Blair, Hon. Andrew George, Attorney-General and Premier of New Brunswick, was born in Fredericton, N.B., on the 7th March, 1844. He is of Scotch descent. He was educated at the Collegiate School, in Fredericton. He chose law as a profession, and after spending the usual time in study, was called to the bar in April, 1866, and successfully practised for some years. In 1878 he entered the political arena, and was returned to represent York county in the House of Assembly of New Brunswick, at the general election of that year. A petition, however, having been filed against his return, he resigned the seat, and on the issue of a new writ, was re-elected on the 14th November of the same year. At the first session of the new house, in February, 1879, he was chosen leader of the opposition, then consisting of only six members beside himself, in a house of forty-one. In the last session of that house, held in 1882, the opposition, under his leadership, had increased to seventeen. At the general election of that year, 1882, he was re-elected for his old constituency, and in March, 1883, defeated the Hanington government, and was called upon to form a new ministry, which he succeeded in accomplishing in one day. On accepting the office of attorney-general he again appealed to his constituents on the 24th of March, and was elected. At the general elections held in 1887 he was once more elected, at the head of the New Brunswick Legislature as premier and attorney-general. Hon. Mr. Blair is an independent Liberal in politics; and in religion is an adherent of the Methodist church. He was married on 31st October, 1866, to Annie E., eldest daughter of George Thompson, late of the educational department, at Fredericton. The issue of this union has been ten children.
Burland, George B., President and General Manager of the British American Bank Note Company, Montreal.—Mr. Burland, the subject of our sketch, is descended from a long line of illustrious ancestry. There is an old estate in Cheshire, called “Burland,” after the family, and at the time of the accession of Edward III. to the throne in 1327, Robert de Burland held possession in the county of Somerset. John Burland, born in 1696, married, in 1718, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Claver Morris, M.D., of the city of Wells. He died November 6, 1746, and left four sons and two daughters: John Burland, son and heir; Claver Morris Burland, M.D.; William Burland, fellow New College, Oxford; Robert Burland; Mary, wife of Rev. William Hudlestone, and Anne, wife of Rev. William Eater. John, the eldest son, was of Baliol College, Oxford, where he entered in 1740. In 1743 he went to the Middle Temple, and was called to the bar in 1746. In 1762 he was made sergeant-at-law; in 1773 he was given the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws; in 1774 he was knighted and sworn one of the Barons of the Exchequer in room of Baron Adams. This he enjoyed but one year and eleven months, and died February 29, 1776, by the rupture of a blood vessel in his brain, as he was sitting in company with his brother, Robert Burland, and his intimate friend, Colonel Charles Webb. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a handsome monument, with the following inscription, is erected to his memory: “Near this place are deposited the remains of the Hon. Sir John Burland, Knt., LL.D., one of the Barons of his Majesty’s Court of Exchequer; as a man, valued and beloved, as a judge, honoured and revered. He died suddenly on the 29th February, 1776, aged 51 years.” This gentleman married, in 1747, Lætitia, the daughter of Wm. Berkeley Portman, of Orchard Portman, and Anne, his wife, only daughter of Sir Edward Seymour, of Maiden Bradley, baronet, speaker of the House of Commons, and comptroller of the household of Queen Anne. George B. Burland, of Montreal, is descended from this family, and was born at Loggan Hall, in the county of Wexford, in the year 1829. His father, Benjamin Burland, was born in 1779, and educated for the medical profession. He married, in 1806, Belinda Roe, daughter of Robert Roe, a gentleman of ample wealth, and owner of large estates in Queen’s county. He sailed for Canada in July, 1840, and died in 1842. His uncle was one of the first to afford relief to the sufferers in the great famine of 1739. His father and his father’s brothers were gentlemen of considerable influence, and owned extensive properties in the counties of Wicklow and Wexford, now in possession of the DeRenzie family. They took an active part in the troubles of 1798. One of them was reputed in his day the best horseman and swordsman in Ireland. During the Irish rebellion his father, at great personal risk, saved the life of a priest by placing himself between the levelled muskets and their intended victim. For this service the rev. gentleman presented him with a sword now in the possession of the subject of this sketch. Tablets in Kilpipe and Kilcommon churches note the resting-places of members of his family. His uncle was appointed surveyor to the customs at Montreal by the British government; and his cousin, B. Burland, is at present a surgeon-major in the 19th Hussars. George B. Burland’s education was entrusted to a private tutor, and when his schooling was over, he entered upon business pursuits, in 1844, in the office of his uncle, George P. Bull, who was at that period proprietor and publisher of the Hamilton Gazette. His cousins, Rev. Geo. A. Richard, and the late Hon. Harcourt B. Bull, were then residents of Hamilton; and he remained with them some three or four years and then returned to Montreal. This initial connection with the press soon led to another stage in a cognate branch of publication. The late George Matthews, engraver, succeeded, after many efforts, in inducing the Bank of Montreal to have its bills printed in Canada, the plates being then engraved at the Bank of England, in London. Having secured this step, his next important move was to obtain for that department a manager who could be relied upon for his intelligence and business energy to carry out the new undertaking with success. The choice fell upon Mr. Burland; and thus having identified himself with the undertaking from the first, and acquired an interest in it, his energy, industry and tact enabled him soon to attain to a full partnership. His partner, Mr. Matthews, having secured a competency in the course of time, retired from the business, and left Mr. Burland to conduct affairs. The latter then set about to widen the sphere of his operations, and in spite of many obstacles, which only seemed to stimulate his pluck and perseverance, and notwithstanding the strenuous opposition of the American Bank Note Company and his former partner, he successfully established the British American Bank Note Company, which has been intimately connected with the engraving and printing of the bank note work of the country for over a quarter of a century. Besides being the founder, Mr. Burland is president, and has been general manager of the company since its incorporation. In 1874 he obtained a charter of incorporation for the Burland Lithographic Company, the destinies of which he successfully conducted, as president and general manager, until 1886, when he retired from that double office, on account of his health, and because of his other multifarious interests and occupations. Indeed, he is concerned in many important business enterprises. He is president of the Protestant Insane Asylum of the province of Quebec, to which charity he donated the sum of five thousand dollars. He is a life governor of the Montreal General Hospital, Western Female Hospital, Montreal Dispensary, Boys’ Home, Protestant Orphan Asylum, Irish Protestant Benevolent Association, and Protestant Orphan Asylum, Ottawa, and a life member of the Art Association, of Montreal. To support the principles advanced by the Rev. James Roy, who had been accused of heresy in the Methodist church, and with the view of retaining him in the ministry, Mr. Burland built and equipped one of the handsomest churches in the city of Montreal, at a cost of over $50,000. We merely mention this as an instance of the liberal assistance which he has extended to others without desiring or allowing publicity, and in fact many other proofs of his generosity are known to the writer, which have been carefully hidden from the world by their donor. This sacred edifice has since become the property of the St. Gabriel Church congregation, to which body Mr. Burland donated the sum of $5,000. He also contributed the sum of $2,500 to the Congregational College, Montreal, and has always been a liberal contributor to charitable objects. He was, furthermore, one of the original subscribers to the stock of the Windsor Hotel Company, Montreal, and was one of the few who formed a syndicate to complete the building at a time when its success appeared to be doubtful. He has been one of the directors for many years, is the vice-president, and largest shareholder in the company. He is also widely interested in the manufacturing industries and joint stock companies of the Dominion, and is one of the largest property-owners in the city of Montreal. Some of its most modern and artistic buildings have been erected by him, and he was the first of the citizens to import some of the beautiful woods of British Columbia which have been used in their construction. Mr. Burland married, in 1857, Clarissa, the youngest daughter of the late George Cochrane, of Quebec, by whom he had one son and three daughters. When his son became of age a few years ago he presented him with $25,000 as a birthday present. His gifts to other members of his household have been proportionately liberal on their attaining their majority. The action of Mr. Burland in this matter, as well as in his numerous acts of munificence to the many charitable institutions of the city of Montreal and elsewhere, is worthy of the highest commendation, and we trust the day is not far distant when the men of wealth and noble instincts will follow his example, and not defer the disposal of their wealth till after death, but witness, in the evening of their days, the great blessings they were enabled to impart to their fellow beings. In the year 1883 Mr. Burland paid a visit to Europe with his family, travelling over England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and Switzerland, and thereby greatly benefiting his health; and since then, while still keeping an eye on his numerous interests, he is free to devote much time to works of philanthropy and public usefulness. He is still comparatively a young man, and there is every reason to hope that he will be spared many years to the circle of his family, and to the more enlarged sphere of good citizenship. Men of his stamp are not met with every day, and the lesson of patience, industry, thrift and business management, resulting in the accumulation of large wealth, invested where it can do most private and public good, which his career presents, is worthy of permanent commemoration.
Tellier, Hon. Louis, Judge of the Superior Court of the province of Quebec, St. Hyacinthe, is a son of Zephirin Tellier, of Ste. Melanie de Daillebout, yeoman, and Luce Ferland, daughter of Prisque Ferland, and was born at Berthier-en-haut, December 24th, 1844. The Tellier family came from France about 1789, its progenitor in this province settling at Berthier-en-haut. Mr. Tellier was educated at Joliette College; began the study of law at Joliette, under the Hon. Mr. Baby, who became federal minister of inland revenue, and is now one of the judges of the Court of Queen’s Bench, and finished at St. Hyacinthe, under the Hon. Hubert W. Chagnon, now a puisne judge of the Superior Court, and was called to the bar at Montreal on the 16th of October, 1866; and since 1873 has been in practice at St. Hyacinthe, being the senior member of the firms of Tellier, DeLabruere and Beauchemin, and of Tellier, Lussier and Gendron. He has a liberal share of business in both the civil and criminal courts, and an honorable standing in the profession, being a hard student, well informed in law matters, and preparing his cases with the greatest care and credit. His opinion on legal points is not given hurriedly, but, once expressed, can be relied on. He is very precise and honorable in all his dealings. His law library is one of the best of its kind in the district of St. Hyacinthe. Mr. Tellier was deputy prothonotary of the Superior Court, and deputy clerk of the circuit court for this district, from 1863 to 1873, and crown attorney for the same from the last-named date until 1878. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in September, 1878, for the county of St. Hyacinthe, and an unsuccessful candidate at the general election in 1882. His politics are Conservative, and though younger than the majority of his political confrères in the district, very few of them have more talent, prestige and influence. When elected to parliament, he drew more than the full party vote. Mr. Tellier was married in St. Hyacinthe, on the 26th of May, 1868, to Hermine, second daughter of the late Dr. Adolphe Malhiot and Hermine Lamothe, who died on the 7th of February, 1878, leaving one son, and on the 18th of July, 1882, to Elzire, daughter of J. A. Hamel, collector of customs of St. Hyacinthe. The family belong to the Roman Catholic church, and on the 24th of June, 1880, Mr. Tellier was a delegate to represent St. Hyacinthe at the grand national fête of St. Jean Baptiste, held in Quebec. He was appointed a Queen’s counsel on the 23rd of January, 1882. He has lately, and most deservedly, been appointed judge of the Superior Court of the province of Quebec.
Haliburton, Thomas Chandler, was born at Windsor, Nova Scotia, in December, 1796, and there received the primary portion of his education. He then attended the University of King’s College, and graduated with high honors in 1824. At an early period of his college course he showed a decided taste for literary pursuits, and took many prizes, among them the English essay prize, which he succeeded in wresting from the expectant grasp of several able competitors. On leaving college he turned his attention to law, entered the legal profession and practised at Annapolis, where he had a large and lucrative connection. He then, at the earnest solicitation of friends, entered the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, as member for the county of Annapolis, and here his fine intellect, and good debating powers, soon gave him a leading position. As an orator he is said to have been “earnest, impressive and dignified; though he often showed a strong propensity for wit and humor.” In 1828 he was appointed chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and discharged the duties of his position with great ability till 1840, when he was transferred to the Supreme Court. In February, 1856, he resigned his office, left his native land; and found a home in England, where he spent the remainder of his days. At the general elections in 1859 he entered the Imperial parliament as member for Lancaster. Here he joined in some of the debates; but parliamentary life appears to have become irksome to him, and his greatest pleasure was derived from advancing the interests of the village of Isleworth, where he lived, by aiding the philanthropical projects of its inhabitants, and contributing to its charitable institutions; and it was there he died, on the 27th August, 1865. Haliburton first became known as an author in 1829, when he published “An Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia,” This work is said to be written with “clearness, spirit, accuracy, and impartiality,” and is at the present day regarded as a standard work. So much was thought of it that the House of Assembly in Nova Scotia tendered the author a vote of thanks, which he received when in his place in parliament. In 1834 he published “Kentucky,” a tale. In 1837 the first series of “The Clock Maker; or Sayings and Doings of Sam. Slick of Slickville,” came before the public, which was followed by the second and third series in 1838 and 1840. It was in order to preserve some anecdotes and stories, which were too good to be lost, and were in danger of passing into oblivion, that Haliburton wrote, anonymously, a series of articles for a paper, the Nova Scotian, speaking to the public through the medium of a Yankee pedlar. These papers were a great success, and appeared as a collection under the foregoing title, and as a work on common sense it is doubtful if it has its equal. It has been re-published in England and the United States, and translated into foreign languages. In 1839 he published “The Letter-Bag of the Great Western; or Life in a Steamer,” after which followed “The Bubbles of Canada”; “A Reply to the Report of Lord Dufferin”; “Traits of American Humor”; “Sam. Slick’s Wise Saws and Modern Instances”; “The Old Judge; or Life in a Colony”; “The Americans at Home”; “Rule and Misrule of the English in America”; “The Attaché; or Sam. Slick in England”; “Yankee Stories and Yankee Letters”; “The Sayings and Doings of Sam. Slick, Esq., with his Opinion on Matrimony”; “Sam. Slick in Search of a Wife”; “Nature and Human Nature.” Two of his speeches have also been published; one on “Resources and Prospects of British North America,” in 1857, and the other, “On the Repeal of the Differential Duties on Foreign and Colonial Wool.” Critics say, “although a man of mark in other departments of literature, Haliburton is best known as a humorist.” His “History of Nova Scotia” will bear comparison with any works of a similar kind that have appeared in America; but it is to Sam. Slick that he owes his fame. The revelations and remarks of the Yankee pedlar are valuable, no less for their shrewdness and sound sense, than for their raciness and humor, their sarcasms and laughable exaggerations. Haliburton is indeed more than a humorist; and his productions will be read with profit by others besides his countrymen. As a story-teller he is inimitable, and the quaint dialect in which his yarns are couched increases the comic effect of his utterances. Sam. Slick has an individuality that insures for him a place amongst the best known characters of fiction. It is needless to say anything more of one who has attained such world-wide celebrity as he who is familiarly known to Canadians as Judge Haliburton.
Gervais, Marie Emery, M.D., Three Rivers, a descendant of a French family who migrated from France in the beginning of the present century, and settled in the prosperous city of Three Rivers, was born in that city on the 13th of December, 1845, and is the son of Louis Emery Gervais, a merchant of good repute, and a highly esteemed citizen, who served his fellow-townsmen in the capacity of councillor for over twenty years; his mother was Julie Huart, of Point Levis. The doctor was educated at the college of Three Rivers, and on completing a full course of classical studies in that institution, removed to Montreal, and entered the Medical and Surgical School, to follow a course of medical studies, and in May, 1869, graduated M.D. at the University of Victoria College, Cobourg. He then returned to his native place, where he has practised ever since, enjoying the confidence and esteem of the entire community. His urbane manners and uniform courtesy and kindness, together with the careful attention he bestows on all who come under his care have made him hosts of friends. He served in the town council for several years, and in July, 1881, he was returned by acclamation for the ward he had previously represented. He is also a member of the Provincial Board of Health, to which office he was appointed for a term of three years in July, 1880. On the 6th of August, 1870, he married Marie Madeleine Etuchienne, daughter of the late Edouard Normand, of Three Rivers, by whom he has issue twelve children, five sons and seven daughters. The Normand family is well and favorably known in Three Rivers, where it has numerous representatives, and by his alliance with it, Dr. Gervais seems to have been endowed with the many estimable and philanthropic characteristics which are its inheritance.