Kelly, Thomas, Judge of the County Court of Prince county, Summerside, Prince Edward Island. His Honour Judge Kelly is of Irish parentage, and was born at Covehead, in Queens county, Prince Edward Island, in 1833. His parents were Thomas Kelly and Mary Grace, who emigrated from the county of Kilkenny, Ireland, about the year 1824. Judge Kelly received his education in the old Central Academy of his native place, and at St. Dunstan’s College, Charlottetown, and pursued his law studies with His Honour Judge Watters, in St. John. He was called to the New Brunswick bar in Trinity term, 1865, and to that of Prince Edward Island the same year, and immediately thereafter began the practice of his profession as barrister and notary public at Summerside, where he has since resided. While a law student, he was for two years president of the Irish Friendly Society of St. John, N.B. Before accepting a position on the bench, Judge Kelly for many years took an active interest in the politics of his native province, especially in connection with the party controversies arising out of the education, railway, and confederation questions, as they existed in Prince Edward Island. He was twice elected a representative from Prince county to the Island legislature. In 1870 he was appointed a master in Chancery, and in 1871, a Railway commissioner, to which office he was again elected in 1872, but resigned it a few weeks subsequent to the overthrow of the Pope administration. In 1873 he was offered the chairmanship of the Railway board, and in 1874 the speakership of the House of Assembly, both of which positions he declined in consequence of a misunderstanding on the school question. In 1876 he retired temporarily from public life; but in a couple of years thereafter he again entered it, and in 1879 was an unsuccessful candidate for the legislature, at the general election of that year. For several years Judge Kelly was a director of the Summerside Bank, and afterwards became solicitor for that institution. He was elected license commissioner in 1877, and the same year was chosen recorder for the town of Summerside. He is a commissioner for Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, for taking affidavits for use in those provinces, and is also commissioner dedimus to administer oaths of office to Dominion appointees. He was appointed to the bench, as successor to the late Judge Pope, on the 24th October, 1879, and revising officer under the Electoral Franchise Act on the 26th October, 1886. Judge Kelly is a Roman Catholic, and was married, first, in September, 1867, to Mary Emeline, daughter of Henry Eskildson, of New York (she died October, 1868); and, secondly, in November, 1871, to Marianne H., daughter of the late William A. Campbell, barrister, Toronto, Ontario. Judge Kelly’s family consists of four children—one boy and three girls.
Reddy, John, M.D.—This distinguished medical man, who successfully practised his profession in Montreal for over thirty years, was born on the 31st of March, 1822, at Athlone, county of Roscommon, Ireland, and died on the 23rd of January, 1884. In accordance with the custom of that day, he was apprenticed to a local surgeon in the year 1839, and remained with him until 1842. In April, 1847, he appeared before the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, and received their license in April of that year. Owing to some demands which he considered unreasonable, he would not go up for the degree in Dublin, but preferred crossing to Glasgow, at which university he received the degree of M.D. in 1848. It was now the intention of Dr. Reddy to enter upon the career of an army surgeon, and he was actually gazetted to a commission in the line. His regiment was just at this time, however, ordered to the Gold Coast for service; and the young surgeon believing that he had not been born only to fill a premature grave in that most unhealthy station, at once resigned. He then for a short time held some dispensary appointments in Ireland, and came to Canada in 1851. Through the influence of some friends in Montreal he had been appointed house surgeon of the Montreal General Hospital, and immediately entered upon the duties of that office. He remained in the hospital for three years, fulfilling the responsibilities of this position to the great satisfaction of the then medical officers, Drs. Crawford, Arnoldi, Jones, and others, and on leaving the hospital, he began private practice in the city. The year 1854 will be remembered as the last during which a severe epidemic of Asiatic cholera swept over this country. Dr. Reddy at once devoted himself with unremitting attention to the care of the many sufferers who were falling on every hand. His unvarying kindness to his patients, his cheerful, warm-hearted Irish manners, his already considerable skill and experience soon led to his finding himself surrounded by a large and daily increasing clientèle. During Dr. Reddy’s thirty years’ practice of his profession in Montreal, his perseverance and assiduity knew no rest; he was constantly and busily employed from morning till night, and very often from night till morning, until 1883, when to the regret of his many friends, it was observed that his health was beginning to fail. He went to Europe for change of air, and the much needed rest, but unfortunately no return to health was to come to him, and he died in Dublin on the 23rd of January, 1884. Dr. Reddy held many offices of the highest trust and honour in this community. In 1856 he was appointed one of the attending physicians of the Montreal General Hospital, which post he held until he retired upon the consulting board. In 1856 he received the degree of M.D. ad eundem from McGill College, and for many years served as representative fellow in medicine in the corporation of that university. He was a constant attendant at the meetings of the Medico-Chirurgical Society and was elected president, and he was a long-service officer in the volunteer militia, having been surgeon of the Montreal Garrison Artillery. His was a quiet, unostentatious, busy, blameless life. His high moral character and strict professional integrity, his broad benevolence and universal goodness of heart, with kind and obliging manners, procured for Dr. Reddy the respect and esteem of all his professional friends and confrères, his numerous patients, and the general community. His memory will long be cherished and his character and good deeds held in warm remembrance. He was married on the 1st July, 1851, to Jane Fleming, daughter of William Fleming, of Cloondra, county Longford, Ireland, and when he died he left six children, three sons and three daughters, the eldest of whom, H. L. Reddy, B.A., M.D.C.M., L.R.C.P., London; L.S.A., London; L.R.C.S., Edinburgh; professor of obstetrics in the medical faculty, Bishop’s College University, physician accoucheur to the Western Hospital, Montreal, succeeds him in his practice. His second son, William B. S. Reddy, B.C.L., is a notary public practising in Montreal.
Harris, Christopher Prince, Merchant, Moncton, New Brunswick, was born at Moncton, county of Westmoreland, New Brunswick, on the 29th of May, 1837. He is the third son of Michael Spurr Harris and Sarah Ann Troop. Mr. Harris, jr., received his education in his native town, and for the past thirty years has been a member of the firm of J. & C. Harris, general merchants. In 1877 he took an active part with his brother and partner, J. L. Harris, and others, in organizing the Moncton Gaslight and Water Company, and also in the construction of the works. He has held the position of a director and also treasurer of the company until the present time. In 1880 he took a similar part in the organization and erection of the works of the Moncton Sugar Refining Company, and has been its treasurer ever since. In 1882 he helped to promote the Moncton Cotton Manufacturing Company, and the construction of its works, and is now one of its leading directors. Although a busy mercantile man, he has found time to devote some of his leisure to Masonry, and has been connected with the order for over twenty-one years. He is a past-master and honorary member of Keith lodge; past-principal Z of Botsford Royal Arch Chapter; a member of the Union De Molay Commandery, of St. John, New Brunswick, and also of other Masonic orders. In religion Mr. Harris is an adherent of the Reformed Episcopal church; and in politics a Liberal-Conservative. He was married on the 8th of October, 1867, to Mary Landon Cowling, eldest daughter of Eben Landon Cowling, justice of the peace. Mr. Harris is a live business man, and has a bright future before him.
Beckwith, Adolphus George, Civil Engineer, Fredericton, New Brunswick, was born at Fredericton, on December 28th, 1839. His parents were the late Hon. John A. Beckwith, M.L.C., and Maria A. Beckwith. (See sketch life of Hon. Mr. Beckwith, in another part of this volume.) Mr. Beckwith was educated at the Collegiate School, Fredericton, and took a partial course at King’s College (now University of New Brunswick), where he studied civil engineering, and received his diploma from Professor Thomas Cregan. He joined the volunteers as a private on their first formation in Fredericton, in 1858, was gazetted ensign in 1st York Battalion, under Lieut.-Colonel Minchin, in 1861, was lieutenant in 1863, and captain in 1867. He was appointed adjutant of the 71st York Battalion in 1867, and held that position, with the rank of major, from July, 1876, until the retirement of Capt. J. W. Smith, paymaster, in 1881, when he exchanged to the position of paymaster, which he now holds. He holds first and second class certificates from the School of Instruction. Mr. Beckwith is a deputy surveyor of Crown Lands, and was draughtsman in the Crown Lands office from 1866 to 1871, when he was appointed engineer of Public Works, which position he now holds. He performed the duties of Provincial government engineer for two or three years, in addition to his other works. Is at present City engineer of Fredericton. He joined the Free Masons in 1861, in Solomon’s lodge, No. 764, E.R., was master of the lodge in 1865, and secretary of the same, and Hiram lodge, No. 6, N.B.R., for ten years, and on retiring from that office, was presented with a handsome piece of plate by the members. He is also a frater of the encampment of Knights Templar of St. John; a past grand senior deacon of the Grand Lodge of New Brunswick, A. F. & A. M. Mr. Beckwith has travelled throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. He is a member of the Church of England. He was married at Brooklyn (New York), in 1865, to Mary Elizabeth, daughter of the late M. B. Marckwald, a merchant of New York. He has only one child living—Freeman Berton, who is in an office in New York.
Sutherland, Rev. Alexander, D.D., Toronto. No man is more widely known throughout this Dominion as an able preacher, a keen debater, a leader in the church courts of his own denomination, and a man of general sympathies and influence in the community, than the subject of this sketch. And his high position he owes to no favouritism of friends or fortune, but, under God, to the native abilities which his strong will and consecrated heart have guided into channels of general usefulness. Alexander Sutherland was born in the township of Guelph, Ontario, September 17th, 1833. His father was Captain Nicholas Sutherland, born in Dundee, Scotland; and his mother, Mary Henderson, a native of Port Glasgow. The family settled in the township of Guelph in 1832. Amid the hardships of pioneer life, opportunities for scholarships were few, and the now learned doctor’s early education was confined to a few terms in a backwood’s school. His good Scotch parents, however, early planted within him a love of learning, and that process of self-culture was begun which has continued through life. As a child he was able to read fluently before ever going to school. When he was nine years of age his father died; and, at thirteen years of age, he was forced to leave home and earn his own living. For seven years he was a printer, and during those years, as indeed from earliest boyhood, he read with avidity whatever came in his way. Thus were those stores of information accumulated which have helped to make their possessor a ready speaker and a formidable opponent on so many diverse subjects and occasions. When about sixteen years old he became connected with a Methodist Sunday-school, and also with temperance organizations, in which he was repeatedly presiding officer. “The child” was indeed “father of the man.” In his nineteenth year he was converted and became a member of the Methodist church. His ability soon displayed itself in connection with the class-meeting and other services of the church, and before long he was licensed as an “exhorter” and then as a “local preacher.” In the year 1855 there was urgent demand for ministers in the Methodist church, and Alexander Sutherland was persuaded to go out “under the chairman,” Rev. L. Warner. He was sent to Clinton, at that time an old-fashioned circuit, thirty miles in length by perhaps eighteen in width, including about twenty preaching services every month. Travelling such an extensive round, preaching so frequently, and at the same time pursuing the Conference course of study requisite before ordination, the young preacher found written preparation for the pulpit impossible, but gained in this hard practical school of oratory an invaluable training in extempore utterance. The next two years were spent on the Berlin circuit. In 1858, young Sutherland enjoyed one year of college training at Victoria College, Cobourg. In 1859 he was received into full connection with the Conference and ordained. In June of the same year he was married to Mary Jane, eldest daughter of Hugh Moore, of Dundas. Of this happy union four sons and three daughters have been the issue. Of the sons, two died in early boyhood. After his marriage, Dr. Sutherland’s pastoral charges were in order—Niagara, Thorold, Drummondville, Hamilton, Yorkville, Richmond street, Toronto, and St. James street, Montreal. During his residence in Toronto he took a very active and efficient part in Sunday-school and temperance work. For some time he was president of the Ontario Temperance and Prohibitory League. His temperance sermons and other efforts in behalf of this cause will not be soon forgotten by those who came under their influence. In 1869 he was elected secretary of Conference, and was re-elected the following year. In 1871 he was appointed, with the Rev. Dr. Sanderson, fraternal delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the United States, which met in Brooklyn in 1872. On this occasion, and on all similar occasions, Dr. Sutherland has done great credit to his church and to his country. In 1873 he was appointed pastor of the St. James street Church, Montreal, and at the Conference of 1874 was elected chairman of the Montreal district. But the Montreal pastorate was brief. At the first General Conference of the Methodist church of Canada, September, 1874, Dr. Sutherland was elected general secretary and clerical treasurer of the Missionary Society, as successor to the Rev. Lachlin Taylor, D.D. This is one of the highest honours in the gift of the Methodist church; the office is one of arduous toil, but affords scope for high abilities. Since that day, Dr. Sutherland has travelled from Newfoundland and the Bermudas to British Columbia, superintending the missionary work and stimulating the missionary zeal of the Methodist church; has for several years published that admirable missionary journal The Missionary Outlook, and has succeeded in increasing the annual income of the society from $118,000 to nearly $200,000. The increased labours of his office have not prevented the missionary secretary from taking an active interest in all the enterprises of the church, and his voice has rung out clear and loud on every great question that has recently agitated the Methodist community. To him more than to any other man does the church owe the success of that mighty movement which culminated in 1883 in the union of all branches of Methodism in this dominion. With tongue and pen he eloquently, earnestly and constantly pleaded for consolidation; and, when all seemed hanging in the balance, his admirable generalship and eloquence in the memorable Union debate in the Toronto Conference, Peterborough, June, 1883, constrained victory to the union side. To have played such a part at such a crisis is no mean claim to grateful and unfading memory. In 1882 Dr. Sutherland was elected president of the Toronto Conference, and again in 1884. In 1881 he was one of the Canadian representatives at the great Methodist Œcumenical Conference, London, England, and was made one of the joint secretaries of that august body. In 1886 he was appointed fraternal delegate to the British Wesleyan Conference, in place of Rev. Dr. Rice, general superintendent, deceased. Dr. Sutherland’s literary activity has been, so far, confined to newspaper and magazine articles and brief pamphlets on questions of the day. His incisive style, his permeating humour, his wide information, his keen insight, render his writing and his speaking alike powerful. A man of immense energy, he has done much to mould the thought and guide the work of his church already, and bids fair to remain one of her most influential leaders for years to come. In May, 1879, the University of Victoria College conferred upon him the well deserved degree of Doctor in Divinity.