Dobell, Richard Reid, Timber Merchant, Quebec, was born in 1837, at Liverpool, England. His father, George Dobell, was a successful tradesman in Liverpool, and well known for his strict integrity and stern independence. Richard Dobell, the subject of our sketch, secured his education at the Liverpool College, and came out to Quebec in August, 1857. For many years he carried on the business of timber merchant, under the name of Richard Dobell & Co.; but since 1885 the firm has been conducted under the title of Dobell, Beckett & Co., with a branch house in London, England. Mr. Dobell has always been deeply interested in the trade and prosperity of Quebec. He served as president of the Board of Trade, and was delegated by the Dominion Board of Trade to organize a conference in London to consider the advisability of a closer fiscal policy between Great Britain and her colonies. He is a member of the Executive Council of the Imperial Federation League in London, and is a firm advocate of a closer union being established between all the British colonies. He has been a member of the Quebec Harbor Commission since it was re-organized by the government, and was mainly instrumental in the construction of the Louise basin and docks. He is a Conservative in politics; and in religion a member of the Church of England. He is married to Elizabeth Frances, eldest daughter of Sir David MacPherson, and has three sons and two daughters.
Carrier, Charles William, Manufacturer, Lévis, province of Quebec, was born at St. Henri de Lauzon, county Lévis, on the 20th January, 1839. He was one of the first pupils of the College of Lévis, having entered that institution in the year it was founded. He went through the usual course of studies, and showed himself one of the brightest pupils of the school. In 1855 he took a situation as clerk in the commercial house of L. & A. Carrier, where he remained six years, gaining the highest step in the ladder by hard work, integrity, and attention to business. In 1861 he opened a store on his own account, and in a few years was at the head of an extensive business. In the year 1864, a young mechanic, of Lévis, Mr. Lainé, asked Mr. Carrier to give him the help of his experience and money to establish an iron foundry in Lévis. Many a less enterprising or more timid man would have refused, under the specious plea that he was doing a prosperous business, and could see no reason why he should abandon a sure trade to embark into a risky undertaking. Not so with Mr. Carrier; he saw at a glance that the enterprise had a good chance of success, would be the means of giving employment to a large number of people, and enthusiastically concentrated all his skill and interest in the advancement of the town of Lévis. Time amply proved that he was right in his surmises. In 1872, eight years after its foundation, the small foundry had grown up to the immense “Carrier-Lainé” works, known all over the country. In this undertaking Mr. Carrier gave the full measure of his capabilities as a business man and manager. When he thought of establishing this new industry the building of wooden ships, which had been almost the sole support of the working population, was in the wane, so much so, in fact, that the question was anxiously asked how the deserted ship-yards were to be again put in operation, and what would be the outcome of the enforced idleness of willing workers. Mr. Carrier came just in time to raise the courage of the inhabitants of Lévis and put new life into trade. He had to create and organize everything. After twenty years of ceaseless toil he has succeeded in gathering as good a gang of iron workers as can be found in the province, and to-day the Carrier-Lainé works are among the first in the Dominion in extent, perfected machinery, and finish and solidity of work. Besides making a financial success of his enterprise, Mr. Carrier has earned the gratitude of his countrymen, for having opened the doors of his works to the aspiring youth desirous to learn. In a country where industrial schools are in an embryo state, it is opportune to recall to the memory of those who will come after us the name of the man who was the first to open new avenues to the young generation. The Carrier-Lainé workshop has been a nursery from which have issued mechanics of all kinds, who are eagerly sought after in all the great centres of industry. How many families owe the future of their children to this good man? Mr. Carrier was beloved by his employees, chiefly on account of the interest he took in their welfare. For each and every one of them he had a word of encouragement or a good advice. Unlike the majority of employers who have become wealthy, he knew and instinctively felt that a little consideration to an employee at the right time is never out of place. In times of depression he never closed his works, even temporarily. “Profits are not large these times,” he would say, “but my workmen earn a living, and I am glad of it.” Such an example might be advantageously followed in many quarters. In the midst of his numerous occupations, Mr. Carrier found time to devote himself to everything tending to better the condition of the working classes. He was one of the founders of the Permanent Building Society of Lévis, and of the Loan and Investment Society of Quebec, having been a director of the latter company from its foundation until his death. Since 1870 he held a seat in the Council of Arts and Manufactures, over which he presided for two years. He devoted both his time and wealth to acts of charity and works of public interest. In 1882 he gave the town of Lévis a bronze statue of its founder, which is erected in Deziel square, and the municipal authorities have had the name of the generous donor engraved on the pedestal of the monument. Worn out by incessant labour, Mr. Carrier went to California to improve his health, but after a few months sojourn in that country he returned to his home, where he died on the 18th of September, 1887. In 1864 Mr. Carrier was married to Henriette Camille, the only daughter of Louis Carrier, who was the first mayor of Lévis, and occupied that position for seven consecutive years.
Sedgewick, Robert, Q.C., Barrister, Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a Scotchman by birth, having been born in Aberdeen on the 10th May, 1848. His father, the Rev. Robert Sedgewick, D.D., was born in Paisley, Scotland, was a minister of the United Presbyterian church, and for several years pastor of the U. P. Belmont street Church, Aberdeen. In 1849 he came to Nova Scotia, and was inducted as the minister of the congregation of Musquodoboit, where he died in 1885. His wife was Anne Middleton, a native of Perth, Scotland. The Rev. Dr. Sedgewick was the author of several works, which at the time of their publication attracted considerable attention; among others, that on “The Proper Sphere and Influence of Women in Christian Society;” “Amusements for Youth,” and “The Papacy: the Idolatry of Rome.” His eldest son, the Rev. Thomas Sedgewick, of Tatamagouche, N.S., a graduate of King’s College, Aberdeen, was, in the year 1886, the moderator of the Synod of the Presbyterian church in the Maritime provinces, and is a leading member of that communion. Robert Sedgewick entered as an undergraduate at Dalhousie College, Halifax, N.S., in November, 1863, where he obtained the degree of B.A. in May, 1867. In 1868, he commenced the study of the law in the office of the late John Sandfield Macdonald, premier of Ontario, at Cornwall, and in November, 1872, he was called to the bar of Ontario. He was admitted by Act of Parliament to the bar of Nova Scotia in May, 1873, in which province he has since practised his profession. In 1880 he was made a Queen’s counsel by the Dominion government. In 1885 he was appointed and now holds the office of recorder of the city of Halifax. In 1874 he unsuccessfully contested the county of Halifax in the Conservative interest for the local legislature. He was for four years an alderman of the city of Halifax, and for two terms he was a commissioner of schools for the same city. He was for several years president of the Alumni Association of Dalhousie College, and is now a governor of that university. He is also lecturer on Equity-Jurisprudence in connection with the Dalhousie Law School. In 1886 he was vice-president of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, and he is now a member of its council. He was for some years secretary of the North British Society and was eventually its president. Mr. Sedgewick is a Presbyterian in religion and a Liberal-Conservative in politics. He is at present the senior member of the legal firm of Sedgewick, Ross, and Sedgewick, Halifax, N.S. In 1873 he married Mary Sutherland Mackay, eldest daughter of the late William Mackay, of Halifax, N.S.
Sangster, Charles, Kingston, Ontario, was born 16th July, 1822, at the Navy Yard, Point Frederick, Kingston. His father, who was a shipwright at a naval station on one of the upper lakes, died before his son was two years old. Mr. Sangster’s education was limited, so much so, indeed, that had he not studied zealously when he reached man’s estate, we could not probably now have included his name among our Canadian celebrities. At the age of fifteen he left school to seek employment, that he might aid in supporting his mother, and was received in the laboratory of Fort Henry during the rebellion of 1838. For ten years after this date he filled a humble position in the Ordnance office, Kingston. In 1849, seeing no prospect of promotion, he resigned and went to Amherstburg, where he edited the Courier until the death of its publisher, which event occurred in the following year. He then returned to Kingston, and filled the position of sub-editor of the Whig, which office he held till 1861, when he resigned. In 1864 he joined the staff of reporters for the Daily News, and in 1867 again resigned his post to enter the civil service at Ottawa. Through his writings, years ago, he established his claim to a place in the front rank of Canadian poets. In 1856 he published “The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, and other poems.” Of this work, Mrs. Susanna Moodie says: “If the world receives them with as much pleasure as they have been read by me, your name will rank high among the gifted sons of song. If a native of Canada, she may well be proud of her bard, who has sung in such lofty strains the natural beauties of his native land;” while the London National Magazine remarks: “Well may the Canadians be proud of such contributions to their infant literature; well may they be forward to recognize his lively imagination, his bold style, and the fulness of his imagery. . . . There is much of the spirit of Wordsworth in this writer, only the tone is religious instead of being philosophical. . . . In some sort, and according to his degree, he may be regarded as the Wordsworth of Canada.” In 1860 he published “Hesperus, and other poems and lyrics.” In “Hesperus,” a legend of the stars, it is said: “The poet essays a lofty flight.” Why not? How otherwise could he obtain a firm grasp of his subject, a matter too little thought of by many of our poets who bring the accessories so prominently forward that the subject is in danger of being utterly eclipsed? Even so is it with this poem, “Hesperus.” Though Mr. Sangster took a high flight, aye, even to the stars, to grasp his subject—and though he may have grasped it in his own mind, he has failed to delineate it clearly. We think in writing this poem, Mr. Sangster has been unduly swayed by some critic who was in love with the misty style of verse-writing so popular at the present day, which is considered most beautiful when most incomprehensible, as he does not often err in this way. It would be well if the young aspirant for the laurel-wreath would remember that poetic words thrown together promiscuously, or even with some attempt at form; aye, even with a perfect lyrical ring, will not make poetry, any more than a number of lovely tints, all in perfect harmony, thrown upon canvas will make a picture. There must be form as well as harmony of color, and the subject must stand boldly out from the accessories. We like much of Mr. Sangster’s writing; besides being good descriptive verse, it recalls pleasant scenes, illustrative of the simple amusements of the earlier settlers of our country, when there were no lectures, concerts, etc., and folk spent their evenings at home, or at little rustic gatherings, such as described by our poet in the “Happy Harvesters.” We quote the following: —
From hand to hand the ripened fruit went round,
And rural sports a pleased acceptance found;