726 



OBITUAKIES, CANADIAN. 



month of July, 1817. In 1822 he published a 

 work called a " General Introduction to a Sta- 

 tistical Account of Upper Canada with a view to 

 a Grand System of Emigration." Having in- 

 curred the displeasure of the Government by 

 his political principles, he was ordered to quit 

 the province within six months as a seditious 

 person. This order he refused to obey, where- 

 upon he was arrested and lodged in Niagara 

 jail. While awaiting his trial, he continued 

 his vehement opposition to the executive. 

 Being at length found guilty of refusing to 

 obey the order, he was compelled to retire to 

 the United States, whence he soon after proceed- 

 ed to England. He died at Edinburgh, on the 

 1st of August, 1863, in the eighty-fifth year of 

 his age. The Toronto " Globe," in announcing 

 his decease, said: "This is the last of an able 

 and honest man, who once played a prominent 

 part in Canada in defence of the right of free 

 speech and printing, in opposition to a tyranni- 

 cal faction." 



August 8. ELMSLEY, Hon. JOHN, K. N., a 

 strong supporter of the Church of Rome in Up- 

 per Canada. Captain Elmsley was a son of a 

 former chief justice of the Western Province, 

 from whom he inherited a large property, and 

 nephew of the late Admiral Sir Benjamin Hal- 

 lowelL He was born in Elmsley House, Toron- 

 to,- in 1801, and at an early age entered the roy- 

 al navy. After his retirement from the service 

 he took a leading part in the public affairs of 

 the province. He was called by royal manda- 

 mus to the Legislative Council, and sat as a 

 member of that body nntil the union of the 

 two provinces. On his marriage with Miss 

 Sherwood, a Catholic lady, he renounced the 

 faith of his family and went over to the Church 

 of Rome. Henceforth he was a most munifi- 

 cent patron of Catholicism ; he established the 

 House of Providence at Toronto, and in a 

 great measure was instrumental in founding 

 the College of St. Michael in the same city. 

 He also established the first Roman Catholic 

 school in Upper Canada. Died at Toronto 8th 

 August, 1863. 



August . GBAIGIB, WILLIAM, M. D., born 

 on the llth of March, 1799, at Belnaboth, parish 

 of Powrie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He came 

 to Canada, settled at Ancaster in 1834, and 

 removed to Hamilton in 1845. He studied for 

 the medical profession at Mareschal College, 

 Aberdeen, the Universities of Edinburgh and 

 Dublin, taking degrees in all. The doctor was 

 a ripe scholar, probably one of the first in U. 

 0., and held a high position as a scientific author- 

 ity in meteorology, botany, horticulture, and 

 agriculture. His efforts as a metereologist were 

 chronicled for many months in the columns of 

 the Hamilton "Spectator;" and he frequently 

 lent assistance to a scientific journal published 

 in connection with the Smithsonian Institute at 

 Washington. He was a member of the Board 

 of Arts and Manufactures of 0. W., and of the 

 Hamilton Horticultural Society. Ho died at 

 Hamilton, 0. W., in August. 



Sept. 18 FREER, CORTLAND, was born in 

 Quebec, on the 31st of October, 1831. He was 

 the second son of Noah Freer, for many years 

 cashier of the Quebec Bank. He was educated 

 at the Upper Canada College, Toronto, where 

 he gained high honors, taking a first exhibition 

 while under 13, and also the Wellington Schol- 

 arship. He graduated at the Toronto Univer- 

 sity, and the degree of M. A. was subsequently 

 conferred upon him at a convocation of Bishop's 

 College, Lennoxville, C. E. It was intended 

 that he should follow the legal profession, but 

 his own tastes induced him to prefer civil en- 

 gineering. He was actively employed during 

 the construction of part of the St. Lawrence 

 and Atlantic railroad, and was afterward cue 

 of the division engineers. When this line had 

 been transferred to the Grand Trunk, he con- 

 tinued in connection with the latter company, 

 and finally became superintendent of the east- 

 ern district, between Montreal, Quebec and 

 Riviere du Loup. He commancfed a company 

 of volunteer engineers. In 1856 he married a 

 daughter of Mr. Justice Sicotte. The surviving 

 issue is a daughter and two sons. He died after 

 a short illness, on Friday, 18th September, 1863, 

 at his residence, Point Levii 



Nov. 2. ECCLES, HENRY, Q. C., an eminent 

 barrister of Upper Canada. Mr. Eccles was 

 born at Bath, England, in 1817. His father, 

 Capt. Hugh Eccles of the 61st, who died a few 

 years ago, was for a long time a resident of 

 Canada, having settled there after the Peninsu- 

 lar war, in which he lost an arm. While his 

 father was living at Niagara, Henry studied 

 law in the office of Mr. James Boulton. He 

 never attended any public school, but was edu- 

 cated entirely by his father, who was a gold 

 medallist of Trinity College, Dublin. He was 

 called to the bar in Easter term, 1842 ; was 

 elected a bencher of the Law Society in 1853, 

 and appointed Queen's counsel in 1856. He 

 soon attained a leading position at the bar ; and 

 for a long time was engaged, as counsel, in 

 nearly every case of importance. He appeared 

 to great advantage before a jury. Tall, well- 

 proportioned and erect, his personal appearance 

 was imposing, and his voice was musical and 

 well managed. He had a wonderful faculty of 

 making a point clear to the comprehension of 

 an average jury, and the simplicity of his style 

 was one of the great sources of his success. 

 Under his manipulation, the most complicated 

 case became clear and easy of comprehension. 

 Ho was also famous as a special pleader ; and 

 not less so for his power of extorting truth 

 from a witness. His astute appreciation of 

 evidence enabled him to seize upon the strong 

 as well as the weak points, and to make the 

 most of both. He had been in partnership 

 with Mr. Carroll, in Toronto, since 1854. In 

 1842 ho married Jane, fourth daughter of Capt. 

 Francis Lelievre, A. C. G., Canada; by whom 

 he had one son, Francis Hugh Eccles. He died 

 at hia residence in Toronto, on the 22d of 

 November, 1863. 



