A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1859. In the latter year he successfully contested the county of
7405 words | Chapter 88
Cumberland against Dr. (now Sir Charles) Tupper. Sir William being at
that time leader of the Liberals, or opposition, and Dr. Tupper that of
the Conservatives, or government party. Cumberland returned both these
gentlemen to the Legislature, there being three members, Sir William,
however, taking the lead. Shortly after getting into parliament Sir
William showed his boldness of spirit and manly independence by entering
his protest against the unjust coal mining monopoly then in existence,
which had been granted by the Crown to the creditors of the late Duke of
York, a monopoly which he and his brother George were largely
instrumental in having removed at a later date. In 1838, during the
closing scenes of the Canadian rebellion of that time, he was appointed
as a delegate, with others, to meet Lord Durham, and discuss the
numerous grievances of which the French population complained. The
grievances of his own province he exposed in a letter of vigorous
remonstrance, which Lord Durham afterwards annexed to his celebrated
report. His associates on this memorable occasion were Mather B. Almon,
J. W. Johnson and Jas. B. Uniacke, and sad to say the last of these
delegates in the person of Sir William Young has now passed away. They
met Lord Durham in Quebec, and in the several interviews with his
lordship and his suite, and representatives from the several other
provinces, they laid the foundations of the confederacy which in July,
1867, was perfected. In 1839 Sir William Young and Herbert Huntington
were sent to Britain to impress upon the home government the removal of
grievances existing in Nova Scotia, such a delegation having been found
necessary, Lord Durham having thrown up his office, and returned to
England in disgust. These delegates showed a considerable amount of tact
and diplomatic skill, and their mission advanced the interests of the
people in many ways. Their report, which shortly after their return was
published, covered a wide field, and exhibited an active correspondence
with the several departments of the Imperial government, from which
valuable concessions were obtained. During the long period Sir William
served in parliament he was a prominent figure in that body, acting
either as chairman or leading member on almost every important
committee. He became a member of the Executive Council in 1842. In 1843
he was elected speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and occupied this
office for eleven consecutive years. In 1854 he became leader of the
government as well as attorney-general; and leader of the opposition in
1857, a change of government having taken place. In 1859 he was chosen
president of the Executive Council. For all this period, even when in
the speaker’s chair, the impress of his strong mind was visible in
almost every important measure, as the journals of the house amply
testify, from the time he first attacked the coal mine monopoly of the
creditors of the Duke of York, to the time of his retirement from the
arena of politics. In 1851 he was associated with Messrs. Ritchie and
McCully, both of whom afterwards were, like himself, made judges, in
revising the statutes of Nova Scotia; and on the floor of the house he
was the recognized spokesman of the agriculturists of the province, “a
legacy,” which he often jokingly remarked, “had possibly descended to
him from his father, the famous ‘Agricola,’” a then popular writer on
agriculture both as a science and as an art. In 1860 he retired from
political life, and was appointed chief justice of Nova Scotia, and this
office he resigned in 1881 on account of age. When appointed to the
chief justiceship he brought to the discharge of his high duties a clear
intellect, a sound understanding of law, and a well-trained judicial
mind, and during the time he sat on the bench he attended to its duties
faithfully. His quick apprehension of points of both law and practice,
his searching insight into all matters of a difficult or abstract
character, made him distinguished as a judge and respected by the bar.
In 1876 Sir William started on a six months’ tour in Europe, and, just
before he left, the bar of Nova Scotia, and the mayor and corporation of
Halifax presented him with addresses, which bore feeling testimony to
his eminent services in the legislative halls, on the bench, and as a
citizen in all the various spheres of life. To these addresses he made
an off-hand and very happy response, showing the cordiality of his
disposition and warmth of heart, as well as his readiness and ability as
a speaker. In 1868 he received the honor of knighthood from her Majesty
Queen Victoria; and in 1881 the degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by
Dalhousie College. Sir William Young was married, in 1830, to Anne,
daughter of the late Hon. Michael Tobin, M.L.C. She died at Halifax on
the 12th January, 1883, at the age of seventy-nine years. Few ladies in
Halifax were more generally known or more sincerely respected than Lady
Young. She was a lifelong contributor to all public charities of the
city, and in her more active years was prominently connected with every
benevolent undertaking. Sir William Young was possessed of considerable
means at the time of his death, and by his will he left his possessions
to various educational, charitable, and other institutes in the city in
which he had lived and been so benevolent and public spirited a citizen
for the greater part of a century.
* * * * *
=Cannon, Lawrence Ambrose=, Quebec, Advocate, and Clerk of the
Corporation of Quebec city, was born at Quebec on the 20th March, 1814.
His father, John Cannon, architect, was of Irish parentage, and his
mother, Angèle Griault dite Larivière, was of French descent. Mr.
Cannon, senr., was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada
from 1824 to 1830, and represented the county of Hampshire, then
comprising the present counties of Portneuf and Champlain. He was an
Independent in politics, and though not unfriendly to the powers that
then ruled, was much attached to the principles of the French Canadian
party in the Assembly. He was a strenuous supporter of the Autonomists,
who, at the time of the first proposed union of Lower and Upper Canada,
exerted themselves so strongly that they succeeded in defeating the
measure. Mr. Cannon was also above all an Irishman, and although living
in Canada, he deeply sympathized with every movement calculated to
advance the prosperity of the land of his birth. He, too, helped his
fellow-countrymen in the land of his adoption, and contributed largely
by his exertions and means to have erected in Quebec St. Patrick’s
Church, which stands to-day as a monument to the religious ardor and
generosity of the Irish race in the ancient capital. He was twice
married; first to Angèle Griault dite Larivière; and the second time, in
1826, to widow Rosslewin, _née_ Archange Baby. Lawrence Ambrose Cannon,
the subject of our sketch, was educated first in private English
schools, and afterwards in the Quebec Seminary, where he prosecuted and
terminated his classical course of studies in 1833. He entered as a law
student the office of Hon. C. R. Ogden, then attorney-general of Lower
Canada; and in 1836, that of Stuart and Black. When he had completed his
legal studies in 1838, he was called to the bar, and continued to
practise his profession until May, 1864. On the resignation of F. X.
Garneau, the Canadian historian, the city clerk of Quebec, through
ill-health, Mr. Cannon was elected to fill this important position, and
he has done it faithfully ever since. Some time after his appointment,
the charter of the city was materially amended, thus considerably
increasing his duties. Among other important changes, he was charged
with the preparing of the lists of the parliamentary electors, and also
of the persons qualified to be called upon to act as grand and petit
jurors. And by the Act 33 Vict., chap. 46, the sole management of the
municipal elections was conferred upon him. He married in 1845, Mary
Jane Cary, daughter of the late Thomas Cary, then proprietor and
publisher of the Quebec _Mercury_, and of Marie Anne Dorion. He has
three surviving children; one son, Lawrence John Cannon, a practising
barrister in Arthabaskaville, and two daughters.
* * * * *
=Torrance, David=, Montreal.—Mr. Torrance, during his lifetime one of
Montreal’s most successful and distinguished merchants, was of Scotch
parentage. He was born in New York in 1805, and died in Montreal Jan.
29th, 1876. When yet a boy he came to Kingston, Upper Canada (now
Ontario), with his father, James Torrance, who was then extensively
engaged in business in that town. In 1821 he removed to Montreal, and
became a clerk with his uncle, the late John Torrance, who kept a place
of business at the corner of St. Paul and St. Nicholas streets. By his
close attention to his duties, and aptitude to the work, he rapidly rose
in his employer’s estimation, which ended in his being taken into
partnership in 1833. During his clerkship the late Rev. Dr. Wilkes, and
the late Hon. John Young were engaged in the same establishment. With
the view of extending the business of the concern, in 1835 Mr. Torrance
entered into partnership with Mr. Young, of Quebec, under the firm name
of Torrance & Young; and on the retirement of the late John Torrance,
the senior member, the firm’s name was changed to that of D. Torrance &
Co., which continued to the date of his demise, his partners being for
many years Thomas Cramp, and his son John Torrance. In 1826 the old firm
purchased a tug and passenger boat, the _Hercules_, from John Handyside
& Co., and placed it under the command of Captain Brush, who afterwards
became the proprietor of the Eagle Foundry, Montreal. This was the first
step towards the establishment of an opposition line to the Molsons’
steamboats, then plying on the St. Lawrence, and its stock was
eventually merged in that of the Richelieu Steamboat Company (now the
Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company). Mr. Torrance was early alive
to the great future in store for Montreal, and was the first to launch
out into direct trade with the East Indies and China, and for over
thirty years the name of his firm has been well known in the great
eastern centres of commerce. As a business man he was remarkable for
great force of character and determination. This, combined with
unflinching industry and regular habits, made the immense business of
the firm move ahead with precision. An old friend of his once said of
him, “He was a model man in regard to his business and social habits,
and in the days of his prosperity was as regular in his attendance at
the counting house as when he first started in business. His ambition
was great, but tempered with prudence, and though he engaged in
commercial ventures in other cities than Montreal, yet was uniformly
successful.” Besides his promotion of commerce and navigation, he
likewise proved himself a stay to our banking system, and after holding
office for a long time as one of the directors of the Bank of Montreal,
he was in 1873 elected president, which responsible position he held at
the time of his death. His firm was also one of the originators of the
Dominion Steamship Company. While largely engaged in ocean commerce, his
capital and resources were also devoted to the carrying on of our inland
forwarding trade. He was a diligent merchant, and did not meddle much in
public affairs, though he was a consistent Liberal in politics
throughout. To all benevolent and charitable schemes he was a frequent
and liberal giver. He was always ready to aid the distressed and bring
joy to those in want, and the main feature in this regard was the
unostentatious way in which he helped those in need. He was a member of
the St. James Street Methodist Church, and at the time of his death was
one of its trustees. He was, in fact, the thorough type of a merchant
prince, a representative of a class which, unfortunately, is far too
small in these latter days. He was married to his cousin, the eldest
daughter of the late John Torrance. He was in feeble health for some
years previous to his death, and had only a few months before to forego
active business, and when death at last came he passed away quietly,
surrounded by his sorrowing family.
* * * * *
=Skinner, Hon. Charles N.=, Q.C., St. John, ex-Judge of Probate for the
county of St. John, New Brunswick, was born in St. John on the 12th
March, 1833. His father, Samuel Skinner, was a contractor and builder,
and was a native of Nova Scotia. His mother, Phœbe Sherwood, was a
daughter of Robert Golding, whose grandfather, Captain Golding,
commanded a company of loyal dragoons during the American revolutionary
war. Both the Skinner and Golding families were loyalists and emigrated
from the New England states—Mr. Skinner, the grandfather of the subject
of our sketch, a short time before the outbreak of the revolution, and
Mr. Golding after the war—and settled in the Maritime provinces.
Charles N. Skinner received his education in the common and grammar
schools of St. John. He studied law under Charles W. Stockton, of that
city; was admitted to practice in 1858, and called to the bar in 1860.
Since then he has successfully practised his profession in his native
city. He is a well-read lawyer, a fluent, clear, and logical speaker,
and seldom fails to present his case in the best possible light before a
jury. His mind, too, is of a judicial cast; he is candid, honest, and
impartial, and is admirably fitted by nature for the position he holds.
When only about twenty-eight years of age he entered the field of
politics, and was elected to represent St. John in the Legislative
Assembly of New Brunswick in 1861. After being in the house three years,
the party with whom he was allied was defeated on the question of
confederation. In 1866 he again appealed to his constituents, and was
elected. During August of next year he was appointed solicitor-general
in the A. R. Wetmore administration, and this office he held until
March, 1868, when he retired from political life, having been made a
judge of probate. He was also created a Queen’s counsel that year by the
Provincial government, and by the Dominion government in 1873. He was
elected to the Dominion parliament to represent the city and county of
St. John at the general election in 1887, having previously resigned the
office of Judge of Probate. He still practises at the bar of St. John,
and stands high among his _confrères_. For some years he was a member of
St. John city council, and took an active interest in all matters
brought forward for the benefit of the citizens. He is a member of the
brotherhood of Oddfellows. He belongs to the Baptist denomination, and
is considered a man of unblemished character and liberal impulses. On
the 12th January, 1865, he was married to Eliza Jane, daughter of Daniel
J. McLaughlan (then president of the Commercial Bank of N.B.), of St.
John, and the fruit of this union has been a family of eight children.
* * * * *
=Fenwick, George Edgeworth=, M.D., C.M., Montreal, was born in the city
of Quebec, on the 8th October, 1825. His father, Joseph Fenwick, in
early life entered the East India Company’s service, and subsequently,
in command of his own ship, traded between London and the port of
Montreal. He was from Morpeth, Northumberland, England. His mother,
Margaret Elizabeth Greig, was a native of Quebec, of Scotch descent. His
grandfather belonged to the landed gentry of Northumberland. Dr. Fenwick
received his education under the Rev. Mr. Ramsay, a clergyman of the
Church of England; and in June, 1841, began the study of medicine and
surgery in the Marine and Emigrant Hospital in his native city. His
brother, Dr. A. G. Fenwick, was at that time house-surgeon to that
institution, and he acted under him as house apothecary. He remained in
this position until November, 1842, when he entered the medical
department of McGill College, in Montreal. He successfully passed his
examination in May, 1846, but not being of age did not receive his
diploma until January, 1847, when a special convention of the University
was called for the purpose of conferring upon him the degree of doctor
in medicine and master in surgery. In May following, Dr. Fenwick was
appointed house-surgeon and apothecary to the Montreal General Hospital,
which office he filled until December, 1848, when he commenced general
practice in Montreal. In 1849 he aided, in conjunction with Dr. Howard,
the late Dr. G. D. Gibb (afterwards Sir G. D. Gibb, baronet, M.D., of
London, England), and the late Drs. Pelletier, Boyer and Jones, in
establishing the Montreal Dispensary, and was one of the attending staff
of that institution until November, 1864, when, on the death of Dr.
Thomas Walter Jones, he received the appointment of attending surgeon of
the Montreal General Hospital. In 1867 he was appointed professor of
clinical surgery in McGill University, and held this position until
1876, when, on the resignation of the late Dr. George W. Campbell, he
was appointed professor of surgery, which chair he has filled to this
time. As a teacher Dr. Fenwick has had long experience in the teaching
of surgery. For many years professor of clinical surgery, his lectures
were all delivered in the General Hospital, and every student who had
the privilege of visiting the wards during his term of service, knows
well the keen interest he took in everything concerning the cases in
hand. Careful and painstaking himself, he firmly exacted from his
assistants, house officers and dressers, a like degree of attention and
carefulness in little things. After his promotion to the chair of
surgery his lectures were of a more didactic nature, but to them he
brought the same spirit of earnest devotion to the cause of science, the
same grasp of subject leading to the formation of opinions strongly
held, the same care for the important minutiæ, and the same genial and
impressive manner which characterized his early teachings in the wards.
In 1864 Dr. Fenwick, with his colleague, Dr. F. W. Campbell, established
the _Canada Medical Journal_, which he continued to edit until 1879,
when he relinquished the editorial chair. As a medical writer he is
probably as well known as any in Canada. His articles upon surgical
subjects are all terse and logical, and carry the impress of a vigorous
and thoughtful mind. His most important papers are those upon lithotomy,
of which operation he has probably had a larger experience than any
other living surgeon in the Dominion. On excision of bronchocele, his
bold operations have commanded the most wide-spread attention, and on
excision of the knee-joint and other major operations he has been
remarkably successful. He holds the degree of M.D., C.M. from his first
university, and has never sought medical honors from any institution
abroad; nevertheless, he has been considered worthy of them. He has been
elected honorary member of the New Brunswick Medical Society; of the
Medical Society of Nova Scotia, and of the Gynæcological Society of
Boston. For many years Dr. Fenwick represented the profession of
Montreal as one of the governors of the College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Quebec province. He has served as president of the
Medico-Chirurgical Society of Montreal; and was, at the meeting of the
Canada Medical Association, held at Ottawa in 1880, elected vice
president of that body for Quebec province, and in 1882 was elected
president of the association. Dr. Fenwick is an adherent of the
Episcopal church; and in politics a Conservative. In 1852 he was married
to Eliza Charlotte, daughter of the late Colonel de Hertel, of St.
Andrews, Argenteuil. The fruit of this union has been seven children,
only three of whom survive.
* * * * *
=Adams, Rev. Thomas=, M.A., Cambridge, D.C.L., Lennoxville, was born at
Paramatta, New South Wales, on September 14, 1847. His father, the Rev.
Thomas Adams, was a member of a family in Cornwall, England, of which
the eldest brother is J. C. Adams, F.R.S., the celebrated discoverer of
the planet Neptune, who, on the retirement of Sir G. B. Airy, declined
the position of Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, and is still director
of the Cambridge University. Another brother (W. G. Adams, F.R.S.), is a
leading authority on electricity and natural philosophy, and occupies
the professorial chair in King’s College, London, once held by
Wheatstone, and afterwards by Clerk Maxwell. The father of Principal
Adams became a missionary in the Friendly Islands (South Pacific), and
it was in Australia, on the way to that mission, that Dr. Adams was
born. Thomas Adams, sen., is chiefly noted for having been the
translator of a great portion of the Bible into Tonguese, and for having
been the first who issued a complete edition of the Sacred Book in that
language. His mother was Maria French, of Taunton, Somerset. She
accompanied his father into the mission field, and gave her life to the
work. She died in Vavau in February, 1860. Professor Adams was educated
first at Taunton, Somerset, at a large proprietary school, under T.
Sibly, B.A.; next at University College, London, under the late
Professor de Morgan, in mathematics, and Professor J. R. Seeley, in
classics. In November, 1867, he joined the geological survey of England,
under Sir A. C. Ramsay, but resigned in April, 1869, owing to a severe
sprain. In October, 1869, he entered St. John’s College, Cambridge, and
in January, 1873, graduated as 19th wrangler in a first class of
thirty-seven. After acting temporarily as professor of mathematics in
the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, he was appointed
mathematical and science master in the Royal Grammar School, Lancaster,
and in August, 1874, he became senior mathematical master in the Royal
School of St. Peter’s, York. He was ordained deacon in 1874, and priest
in 1876, by the present archbishop of York. In 1881, on the occasion of
the jubilee meeting of the British Association in York, in conjunction
with Dr. T. Anderson, he became local secretary. In December, 1882, he
was elected, out of fifty-seven competitors, as the first head master of
the High School for boys, Gateshead-on-Tyne, and left there a school of
one hundred and fifty boys to accept the position he now holds of
principal of the University of Bishop’s College, and rector of the
College School, Lennoxville, province of Quebec. He has held this
position since August, 1885, and succeeded Dr. Lobley in both offices.
In July, 1878, he was married to Annie Stanley, youngest daughter of the
late T. Barnes, of London, England.
* * * * *
=Turnbull, Lieut.-Colonel James Ferdinand=, Commandant of the Royal
School of Cavalry, Quebec city, was born in London, England, on the 19th
July, 1835, and baptized at Westerham, in Kent, in the same font that
had done duty to the ever immortal General Wolfe. He is the eldest son
of the late James Turnbull, by his second marriage with Caroline
Oldaker, and came to Canada when only one year old with his parents, who
settled in Quebec. In 1841 he was sent to St. Andrew’s Church school,
under a worthy good master, William Bain, leaving next year to join the
school of that excellent teacher and missionary, the Rev. Mr. Handsell,
and from there went to the High School on its formation in 1845, where
he received his education until May, 1850, when he left school for good
and entered the office as junior clerk of the mercantile firm of P.
Langlois & Co., on St. Andrew’s wharf. In 1855, upon the formation of
the volunteer militia corps, he joined as a private, together with a
number of other young men of Quebec, the troop of cavalry that was
enrolled that autumn, and his love for horses and riding had an
opportunity to display itself. In 1860, at a general meeting of the
citizens of Quebec, called at the Merchants’ Exchange, by his Worship
the Mayor, Hector Langevin, to form a committee for the reception of
H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, Mr. Turnbull was unanimously called upon to
act as honorary secretary to the said committee, and performed his
arduous duties to the entire satisfaction of the whole community,
receiving a very complimentary vote of thanks. In 1861 he received a
commission as cornet in No. 2 troop Quebec Volunteer Cavalry, and upon
the disbanding of this troop in 1862, was promoted to be lieutenant in
No. 3 troop, which subsequently replaced No. 2, and the subject of this
sketch was gazetted captain on May 20th, 1864, and visited the American
cavalry and their remount depôts during their civil war. In 1865 he
proceeded to the Cavalry Depot, Canterbury, for a course of instruction,
at the suggestion of Colonel MacDougall, adjutant-general, who saw the
necessity of establishing a school of cavalry in Canada; and upon the
news of a probable Fenian raid, returned by way of New York in March,
1866, acting both there and on the frontier as intelligence officer to
the adjutant-general then in Montreal; subsequently coming on to Quebec
and assuming charge of the Quebec cavalry. In 1867 Captain Turnbull went
to France, at the suggestion of Sir George Cartier, to study the French
cavalry drill, and through the British ambassador in Paris, Lord Lyons,
received the necessary permission to visit the regiment at St. Germain,
“Les Dragons de l’Imperatrice.” In 1869 he received the brevet rank of
major. In 1872 he went with official letters from the Governor-General
to England for cavalry instruction, and was attached to the 7th Hussars
at Aldershot, returning again in time for the annual drill in camp at
Levis the next summer. In 1874 he received the brevet rank of
lieutenant-colonel. In 1875 he again proceeded to England for cavalry
instruction, and was put on the cavalry staff at Aldershot during the
autumn manœuvres, subsequently proceeding to Italy for the winter, and
while in Rome had the privilege of a private presentation to His
Holiness Pius IX., by Monsignor Stonor. Colonel Turnbull returned to
Canada for the drill season of 1876, but shortly afterwards started
again for an extended European tour, and while in Paris in the month of
April, 1878, received an offer from the War Office, in the probable
event of war with Russia, to raise a regiment of cavalry in Canada for
service in the East, and spent some weeks in communication with the War
office authorities and H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, to whom he was
presented by Sir Patrick MacDougall, as the best Canadian officer that
he knew of to undertake the task,—rendered, however, unnecessary by the
celebrated conference at Berlin, when “peace with honour” was concluded.
In 1879 Sir Patrick MacDougall cabled from Halifax that Lieut.-Colonel
Turnbull was ready to raise a regiment of cavalry for service in South
Africa if permission were granted him by the Canadian authorities, the
Whitehall “Review” of the 27th March, 1879, remarking upon the offer as
follows:—“The Government has found it necessary to decline the offer
made by Lieut.-Col. Turnbull to raise a regiment in Canada for service
at the Cape, but it has signified its appreciation of the very laudable
spirit in which the offer has been made. Colonel Turnbull was lately
residing temporarily in England, and made the acquaintance of many
officers of our army. He is spoken of as an officer of considerable
military ability, and this is not the first occasion on which he has
given convincing proof of his loyalty and anxiety to serve the interests
of the British Crown.” In 1883 the dominion government having in view
the establishment of a cavalry school of instruction, Colonel Turnbull,
together with three other commandants of infantry schools, was sent to
Aldershot, where he was attached for three months to the 15th Hussars,
and on the 21st December, 1883, his official appointment as commandant
of the cavalry school corps appeared in the “Gazette.” On the breaking
out of the Riel rebellion he was ordered with his corps to the
North-West and stationed by General Middleton in the Touchwood Hills,
where so much depended upon the several reserves of Indians in that
district being prevented from going on the war-path and joining the
rebels at Batoche. The tact and firmness displayed in dealing with these
bands, had a satisfactory result; and in common with the rest of the
expedition, he received the war medal. Besides his military proclivities
he has long been an active promoter of sport and general club life,
having been a member of the committee of the Turf Club, Hunt Club,
Curling Club, Racket Court, Tandem Club, Yacht Club, Rowing Club, Rifle
Association, of which he was president; Stadacona Club, and Garrison
Club, Quebec. He is also a member of more than one military club in
London, and the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Toronto. Colonel Turnbull was
married in June, 1867, to Elizabeth, third daughter of James MacKenzie,
of Point Levis. His residence is “Clermont,” St. Louis road, Quebec.
* * * * *
=Pacaud, Ernest=, Advocate and Journalist, Quebec, was born at Three
Rivers, province of Quebec, on the 25th August, 1850. He is a son of the
late P. N. Pacaud, in his lifetime notary at Arthabaska. Mr. Pacaud was
educated at Nicolet’s College, from September, 1860, to September, 1867,
and was admitted to the bar 8th July, 1872. He practised at the
Arthabaska bar from 1872 to 14th June, 1878, when he was appointed by
the Provincial government, Hon. Mr. Joly at the time being premier, the
prothonotary of the Superior Court, clerk of the Crown, and clerk of the
Circuit Court at Three Rivers. He was, however, dismissed for political
reasons in March, 1880, by the Tory government, headed by the Hon. Mr.
Chapleau. He established the _Journal d’ Arthabaska_ in September, 1877,
in the interest of the Liberal party, and published it till June, 1878,
when he received the appointment of prothonotary at Three Rivers. He
took the editorship of _La Concorde_, published at Three Rivers, April,
1880, but on the 15th December, 1880, left the _Concorde_, when called
by the leaders of the Liberal party to take the editorship of
_L’Electeur_, a daily morning paper published in the city of Quebec, and
the chief Liberal organ in the province. He is now the proprietor and
chief editor of _L’Electeur_. He ran as a representative for the local
house in Drummond and Arthabaska in January, 1874, after Hon. Mr.
Laurier’s resignation in the Legislative Assembly, to run for the House
of Commons at Ottawa. He also was a candidate for the House of Commons
in Bellechasse, at the general elections of 1882, but was defeated by
Colonel Amyot, then the Tory candidate. He is Catholic in religion, and
a Liberal in politics. Mr. Pacaud accompanied, in 1881, the Hon. Messrs.
Blake, Laurier, and Huntingdon in their political tour in Nova Scotia,
as correspondent for the French Liberal press of the province of Quebec.
He was married on the 23rd August, 1876, to Marie Louise Camille
Turcotte, daughter of the late Hon. J. E. Turcotte, who was a speaker of
the House of Commons and member of the government under the union of the
two Canadas, and sister of the Hon. A. Turcotte, Speaker of the House of
Assembly of Quebec from 1878 to 1881, and now commissioner of crown
lands in the Mercier government.
* * * * *
=Doucet, Laman R.=, Bathurst, Sheriff of the County of Gloucester, New
Brunswick, was born at Bathurst on the 25th of August, 1847. His parents
were Romain D. Doucet and Marie DeGrâce. His father was of Acadian
descent; and his grandfather one of the first French settlers after the
expulsion of the Acadians from old Acadia in 1755. His mother was of
Spanish descent, her grandfather having come from Spain to America about
the year 1781, when only about seventeen years of age, with his uncle,
Admiral DeGrâce, who was in command of a French fleet, and who figured
conspicuously on the side of freedom at the siege of Yorktown, when the
last successful effort was made for American independence in 1781.
Sheriff Doucet was educated in the schools of his native parish, and
succeeded in securing a good French and English education. He is a man
of great energy of character, and through his own almost unaided
exertions he now stands high among his fellow countrymen. In April,
1881, he was appointed sheriff of his native county, being the second
gentleman of French origin who has attained to this position in the
province of New Brunswick. Since his appointment he has acted as
returning officer in all the local and federal elections in Gloucester
county. In religion he is an adherent of the Roman Catholic church. He
was married on the 19th July, 1876, to Margaret Dion, of Bathurst.
* * * * *
=Genest, Laurent Ubalde Archibalde=, Counsellor-at-Law, Three Rivers,
Province of Quebec, was born on the 4th March, 1828, at Gentilly, in the
same province. His ancestors came from France, where several villages
bearing their name remain to this day as old landmarks of several
branches of this ancient family. One of them, Louis Genest, captain of
militia, and a thriving agriculturist, settled at St. Jean, Isle
d’Orleans, near Quebec, where, on the 19th January, 1777, he married
Elizabeth Amireau, _alias_ Mireau, from l’Acadie, in Nova Scotia. From
Louis Genest and Elizabeth Amireau, or Mireau, was born on 18th April,
1779, Laurent Genest, father of the subject of this sketch. L. Genest,
the elder, received his education at Quebec, where, on the 24th March,
1808, he was, by Royal commission, appointed a notary public for Lower
Canada. Shortly afterwards he left Quebec, and settled in the parish of
Gentilly, in the county of Nicolet, where he acted as agent for the
seigniory of Gentilly, and on behalf of several large landowners in the
neighboring townships of Maddington, Blandford, Bulstrode, Stanfold and
Somerset. On 29th October, 1810, he married, at Gentilly, Marie Anne
Panneton, daughter of Jean-Baptiste Panneton, a captain of militia, and
a prosperous agriculturist. On 1st September, 1812, he was appointed
adjutant of militia in full pay, and raised a battalion, from the
Bécancour division, for the American war with Great Britain. He marched
off with that battalion for the seat of war; but the battle of
Chateauguay (26th October, 1813) having been won, his battalion was
recalled home. On the 17th February, 1815; 8th March, 1816; 13th
September, 1830; 11th October, 1834, and 2nd March, 1835, he was
appointed, by as many Royal commissions, a returning officer for the
election of members for the counties of Buckingham and Nicolet. On 13th
February, 1822, under the Earl of Dalhousie, he was appointed again
captain and adjutant of militia for the Bécancour division. On 27th
January, 1831, under Lord Aylmer, he was appointed again captain for the
second battalion in the militia of the county of Nicolet. On 13th April,
1839, he was appointed clerk of the Court of Requests at Gentilly, a
county court for the county of Nicolet which sat quarterly, doing
considerable business. On 7th June, 1842, he was appointed a justice of
the peace for the district of Three Rivers. On 22nd April, 1844, he was
appointed clerk of the Circuit Court of Gentilly, a circuit embracing
the whole county of Nicolet. On 6th October, 1845, he was appointed a
commissioner to administer official oaths in Lower Canada. He was
offered on several occasions, by the electors of the county of Nicolet,
the nomination as their representative in the House of Assembly, but
always declined. He was a man of sterling worth, much loved and
respected on account of his irreproachable integrity and his sociable
character. His friends were many and most distinguished, especially in
the city of Quebec, whence he came. He died much regretted at Gentilly,
on the 25th of September, 1846, in the sixty-seventh year of his age.
His son, L. U. A. Genest, the subject of this sketch, was born at
Gentilly on the 4th March, 1828. He is a brother of the late Charles B.
Genest, advocate, and an M.P.P. for Three Rivers in the House of
Assembly of Quebec. He was educated at Nicolet College, under the
rectorship of the Right Rev. J. B. A. Ferland, the learned and
distinguished Canadian historian (1840-1846). At the death of his
father, in 1846, he succeeded him as agent for the seigniory of
Gentilly, which office he held until June, 1851. This position induced
him to make a special study of the seignorial tenure and feudal system,
which he admired very much, as having been, as he considered, an
excellent mode to settle, with a select and prosperous population,
French Lower Canada, though afterwards he was compelled to acknowledge
that circumstances were changed, and that many abuses had taken hold of
this fine tenure of lands, which later justified its abolition. Indeed,
his opinion is that too much gratitude cannot be bestowed on the
memories of two very justly regretted Canadian statesmen, the Hon. L. T.
Drummond and Sir George Etienne Cartier (with whom he had the advantage
of being intimately acquainted) for the abolition and redemption of that
tenure, which had lived its full time. He holds that the present lord
and tenant system of Ireland, which, when established, like the Canadian
seignorial tenure, must have been beneficial to all parties concerned,
should also now be abolished by redemption, just after the same mode
which was followed for the abolition of the feudal tenure of Lower
Canada; and he affirms that the British statesman who would accomplish
this at the present time, whatever be his name, would be the greatest
benefactor of the British empire in our days, whilst he would render the
utmost service to every lord and tenant of Ireland, who would only be
the happier for the change, with remarkable gain to all, and an
incalculable saving of ill-feeling, trouble and millions of money to the
mother country. On 20th May, 1850, Mr. Genest was commissioned an ensign
of the 2nd battalion in the militia of Nicolet. In June, 1851 he left
Gentilly for Montreal, where he began his regular legal studies, under
Joseph Peltier, advocate, one of the Canadian braves of 1837, and his
then partner, Joseph Papin, one of the chieftains of the Liberal party
of that period. On 3rd May, 1853, he was admitted as an advocate and
barrister at the bar of Montreal, where he began to practice with
Toussaint Peltier and the Hon. Joseph Bourret. On 18th November, 1853,
he was commissioned lieutenant in the 9th battalion of the militia of
Montreal. In 1855 he was called to take part in the labors of the
Seigniorial Commissioners at Montreal, a task which his previous studies
and taste well fitted him to fulfil. He was also appointed to and filled
the office of clerk of the Seigniorial Court of Review, which sat at
Montreal and Quebec. On 8th March, 1856, he was appointed clerk of the
peace for Three Rivers, where he removed from Montreal, whilst
continuing for some time after to take part in the labors of the
Seigniorial Commission at Montreal and Quebec. On 18th September, 1857,
he was appointed a commissioner to administer official oaths in Lower
Canada. On 1st August, 1876, he was appointed a member of the commission
for the civil erection of parishes and the building of churches in the
diocese of Three Rivers, of which commission he is the president. He is
a member of the Institut National, and of the Historical Society of
Montreal, and of the Literary Society of Three Rivers. He is also a
member of the society for the re-wooding of the province of Quebec. As a
member of the Historical Society of Montreal, he has contributed
largely, with the regretted Sir L. H. LaFontaine, baronet, with whom he
was on very friendly terms, to numerous and important researches
concerning the ancient families who first settled Canada. He ranks among
the first as a criminal lawyer in Lower Canada, and his advice is also
highly prized in civil matters. His word is as good as gold, and he is
held in very high esteem, and enjoys the confidence of his fellow
citizens, on account of his unimpeachable integrity and frankness.
Though neutral in politics, he is, by inheritance and education, a
strong Conservative; nevertheless a friend of all, without regard to
party or creed. He is an enthusiastic admirer of the British
constitution, and will cling to the very last to his allegiance. In
religion he is a Roman Catholic, holding that religion is indispensable
in the governing and ruling of nations to secure their peace, prosperity
and happiness, and to insure the stability of kingdoms, empires and
republics, thereby justifying the family motto—“Nascor, vivere, vincere
et mori, pro Deo, reginâ, patriâ et civibus”; “Je nais, pour vivre,
vaincre et mourir, pour mon Dieu, ma reine, mon pays, mes concitoyens.”
On 21st January, 1856, he married, at Montreal, Emma MacCallum, daughter
of John MacCallum, of that city (formerly a Quebec merchant), by Flavie
Raymond, of Laprairie, a grand-daughter of James MacCallum, a Quebec
merchant, seignior of the seigniories of St. James and Thwaite, in the
district of Montreal, and also at one time a member for the city of
Quebec in the House of Assembly of Lower Canada. Mrs. Genest is a first
cousin, on her mother’s side, of the late Hon. Edouard Masson, M.L.C.,
and of his Excellency the Hon. L. F. R. Masson, member of the Queen’s
Privy Council for Canada, late lieutenant-governor of the province of
Quebec. Mr. Genest resides at 64 Royal street, Three Rivers, P.Q.
* * * * *
=Lugrin, Charles S.=, who was born at Fredericton, New Brunswick, in
1818, and died in the same city on the 27th April, 1877, was educated at
the Collegiate School of his native place. He was a son of George K.
Lugrin, for many years Queen’s printer for New Brunswick, and grandson
of Peter Lugrin, who served as master of hospital stores in the Royal
army during the American revolutionary war. The Lugrins are of Swiss
origin. Captain Peter Moses Lugrin lived at Romainmotier, Switzerland,
in the early part of the eighteenth century, and held important public
positions. He married Lady Beniné Marguerite Rochat, by whom he had
issue, Simeon, great grandfather of Charles S. Lugrin. Charles S.
followed his father’s business of printing, and after the latter’s death
took charge of the Queen’s printer’s establishment, under John Simpson,
the new incumbent of the office, with whom he was in partnership for
some time. After Mr. Simpson’s death, he began the publication of the
_Colonial Farmer_, which he conducted successfully for a number of
years. In 1868 he was appointed secretary of the Board of Agriculture,
and held the office until the abolition of the board in 1875, when he
accepted the office of secretary of the school trustees for Fredericton,
which he held until his death in 1877. He was paymaster in the militia
when a young man. In his lifetime he was an active member of the
Methodist church; a leading temperance advocate, and for a term occupied
the position of grand worthy patriarch of the Grand Division of the Sons
of Temperance of New Brunswick. As a writer he was sharp and incisive,
and in politics a Liberal. He was married to Martha L., daughter of John
and Mary Stevens. The latter was a granddaughter of Colonel Richard
Lawrence, of Staten Island, N.Y., who served on the loyalist side during
the American revolution.
* * * * *
=Chisholm, Peter J.=, President and Manager of the Nova Scotia Lecture
and Concert Bureau, Truro, Nova Scotia, was born at West River, Pictou
county, N.S., on the 1st August, 1848, and is the youngest of a family
of seven sons. Both parents were Scotch, and came to Nova Scotia in
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