Hewson, Charles Wentworth Upham, M.D., L.R.C.P., and L.M. (Edinburgh), Amherst, Nova Scotia, was born in Jolicure, New Brunswick, on the 28th February, 1844. His parents were William A. Hewson and Elizabeth Chandler. He received his education at the Sackville, Mount Allison, and St. Joseph colleges, New Brunswick, and adopted medicine as a profession. He began his practice in River Herbert, in Nova Scotia, and for eleven years carried it on very successfully. Then, in 1883, he went to Scotland, and for some time attended the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, where he took the degrees of L.R.C.P. and L.M. On his return he settled in Amherst, Nova Scotia, in May, 1884, where he has since enjoyed a lucrative practice. Dr. Hewson is coroner for the county of Cumberland. Some years ago he joined the Masonic fraternity, and takes an active interest in this ancient order of brotherhood. In politics the doctor is a Liberal, and in religion is an adherent of the Presbyterian church. He was married on the 29th of December, 1874, to Mary E. Hapgood, a native of Calais, Maine. The fruit of this marriage has been four children, only two of whom survive, namely, Florence R. and Charles E.
Allison, Charles, Inspector of Weights and Measures, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, was born at Kentville, Kings county, Nova Scotia, on the 22nd of September, 1821. His father was Samuel Leonard Allison, prothonotary of Kings county, who was grandson of Joseph Allison, who emigrated from Newton Limavady, a town on Lough Foyle, near Londonderry, Ireland, and settled in Horton, Kings county, Nova Scotia, in 1774. Joseph Allison, the great grandfather of the subject of our sketch, had four sons, namely: John, William, James and Joseph, and all the old stock of the Allisons in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are descended from them. Many of this family have attained marked prominence, as witness: David Allison, LL.D., is the present Superintendent of Education of Nova Scotia; Charles Allison, the founder of Mount Allison University; Henry Allison, ex-M.P., and others that will occur to Maritime province readers. Of Joseph’s sons, Israel (deceased), was sheriff of Colchester, for some years; Jonathan (deceased), who was one of Halifax’s most successful business men; Edward (deceased), who removed to St. John, New Brunswick, and entered mercantile life. The latter gentleman was the father of Dr. Allison, and J. C. Allison, C.E., of St. John. Two other sons of Joseph, Henry and Joseph, died at an early age. Charles Allison’s mother was Sophia Barss, of Liverpool. Deacon Samuel Barss, the founder of the Barss family, was of English origin, settling in Connecticut, where he married a daughter of the celebrated John Alden, a contemporary and friend of Miles Standish. In the latter part of the last century, the family emigrated to Nova Scotia, and settled in Annapolis. Joseph Barss settled in Liverpool, and was the founder of the Queen’s county branch of the Barss family. At one time, while away with his vessel, he was captured by a French privateer and taken to France, where he was kept prisoner until exchanged. Charles Allison was first sent to the school at Kentville, in his native county, and afterwards attended for a time the academy at Liverpool, in Queens county, and picked up such an education as could be procured in these institutions in those early days. On leaving school he was sent to Halifax, where he became a clerk in a dry goods store, and served four years in this place. He then left Halifax, and joining his father and the rest of the family at Kentville, they shortly afterwards removed to Kempt, in Queens county, and bought a farm with some improvements. Here Mr. Allison resided for forty years. He took an active interest in military affairs, and in 1864, when the provincial militia was organized, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 3rd Queens county regiment, and retired a few years ago, retaining his rank. He has held a number of public offices during his active life time. In 1858, he was appointed a justice of the peace; and in 1863, he entered the field of politics, was elected to a seat in the Provincial Legislature, for Queens county, and was one of the number who helped to carry the free school bill in 1866, and the following year the act for the confederation of the provinces. On the dissolution of the House of Assembly, and the formation of the new government, Mr. Allison was chosen commissioner of Mines and Works. In September, 1867, an appeal was made to the country, with the result that the whole “Union party” were defeated, Mr. Allison being among the number, with the exception of Sir Charles Tupper, in Cumberland, and Hon. Hiram Blanchard, the attorney-general, in Inverness. Mr. Allison has once since presented himself for legislative favours, but was defeated; he nevertheless continues to take an interest in all the measures that come up in the local and Dominion parliaments. In politics, he is a Liberal-Conservative, and in religion an adherent of the Baptist church. He was married at Caledonia, Queens county, on the 19th July, 1847, to Lavinia Freeman, whose grandfather, Simeon Freeman, of English Puritan descent, was the first male child born in Queens county. The fruit of this union has been nine children, seven of whom are living,—two boys, Henry and Charles Edward, and five daughters, four of whom are married, one a resident of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and three residing with their husbands in Boston.
Lyman, Frederick Styles, B.A., B.C.L., Barrister, Montreal, was born in that city on the 6th of January, 1844. He is a son of Henry Lyman, senior partner of the firm of Lyman, Sons & Co., of Montreal, and Lyman Brothers & Co., of Toronto, president of the Citizens’ Insurance Company, and one of the directors of the Canada Shipping Company, etc. The Lymans came originally from Kent, in England, and were among the early settlers of Massachusetts, where a number of them still reside. Frederick received his primary education at the High School and McGill University, Montreal, and then went to England, and studied at St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he took the degree of B.A., in 1867. On his return to Montreal he received the degree of B.C.L. from McGill University. He selected law as a profession, and after having passed a creditable examination, travelled for a year in Europe, visiting the chief cities of Britain and the continent with great pleasure and profit to himself. On his return he entered into a law partnership with John Dunlop, under the style of Dunlop & Lyman, as advocates and solicitors, commissioners for Ontario and Nova Scotia, etc., and has proved himself a successful legal practitioner. Mr. Lyman, in politics, is a Liberal; and in religion, is an adherent of the Church of England. He was married on the 15th August, 1871, to Louisa Lyman, and has a family of two children.
Robertson, Andrew, Chairman of the Board of Harbor Commissioners, Montreal, is a Scotchman by birth, having been born in Paisley, in Scotland, on the 18th June, 1827. He is the eldest and only son of the late Alexander Robertson, of Paisley, by his first wife, Grant Stuart Macdonald. Mr. Robertson received his education at the Paisley Grammar School, going through the usual curriculum of English, Latin and Greek. Shortly after leaving school, like the majority of Scotch boys, he learned a trade, that of weaving. He went, in 1840, to Glasgow to push his fortune. Here he served for four years in a dry goods store, and then took a position in a manufacturer’s establishment. In this new position he worked hard, and having gained the confidence of his employers, he was four years afterwards, in 1848, admitted a partner in the business. A few years later on, his health having given way, he was admonished by his medical adviser to leave Glasgow, and try the effects of either the climate of Australia or Canada on his enfeebled constitution. He decided on the latter country, and along with his wife and two sons came to Montreal in 1853. Shortly after his arrival he went into the dry goods business, and soon became one of the leading men in the trade, as senior partner in the firm of Robertsons, Linton and Co., of that city. Business having succeeded, Mr. Robertson was enabled to retire from it in 1885, and he is now enjoying other and perhaps more congenial pursuits. Being a public spirited gentleman, he never shirked his responsibilities as a citizen. In 1868 and 1869 he accepted the position of president of St. Andrew’s Society of Montreal; in 1876 he was president of the Dominion Board of Trade; in 1876 and 1877 he was president of the Montreal Board of Trade; was the first president of the Dominion Travellers’ Association; has been the president of the Royal Canadian Insurance Company since 1876; and president of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada since its organization in 1880. In 1872 Mr. Robertson became one of the governors of the Montreal General Hospital, and since that period has filled the offices of treasurer, vice-president, and is now president. In 1879 he was elected chairman of the Board of Harbor Commissioners for Montreal, and he has occupied this position ever since. He has also taken an interest in military affairs, and in 1861, during the Trent excitement, he was first lieutenant and quartermaster of the Montreal Light Infantry Company. Mr. Robertson is an adherent of the Presbyterian church; and as for politics, we think he would rather act the part of the Good Samaritan than indulge in political discussions. He was married on the 19th April, 1850, to Agnes, youngest daughter of the late Alexander Bow, of Glasgow, and has had a family of four sons and six daughters, two of the latter are dead.
Rosebrugh, John Wellington, M.D., Hamilton, Ontario, President of the Ontario Medical Association, 1887, and member of the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. This distinguished medical gentleman was born near Galt, in the county of Waterloo, Ontario, on the 5th November, 1828. His father was the late Thomas Rosebrugh, of Dumfries, who, when a lad of sixteen, took up his gun, went to the frontier, and fought for his young country at the battles of Lundy’s Lane and Queenston Heights. His grandfather was a U. E. loyalist. Dr. Rosebrugh received his early education at the schools of his neighborhood, the Galt High School and Victoria College. In 1850 he commenced the study of medicine under the Hon. Dr. Rolph, Dr. Joseph Workman, and others, afterwards called the Toronto School of Medicine; and later on the Medical department of the University of Victoria College. At the end of two years he passed his examination, and received his licence to practice from the Medical Board of Canada in 1852. He then went on to New York, attended an additional course of lectures at the University of New York city, from which institution he received the degree of doctor of medicine, in 1853. During his sojourn in New York, he faithfully followed up all the great advantages derivable from the lectures and clinics, and witnessed a large number of surgical operations in the hospitals of that city. Having a natural inclination for surgery, he cultivated his bent in that direction, and thus laid the foundation for his great success in after life. His career is an excellent example of what can be gained by one who sets before himself a high ideal of life, and the steadfast purpose and determination to rise to a useful and exalted position in his profession. Only force of character, unusual energy, and strenuous devotion to his high purpose could win such signal success as he has attained without the adventitious aids of an artificial society, professorships, or hospital appointments. Success is always a relative term, and is used appropriately only when employed to describe conditions in which effort guided by intelligence and skill to definite purpose accomplishes its aims. If this be true, then no physician in Canada to-day has a stronger claim to this distinction than the subject of this sketch, for his effort and perseverance have placed him in the front rank of his profession. He is a licentiate of the Canada Medical Board, 1852; M.D., University of New York city, 1853; M.D., University Victoria College, 1855; member of the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Ontario; member of the Ontario Medical Association; member of the Canada Medical Association; member of the British Medical Association; member of the International Medical Congress; honorary member of the American Medical Association; fellow of the British Gynecological Society; corresponding member of the Boston Gynecological Society, etc. It will thus be seen that he has already reached a higher degree of prominence in the medical profession of the country than has been the fortune of but few disciples of Æsculapius to enjoy. His success as a physician and surgeon is the fruit of hard work, persevering research and natural adaptability to his chosen profession. His cheerful presence is a blessing to any sick chamber, and his mild and gentle manners bring cheer and comfort to the suffering and desponding ones, while his quiet though earnest assurances of recovery infuse hope and joy into the desponding heart. He always had a penchant for surgery, and, besides his hospital practice during the time the railways were being constructed about Hamilton and Dundas, had quite a large experience in surgical operations, so that before he took up his specialty, he had the reputation of being an excellent general surgeon. His practice, however, during the last few years has gradually drifted more and more into gynecology and abdominal surgery. His great skill and wonderful success as an ovariotomist and abdominal surgeon, soon attracted the attention of his medical brethren, and they sent him the difficult cases which they did not wish to undertake themselves. In order to improve his knowledge as an abdominal surgeon, he has made frequent visits to the United States, Great Britain, and the continent of Europe. In this way he became practically acquainted with the methods of the most celebrated abdominal surgeons in the world, including Sir Spencer Wells, Thomas Keith, Lawson Tait, Granville Bantock, Knowsly Thornton, Carl Schrœder, and A. Martin. Dr. Rosebrugh commenced the practice of his profession in the town of Dundas, where he resided for a period of three years, and then accepted a partnership with Dr. Billings, of Hamilton. This co-partnership at the end of three years was dissolved by mutual consent, and Dr. Rosebrugh since that time has practised by himself. While residing in Dundas he was appointed coroner for the county of Wentworth, and after removing to Hamilton he was appointed coroner for the city, and, associated with the late Hon. H. B. Bull, he presided with noted ability and dignity at the celebrated inquest concerning the Desjardins Bridge accident, where about sixty persons were killed and a large number wounded. In 1858 he was appointed president of the Mechanics’ Institute, at that time and for some years subsequently a flourishing institution of the city. In the year 1860 he was elected a member of the city council, and immediately gave his particular attention to the reorganization of the city hospital system, which was at that time more a hole-and-corner concern, or a house of refuge, than a hospital. At first he met with a formidable opposition to all efforts at reform, but his personal popularity and influence gradually won over a majority of the friends of the old régime, and towards the end of his second year in the council he carried his by-law of reform. This by-law was so perfect in all its details that it stands to-day at the end of a quarter of a century, with scarcely an alteration. After carrying through his scheme, he remained in the council another year as chairman of the hospital committee, in order to get the new by-law into good working order. In educational matters he has always taken a deep interest, and for a number of years was a member of the Grammar and Public School Board. He was also one of the promoters, and is still a director of the Ladies’ College. He has always taken a lively interest and an active part in the great temperance movement, and is a liberal supporter of that cause. He was born and brought up in the Methodist Church, and has never left its fold. He was one of the promoters of the Centenary Church, and has held the office of trustee and steward from the time that church was erected. Dr. Rosebrugh is an active and enterprising member of the medical profession, determined from the beginning to keep fully abreast with the literature and knowledge of the times, taking the best medical journals and purchasing the newest books. He was one of the first elected under the new by-law as attending physician to the hospital, which he held as long as he wished, and was then chosen one of the consulting physicians. During the time of his service he was for some years chairman of the staff. He was one of the active founders of the Hamilton Medical and Surgical Society, which is still in a flourishing condition, and was president of the same. To him more than any one else belongs the honor of the formation of the Ontario Medical Association, as he was the first to urge the medical journals to write the matter up; and he attended the preliminary meeting in Toronto for the purpose of drafting the by-laws for the management of the same. This growing and flourishing association has now been in existence about seven years, and this year chose Dr. Rosebrugh president for 1887-8.