Brymner, Douglas, Ottawa, Historical Archivist of the Dominion, was born in Greenock, Scotland, in 1823. He is the fourth son of Alexander Brymner, banker, originally from Stirling, where the family held for many years, a prominent position. The elder Brymner was a man of fine intellectual attainments, an enthusiast in letters, and refined in his tastes and feelings. He had great influence over his children, and took every opportunity to instil into their minds a hearty love for literature in all its branches. They had the additional advantage of frequent intercourse with living men of letters, and their acquaintance with the writings of the most eminent and esteemed authors of the time soon became extensive. The mother of Douglas Brymner was Elizabeth Fairlie, daughter of John Fairlie, merchant in Greenock, who died at an early age, leaving his widow and family in comfortable circumstances. The subject of our sketch was educated at the Greenock Grammar School, where, under the skilful tuition of Dr. Brown, he mastered the classics and higher branches of study. After leaving school, Mr. Brymner received a thorough mercantile training. He began business on his own account, and subsequently admitted his brother, Graham, as a partner, on the return of the latter from the West Indies, where he had been engaged for some years. The brothers were highly successful, the younger filling, in later years, several important offices, such as justice of the peace for the county of Renfrew, and chairman of the Sanitary Commission for his native town. He died in 1885, from typhus fever, contracted in the discharge of his duties as chairman, universally regretted by all. In 1853, Mr. Brymner married Jean Thomson (who died in 1884), daughter of William Thomson, of Hill End, by whom he had nine children, six of whom survive. The eldest of these is William, a rising artist of an excellent school, who has studied for several years in the best studios of Paris, and whose recent exhibits have received general praise. The second son, George Douglas, is one of the accountants in the Bank of Montreal, and James, the third son, is in the Northwest. Two daughters and a son are at home. In consequence of ill health, induced by close application to business, Mr. Brymner was compelled to retire from the partnership in 1856. Complete withdrawal from mercantile cares for a year having restored him to something like his former self, he removed to Canada in 1857, and settled in Melbourne, one of the Eastern Townships. Here he filled the office of mayor for two terms with conspicuous ability. On both occasions he had been elected without a contest, and without having solicited a single vote from any one, his belief being that an office of this sort ought to be conferred by the unasked suffrage of the constituency. He declined to serve for a third term, although earnestly requested to do so. While mayor, he introduced various improvements in the mode of conducting municipal business. Like many other immigrants possessing capital, he found his means vanishing before the financial crisis of 1857. Mr. Brymner drifted into what seemed to be his natural calling—literature, for which his early training and continuous study well qualified him. On the acceptance by Dr. Snodgrass of the office of principal of Queen’s College, the post of editor of the Presbyterian, the official journal of the Church of Scotland in Canada, became vacant. It was offered to Mr. Brymner, his fitness for the position having been recognized by the leaders of the church, he having been an active member of the church courts as a representative elder, and his numerous contributions to the discussion of important religious topics being esteemed and valuable. Under his guidance, the editorials being written with a straightforward, independent spirit, the paper at once took a high place. Many of Mr. Brymner’s articles on ecclesiastical questions were in particular much admired, and leading religious journals often made lengthy quotations from them. About the same time he joined the staff of the Montreal Herald, where in a little he was appointed associate editor with the late Hon. Edward Goff Penny. Often, owing to the severe indisposition of Mr. Penny, Mr. Brymner had sole editorial charge of the Herald. He was noted as one of the most efficient and hard-working members of the Press Gallery at Ottawa, and in 1871, the presidency of the Press Association devolved upon him. A year later, in 1872, it having been resolved to establish a new branch of the Civil Service, namely, the collection of the historical records of the Dominion and its provinces, Mr. Brymner, with the approval of men of all political shades, received the appointment. Before leaving Montreal for Ottawa, an address, signed by leading men in the professions, in business, and of the different nationalities, was presented to Mr. Brymner, accompanied by a magnificent testimonial. No better selection could have been made for the office of archivist than that of Mr. Brymner. He had peculiar fitness for the task imposed on him. His extensive historical knowledge, unwearied industry, patience, and love for research, his power of organizing and arranging materials for reference, etc., were all admirable qualifications, and these he possessed to a remarkable degree. His reports are models, and present in clear and terse language the results of his labours. The story of the origin of the office, and the important part played in its construction by Mr. Brymner, will be found in the archivist’s report for 1883. In 1881, the Public Record Office (London) authorities republished the whole of Mr. Brymner’s report as part of their own, owing, as the keeper of records, Sir William Hardy, said, to the importance of the information it contained. Every year since then copious extracts have been made from Mr. Brymner’s reports. Perhaps it will not be out of place to insert here the following excerpt from the preface to the admirably annotated publication of “Hadden’s Journal and Orderly Books,” by General Horatio Rogers, who says:—“I cannot refrain from referring to the unwearied zeal and unfailing courtesy of Mr. Douglas Brymner, the archivist of the Dominion of Canada, in affording me the fullest and most satisfactory use of the Haldimand papers and the other manuscripts confided to his charge. Would that all public officials in custody of valuable manuscripts might take a lesson from him!” Mr. Brymner is an adherent of the Church of Scotland, to which he has always belonged, and he has been one of the most formidable opponents of union. His evidence before the Senate Committee, on the 24th and 26th of April, 1882, which is substantially the argument of the non-contents on the Union question, was presented with great power and skill. It can be found in a pamphlet of over forty pages, published by Hunter, Rose &. Co., Toronto, in 1883. The greater part of his literary work is anonymous. He possesses a fund of caustic humour, some of which found vent in his letters in Scotch, under the name of “Tummas Treddles,” an octogenarian Paisley weaver, originally contributions on curling to the Montreal Herald, but afterwards extended to other subjects in the Scottish American Journal. These have ceased for some years, doubtless from the pressure of other and more serious occupations. His translations of the Odes of Horace into Scotch verse were happy imitations. A favourable specimen, “The Charms of Country Life,” is in the Canadian Monthly of 1879, the others having appeared in newspapers, and, so far as is known, have never been collected. He is another illustration of the fallacy of Sidney Smith’s statement, that it requires a surgical operation to get a joke into a Scotchman’s head. Mr. Brymner’s work is gaining, year by year, in reputation with scholars and students. Dr. Poole, chairman of the American Historical Association, says that the archives “under the care of Mr. Brymner forms the most valuable collection of manuscripts for historical purposes to be found on this continent.” (Library Journal for 1877, p. 458.) Dr. George Stewart, jr., president of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, says in Canadian Leaves, “Mr. Douglas Brymner has really created the department of archives, and made it one of the most efficient in the public service of Canada.” Other historical writers express the highest opinion of the value of the work in progress, and the annual reports are now eagerly looked for.
Cameron, Allan, M.D., Owen Sound, on the 30th December, 1830. His father, Daniel Allan Cameron, was the only son of Allan Cameron, at one time lieutenant and adjutant of H. B. M. 1st regiment of foot. His mother, Margaret Fisher Buchan, was a niece of the late James Ewing, of Strathleven. He was educated in Glasgow, at the Collegiate Institute and High School. He afterwards entered as a medical student at the Glasgow University, graduating in the year 1853 as Doctor of Medicine. In the following year he obtained the diploma of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and coming to Canada, in 1854, was granted the provincial license to practice his profession in the province of Ontario. In 1886 was registered as a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and is also a member of the Ontario College of Pharmacy. In 1873, he was appointed coroner for the county of Grey. He has held various offices in the Masonic lodge, and in the chapter, and also in the lodges of Oddfellows and Foresters. He was married in June, 1857, to Elizabeth Hartley, of Keighley, Yorkshire, England.
Robertson, Henry, LL.B., Barrister, Collingwood, Ontario, was born in the township of Whitchurch, county of York, in the province of Ontario, on the 31st May, 1840. He is of Scottish descent, his father being John Robertson, a native of Edinburgh, and his mother, Catherine Smith. He was educated at the Central School, Hamilton, and the Grammar School at Barrie. He then entered the University of Toronto, where he distinguished himself as a close student of law, and graduated as LL.B., in June, 1861. On being called to the bar in August, 1861, he commenced the practice of his profession at Collingwood, and succeeded in building up a good law practice, which he still continues in that enterprising town. He joined the volunteer force in 1868, and served as second lieutenant in the Collingwood garrison battery of artillery until 1870. In municipal matters he has always taken a prominent part, and has been a member of the Collingwood town council for several years, and deputy reeve in 1881 and 1882. He has also taken a deep interest in the educational wants of Collingwood and vicinity, and has served as member of the High School Board for six years, being chairman in 1873 and 1874; and also chairman of the Public School Board in 1877 and 1878. But it is in the fraternal societies of our Dominion that Mr. Robertson’s name is most widely known. He has filled the highest offices in the gift of the various societies he has joined, and from his knowledge of law has safely directed them over many a knotty point. In 1861 he joined the Masonic craft; in 1870 he was elected grand junior warder of the Grand Lodge of Canada; in 1872 and 1873 he was district deputy grand master of the Toronto district; in 1884 and 1885 he was elected deputy grand master, and in 1886 grand master of the Grand Lodge of Canada, and this position he still holds. He is the author of a work on Masonic jurisprudence. In the Independent Order of Oddfellows he has likewise held responsible positions, having joined that order in 1869, he was grand warden in 1880; deputy grand master in 1881, and grand master in 1882. He has been prominently connected with various other societies and organizations, Mechanics’ Institutes, etc. In politics he is a Reformer, and has held office for a number of years in the local and county Reform Association, and was president of the West Riding of Simcoe Reform Association in 1885 and 1886. He was married July 9th, 1866, to Bethia, third daughter of the late John Rose, of Bradford, and has two daughters,—the eldest, Madge R. Robertson, is an honor undergraduate of the University of Toronto.
Black, William Tell, M.D., Windsor, Nova Scotia, was born at St. Martin’s, New Brunswick, about sixty years ago. His father was Thomas Henry Black, of county Armagh, Ireland, who married Mary E. Fouries, of St. Martin’s. Dr. Black was educated at the public grammar school in St. Martin’s. Having finished his classical course, he adopted the profession of medicine, and pursued his studies with great success. He served on the medical staff of the army of the north during the war of the rebellion, and became a very skilful physician in the varied and difficult practice which it was his lot to attend during that fierce and sanguinary conflict. He enjoys a pension from the United States government, in consideration of his services as a physician. When the war was over, Dr. Black settled down as a regular practitioner in St. Andrew’s, N.B., where his great abilities, and the knowledge of the healing and surgical arts, secured to him an extensive and lucrative practice. St. Andrew’s is the “near neighbor,” of Callais, Maine, and the spirit of the eager, restless Yankee has been communicated to the New Brunswick sea port. St. Andrew’s is one of the most lively and flourishing towns in New Brunswick. After many years of this bustling life, Dr. Black thought he would like to choose an interior town in Nova Scotia, for rest. His brother, Dr. J. B. Black, had settled there, and that was an additional inducement, besides the agricultural facilities of the place, for which it is noted. He purchased a farm at Curry’s Corner, in Windsor, built a handsome cottage, and further ornamented the beautiful sloping grounds with barns and outbuildings of modern style of construction. He removed from St. Andrew’s in 1884, and made his permanent home in Windsor. There was an orchard of apple trees on the farm, which he has re-stocked. He has also laid out the grounds in a new style, and has planted numerous shade trees along the highway, and beside the green lawns and grassy slopes. The planning and carrying out his ideas, in connection with this work, will give him plenty to do during the next few years. The soil is very fertile, however, and he could not have selected a spot where his work would tell sooner, or to better advantage. Dr. Black married Fanny Cutts, whose father was an officer in the custom house, at St. Andrew’s. She is a prominent worker in the Baptist church, in Windsor, and, possessing excellent and carefully cultivated vocal powers, is a leader of the church choir. Dr. Black has not opened an office for the practice of his profession in Windsor, but his acknowledged skill and great experience and training render his services as a consulting physician in considerable demand, both by patients and by the resident physicians in the town and neighborhood. Being possessed of ample means and leisure, he can in his new residence spend the afternoon of his life in a very enviable enjoyment of ease and healthy recreation. In politics, he is a sympathiser with the Liberal party, although he does not take a very prominent part in the cause. He is, like Mrs. Black, an adherent of the Baptist church in Windsor, Nova Scotia.
de Lottinville, Jean Baptiste Severe Lemaitre, Three Rivers, Province of Quebec, Advocate, and Prothonotary of the Superior Court for the district of Three Rivers, Quebec province, was born at Three Rivers, November, 1841. His father was Joseph Octave Lemaitre de Lottinville, and his mother Lucy Beaudry. He is descended from one of the oldest French families in Canada. He received his education at the Seminary of Nicolet, and completed his classical and legal studies at Montreal with success and brilliancy, where he was called to the bar in January, 1866. He then settled at Three Rivers, where he practised his profession for many years. Mr. de Lottinville also obtained, in 1866, his diploma at the Military College of Montreal. In politics he has always upheld the cause of the Liberals, taking an active part in political contests, and using his influence and talents for the furtherance and in the interests of his party. In 1887 he was appointed by the government of Quebec as a prothonotary of the Superior Court for the district of Three Rivers. Mr. de Lottinville married in October, 1875, Emma, eldest daughter of William Whiteford, merchant, Three Rivers, who died in May, 1887. Still in the prime of life, and endowed with unusual talents, the career and future life of Mr. de Lottinville will no doubt occupy a conspicuous position in Canadian history.