who was erecting a church
in Putneytown. When he reached his twenty-first year he resolved to try
his fortune in Canada, and taking passage in a sailing vessel, on 30th
May, 1848, reached Montreal, where he has since resided. Shortly after
his arrival he entered the employ of Edward Maxwell, an extensive
carpenter and builder, as a general house-joiner and stair-builder,
branches of the business at which he was very proficient. After
terminating a three years’ engagement with Mr. Maxwell, he went to
Quebec city to take charge of the joiner and carpenter work on a new
bomb-proof hospital then being built by the British government on Cape
Diamond. Finishing the job to the entire satisfaction of the British
officers in charge, he returned to Montreal, and began the study of
steamboat architecture, especially cabin work, and soon became an adept
at the business. Work flowed in upon him, and he found many customers,
among others the late John Molson and David Torrance, for whom he fitted
up many steamboats for the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, and he still
carries on very extensively this branch of business, along with the
manufacture of other kinds of wood-work for house building purposes. Mr.
Shearer is the inventor of what is known as the hollow roof, for houses
and large public buildings, which is considered the best suited to the
climate of Montreal. This roof is of a concave design, and carries the
water down the inside of the building, instead of the outside, thereby
avoiding the freezing up of pipes. It was used on the Windsor hotel,
Montreal, and has since been adopted generally throughout America. He
has also been the chief promoter of what is known as the “Shearer
scheme,” the object of which is to improve the harbor of Montreal and
prevent the flooding of the city, but owing to the strong opposition
urged against it by the Grand Trunk authorities, he has had to abandon
it for the present. However, it will have to be considered at no distant
day. If once adopted it will greatly improve the harbor of Montreal, and
prove a source of wealth to the inhabitants. The plans are now in the
possession of the Dominion government, and although he has twice applied
for an act of incorporation for the “St. Lawrence Bridge and
Manufacturing Company,” who are prepared to carry it to completion, he
has not yet succeeded in getting this company incorporated. Mr. Shearer
a few years ago designed and built for himself a house on Mount Royal,
and it is perhaps the best finished house in that city of fine
dwellings, all the internal work being of purely Canadian wood. The view
from it is most charming, and cannot be surpassed in the Dominion. A
visitor can take in at a glance the Chambly hills, Belle Isle, Mount
Johnston, the river St. Lawrence for many miles, the Victoria bridge,
the Lachine rapids, and the full extent of the beautiful city of
Montreal. In politics Mr. Shearer is a Liberal; and in religion one of
those who does his own thinking, and has no objection to others doing
the same. He was married in Montreal, on the 23rd of June, 1848, to
Eliza Graham, and the fruit of the union has been eight children. The
two eldest sons are now engaged with their father in business.
* * * * *
=Armour, Hon. John Douglas=, Cobourg, Judge of the Court of Queen’s
Bench, was born in the township of Otonabee, Peterborough county,
Ontario, on the 4th May, 1830. He is the youngest son of the late Rev.
Samuel Armour, who was for many years rector of Cavan, county of Durham,
and was during his lifetime widely and favorably known through that part
of Upper Canada. In his boyhood Judge Armour attended the schools in the
neighborhood of his home, and on the 27th January, 1843, entered as a
student Upper Canada College, Toronto. In 1847 he matriculated at King’s
College (now Toronto University), and his career at college was very
creditable. He gained the first university-scholarship in classics, and
subsequently the Wellington scholarship. He graduated in 1850, carrying
off the gold medal in classics. This same year he entered the office of
his brother, Robert Armour, and began the study of law, and completed it
in the office of the late Hon. P. M. M. VanKoughnet, who afterwards
became Chancellor of Upper Canada. He was called to the bar in
Michaelmas term, 1853, and removing to Cobourg, began to practise his
profession there, forming a partnership with Sidney Smith, who some
years afterward became postmaster-general of Canada. This partnership
lasted until the 7th November, 1857, when Mr. Armour began to practise
alone. He subsequently formed a partnership with H. F. Holland, which
lasted between three and four years, when Mr. Armour was raised to the
bench, and a dissolution consequently followed. During these years,
various public offices were held by Mr. Armour from time to time. On the
28th March, 1858, he was appointed county attorney of the united
counties of Northumberland and Durham, and during the following year he
held the position of warden of those counties. On the 2nd May, 1861, he
was appointed clerk of the peace for the same counties. On the 8th
January, 1859, he was elected a member of the Senate of the University
of Toronto. On the 26th June, 1867, he was created a Queen’s counsel. In
1871 he was elected a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and on
the 30th of November, 1877, was appointed puisné judge of the Court of
Queen’s Bench, a position he has ever since filled with honor and
dignity. Hon. Judge Armour is a man of wide reading, multifarious
knowledge, and great shrewdness and common sense. By heredity and
tradition he is a Conservative both in religion and politics, but,
nevertheless, he is a Liberal in thought and education, and a firm
believer in the great future the land of his birth has before her. On
the 28th of April, 1855, he married Eliza Church, daughter of the late
Freeman S. Church, of Cobourg, by whom he has had eleven children, ten
of whom are now living.
* * * * *
=Molony, Thomas J.=, LL.B., Advocate, Quebec, is a prominent member of
the Quebec bar, and one of the representative Irishmen of the ancient
capital, honored with the confidence of his own element and esteemed by
all classes of the community for his abilities as a lawyer, and his
sterling integrity as a professional man and a citizen. He was born at
Kingston, Ontario, on the 4th July, 1846, and is the youngest son of the
late John Molony, and his wife, Catherine O’Connor, of that city. Thus
on both sides, he sprang from good old Irish stocks. His father’s family
were natives of the County Clare, Ireland. McGeoghegan, the Irish
historian, ranks the Molonys among the oldest settlers of the Green
Isle, and the county of Clare is the part of it around which the
traditions of the family or sept have principally clustered from time
immemorial. The old family, too, seem to have retained their territorial
influence and social importance in the home of their ancestors down to a
comparatively recent date. Up to the celebrated Daniel O’Connell’s time,
they appear to have practically controlled the representation of Clare
in Parliament, and readers of Irish history will readily recall the name
of Sheriff Molony, in connection with the memorable election for that
county which resulted in the signal defeat of Vesey Fitzgerald and the
English government, and opened the door of the British Parliament to the
great Irish Liberator, and to Catholic Emancipation. Burke, in his
genealogy of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, says, pp.
1022-3; speaking of their lineage:—
The Milesian family of Molony is one of great antiquity in the
sister island. O’Halloran (Hist. of Ireland, Vol. III, p. 498),
says: From Cormac Cas (who was of the line of Heber, eldest son
of Milesius) are descended 1st, O’Brien, chief of Thomond
. . . . Besides these hereditary officers the following noble
families are derived from this great source: O’Dea, . . .
O’Mollowney and others, and in his “List of Ancient Irish
Territories, and by what Milesian families possessed before and
after the invasion of Henry II,” Ceiltannan, (otherwise
Kiltanon) is mentioned among the rest as the estate of O’Molony.
The Molonys were formerly princes of Clare, where they possessed
a large tract of country called the O’Molony’s Lands, as may be
seen from the old maps of that county. In Catholic times, three
members of the family attained the mitre, as appears from the
epitaph on the tomb of John O’Molony, Bishop of Limerick in 1687
(second son of John O’Molony, of Kiltanon), who after the siege
of that city, followed King James II. to Paris, where he
assisted in the foundation of a university for the education of
Irish priests, in the chapel belonging to which he was buried in
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