262 THE CANADIAN KNTOMOI^OGIST. 



OBITUARY. 



The Rev. Thomas W. Fyles, d. c. h., F. l. s. 



The Entomological Society of Ontario has lost its most aged member 

 and one of its most devoted friends and supporters through the death of the 

 Rev. Dr. Fyles, which took place at Ottawa on Tuesday, August 9th, 1921, 

 after an operation for some internal trouble ; his remains were interred in the 

 Beechwood cemetery on the following Thursday. ,Born at "The Hermitage", 

 Enfield Chase, England, on the first of June, ^^^2, be had entered upon his 

 90th year when he died. After completing his education in London he came, 

 to Canada in 1861 and took up his residence in Montreal. In 1864 he was or- 

 dained by Bishop Fulford in Christ Church Cathedral and was appointed to 

 the charge of the parish of Ironhill in the Eastern Townships where he was 

 instrumental in building a church and parsonage. After an incumbency of 

 eight years he was transferred to Nelsonville, where also he .succeeded in building 

 a rectory ; there he remained for eleven years doing faithful work among his 

 parishioners, whose love and esteem he speedily won. In those days the Eastern 

 Townships, lying south of Montreal and the other side of the St. Lawrence 

 were inhabited by English-speaking farmers and others, mostly from "the old 

 country", who were Protestant in their religion and largely members of the 

 Church of England. Now very few of their descendants are to be found in 

 that beautiful and fertile region of country, their places having been filled by 

 French-speaking Roman Catholics. 



With his inborn love of nature in all its aspects. Dr. Fyles enjoyed to 

 the utmost the rural scenes and varied life of animals and plants with which he 

 was surrounded. Mountains and hills, lakes, rivers and ponds, woodland streams 

 and swamps, forest glades, flower-spangled meadows, orchard and garden, all 

 were to him full of charm and interest, and gave him the utmost delight. While 

 all nature was full of "the glory of God" and appealed to his heart's deepest 

 emotions, he was devoted especially to the study of the manifold forms of in- 

 sect life which were everywhere to be found about him. It thus came about 

 that in the course of time he gradually formed a large and beautiful collection 

 of butterflies, moths and other insects. The results of. his observation and. 

 studies are to be found in many admirable papers which are published in the 

 Annual Reports of the Entomological Society of Ontario, and which he read 

 at its meetings. 



In 1883. after spending nearly a score of happy years amid country scenes 

 and kindly people, he removed to Levis, opposite the City of Quebec, and was 

 employed by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (London, 

 England) as immigration Chaplain. For twenty-five years he filled this post, 

 meeting all the incoming ships with their varied crowds of new settlers. To 

 them, bewildered often by their new surroundings he was a veritable friend in 

 need, and did much to relieve their difificulties and cheer them on their way. 

 The work was sometimes very arduous when a number of large ships arrived 

 fully loaded with passengers coming to the new lands of this vast Dominion. 



During the winter months, when navigation was closed and the port of 

 Quebec securely ice-bound, Dr. Fyles had time to devote to his favourite study 



