r Auk 

 2 A. K. Fisher, In Memoriam : Thomas. Mcll-wraitk. |_j^„ 



this happy household until 1901 when his good wife passed away 



a calamity from which he never fully recovered. 



The genial influence of Mr. Mcllwraith's life has been associ- 

 ated with my own for many years. Early in the seventies, while 

 the nucleus of my natural history library was forming, there came 

 into my possession a paper entitled ' A list of Birds observed near 

 Hamilton, Canada West,' by Thomas Mcllwraith. This publica- 

 tion, although not exhaustive, for some reason appealed to me and 

 I often wondered about the personality of its author, then a stran- 

 ger. I was much impressed with his account of the capture of a 

 fine Eagle having the bleached and weathered skull of a weasel 

 attached to the skin of the throat by its locked teeth, and shared 

 the interest and surprise he must have experienced when this odd 

 memento of a former struggle came to his notice. Later when 

 this genial-hearted Scotch-Canadian came to New York in 1883 to 

 assist in organizing the American Ornithologists' Union, this early 

 association, simple as it was, had the effect of bringing us together 

 and soon paved the way to lasting friendship. 



Mr. Mcllwraith was born in Newton, Ayrshire, Scotland, on 

 Christmas day, 1824, and therefore at the time of his death, Janu- 

 ary 31, 1903, was a little over 78 years old. Early in 1846, soon 

 after he became of age, he went to live in Edinburgh where he 

 remained for nearly three years completing his education and 

 fitting himself for the varied duties of life. At the end of this 

 period he returned to his native town to assume the management 

 of the gas works. 



In October, 1853, he married Miss Mary Park, daughter of 

 Baillie Hugh Park, and sailing with his bride for America reached 

 Hamilton, Canada, on November 9. He was called to that city to 

 superintend the gas works, as manager of the corporation, and 

 served in that capacity until 187 1, when he bought the Commer- 

 cial Wharf with the coal and forwarding business connected with 

 it. He continued in this business until about ten years ago, when 

 he retired and was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas F. Mcll- 

 wraith. Besides being successful in private business, he held 

 prominent positions on the boards of directors of banks and insur- 

 ance companies, and was for many years president of the Mechanics 

 Institute. Mr. Mcllwraith was a Liberal in politics and in 1878 

 took an active part in municipal affairs, representing his ward in 



