Chapter L: Georges Badeaux, M. D (6)

In the attainment of his education, Judge Archambault attended St. Hyacinthe Seminary and Laval University, winning the degrees of B. L. and B. C. L. in 1895. From the outset the science of his profession, as well as its practical phases, proved a strong attraction for him. He entered upon active practice in 1895 and soon demonstrated his ability to successfully cope with intricate and involved legal problems.

His preparation of cases was always thorough and his presentation of a cause marked by perspicuity. His standing among his professional brethren is indicated by the fact that in 1905 he was chosen by the council of the bar of the province of Quebec to assist in editing the judicial reports of the superior court and the court of king’s bench.

Vital political problems have always greatly interested him, and he has been active and zealous in support of principles in which he believes. He was a recognized leader of the conservative party in his native county and was a candidate for the legislature in 1904. He has ever been a close student of the signs of the times and the questions of the day, and although still a conservative in principle he holds to more independent views than formerly, his comprehensive study leading him to see many questions in a different light. He has been spoken of as “a man who has thought out problems for himself and is an authority on economics, political and social.” He was one of the first to advocate proportional representation in Canada, has delivered many lectures upon the subject and has written many articles which have done much to foster and promote the idea.

His wide general information is one of the strong elements of his power and ability as a lawyer and jurist. His broad knowledge, which enables him to understand life in its various phases, and his masterful grasp of every problem presented for solution, are qualities which, combined with a familiarity of the law and with precedent, equip him for his work on the bench.

Judge Archambault withal is possessed of a genial nature, is kindly in spirit and unfailingly courteous. He belongs to a number of the leading social clubs and in their membership is most popular.

SIR HUGH ALLAN.

Sir Hugh Allan, one of the foremost men in the early development of Canada’s foreign commerce and the practical founder of the Allan line of steamships, was a man whose initiative spirit enabled him to recognize, appreciate and understand situations incomprehensible to men of less sagacity and insight. The success of his undertakings made him one of the foremost figures in the history of Canada’s commercial greatness. He stood as a leading representative of navigation interests and was almost equally well known in banking and industrial circles. Indeed many business interests profited by his cooperation and ability and his memory is still honored by those who cherish the history of their country and recognize its real upbuilders.

The identification of the Allan family with the shipping interests of the St. Lawrence dated back to about 1825, when Captain Alexander Allan sailed up the river in the brig Favorite from Glasgow. There were no wharves then. The vessel was assisted up the St. Mary’s current by oxen. The cargo was discharged on the beach, over long planks.

Sir Hugh Allan was the second son of Captain Alexander, and was born September 29, 1810, in Saltcoats, County Ayr, Scotland. Sir Hugh Allan was in his sixteenth year, when on the 12th of April, 1826, he sailed from Greenock for Montreal on the brig Favorite, commanded by his father, and on which his eldest brother was second officer. They arrived in Montreal on the 21st of May. Hugh Allan entered the employ of William Kerr & Company, and afterward travelled for some time in the United States. He then visited Scotland and a year later returned to Montreal, where he secured a position with J. Millar & Company, shipbuilders and shippers. So excellent was his service in that connection that after four years he was admitted to partnership and following the death of Mr. Millar in 1838 the business was conducted by the firm of Edmonstone & Allan, ship agents, shipbuilders, importers and general merchants. In 1846, Andrew Allan, a younger brother of Hugh’s, was taken into the firm. It owned a fleet of fast sailing vessels of about 350 tons register, full-rigged ships which, with ice-blocks round their bows, pushed their way through the ice, so that sometimes they would arrive in port on the 15th of April. In 1853 Hugh Allan, who was a man of great tenacity of purpose, and at the same time of remarkable foresight, saw that the time had come for the building of iron ships for the St. Lawrence trade. Besides, there was the consideration that they would run to Portland in the winter time, and connect with Montreal by rail. He enlisted the support of several wealthy men, including William Dow and Robert Anderson, of Montreal, and formed the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company. The Canadian and Indian were the first two boats built by the company. The boats cost about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars each and had a speed of eleven knots. They were wonders at the time and made a great impression, as the people had not been accustomed to see iron ships.

It happened that about this time the Crimean war broke out, and the government was at its wits’ end to provide transports. The Allans went into the business and while the war lasted made large profits.

The first ocean steamship, the Genova, reached Quebec in 1853 and proceeded to Montreal, where there was great rejoicing. She was an iron boat of eight hundred tons and was succeeded by the Cleopatra and the Sarah Sands. Newer and larger vessels were built in the succeeding year and what was deemed experimental at the start became fixed features of the new navigation, which was dangerous, owing to so many sunken reefs in the St. Lawrence and the poor lighting of the river. The Canadian government made a contract with Hugh Allan for carrying the mails, paying an annual subsidy of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. The Anglo-Saxon, a new boat, ran from Quebec to Liverpool in nine days on one occasion. This was thought to be wonderful, as the people had been accustomed to a voyage of forty days on the old sailing vessels. At that time the grain carrying charge was thirty cents per bushel.

The requirements of the service in 1858 demanded more accommodation, and the Allan brothers determined on a weekly service. Larger and faster boats were introduced. The government paid subsidies to the new service totaling four hundred and sixteen thousand dollars per annum. Year by year the Allans launched new boats, always bigger and faster, though speed was never the chief consideration with the company. In 1861 they had a fleet of over twenty vessels, but a sinister fortune befell the company in the first ten years of its existence. Eight ships were lost in as many years. The Indian, the Hungarian, a second Canadian, the North Briton, the Anglo-Saxon, the Norwegian, the Bohemian, all became total wrecks. The river was badly lighted, the tides did not run true, the pilots were incompetent and the compass deviated owing to some strange local attraction due, it was said, to mineral deposits in the gulf. Anyway, disaster followed disaster, and, as was said at the time, any other man than Mr. Allan would have given up in despair. But that gentleman had something of the firmness of his native granite in his composition and he never wavered. Difficulties in time were overcome, the Allans began to prosper and from this on their boats were singularly free from accidents.

To show, however, how little even the most perspicacious can see in advance of their time, it may be stated that at the banquet which the citizens tendered Hugh Allan in 1850, he said that ships of one thousand seven hundred tons were the most suitable for the Montreal trade. He lived to see his boats grow to five thousand five hundred tons. The line prospered; the number of boats was constantly increased to meet the need; the Northwest was opened up; and the Allan boats brought in many thousands of immigrants. The building of the Parisian in 1881 was supposed to be about the last word in shipbuilding. She was far in advance of anything to be seen on the route. Today she is, by comparison with the leviathans of the route, almost as antique as the old Favorite was when steamships came in.

As prosperity came to him in one direction, Sir Hugh Allan extended his efforts into other fields. He not only kept abreast with the times but was ever in the vanguard of progress. He became president of the Montreal Telegraph Company, of the Canadian Navigation Company, the Merchants Bank of Canada, and the Lake Memphremagog Navigation Company. He was also interested in mining as president of the Mulgrave Gold Mining Company and his activities extended to the presidency of the Montreal Warehousing Company, the Vermont & Canada Marble Company, and many other business enterprises of importance. Indeed, no citizen of Canada has deserved popular recognition in larger measure than Sir Hugh, and Queen Victoria acknowledged the value of his service to his country by knighting him with her own hand in 1871.

In 1877 he decided to associate his name with the Canadian Pacific Railway enterprise. He, in fact, formed the first syndicate to build it. The fall of the Macdonald government defeated his plan.

On the 13th of September, 1844, Sir Hugh was married to Miss Matilda Smith, the second daughter of John Smith, one of the leading merchants of Montreal. They became parents of nine daughters and four sons. Sir Hugh died in Edinburgh while on a visit to Scotland on the 9th of December, 1882, having passed the seventy-second milestone on life’s journey. His remains were brought to Montreal in one of his own vessels, and laid to rest in Mount Royal cemetery. Well merited encomiums were passed upon him and high honors awaited him during his active life. He was one who pushed forward the wheels of progress. Looking into the future he saw something of the greatness in store for Canada and became a factor in the fulfillment of the progress which he believed possible for a country having the natural advantages here offered. He builded perhaps even better than he knew, for his work continues today, remaining an important element in Canada’s enterprise, activity and greatness.

FREDERICK CLEVELAND MORGAN.

Frederick Cleveland Morgan, merchant, is one of Montreal’s native sons, his father being James Morgan. Liberal educational opportunitiess were afforded him and after pursuing his education at Cambridge, where he won the Bachelor of Arts degree, he continued his studies in McGill University, which conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. Throughout his business career he has been identified with commercial interests and is now a member of the firm of Henry Morgan & Company, Limited, proprietors of the Colonial House Department Store, which is one of the largest and best establishments of its character in the city.

In March, 1906, Mr. Morgan was married to Miss Elizabeth Marcia Shaw, the eldest daughter of C. Thaxter Shaw, of Montreal. They occupy an attractive home at No. 308 Peel Street. Mr. Morgan is a member of the University Club, Racquet Club, Forest and Stream, the Mount Royal Lawn Tennis, Arts Club, Art Association and Antiquarian and Numismatic Society. Mr. Morgan’s interest lies more in art and literature than in business affairs. He was the first secretary of the Arts Club, Limited, formed in 1913 for the purpose of encouraging art and literature.

HON. SIMEON BEAUDIN, K. C.

Hon. Simeon Beaudin, puisne judge of the superior court of the province of Quebec, took to his judicial duties an excellent record as a lawyer whose ability had won for him a foremost position among the strong and forceful members of the Montreal bar, where he had been a successful practitioner for more than one-third of a century.

He was born at St. Isidore, P. Q., September 12, 1855, and comes from one of the oldest families in the province.

He supplemented his early educational privileges by a course of study in Montreal College and in 1878 was called to the bar. He immediately entered upon active practice, forming a partnership with Messrs. Loranger & Loranger, in whose office he had previously studied. One of the partners was raised to the bench and on the death of the other Mr. Beaudin succeeded to the business of the firm. His partnership relations extended until he became the senior member of the well known law firm of Beaudin, Loranger, St. Germain & Guerin. His practice was of an extensive and important character. He argued the St. Blase parish and other cases before the judicial committee of the privy council of England, and was acknowledged as a leader of the French-Canadian bar. For many years he was a member of the bar council. In 1889 he was created Q. C. by the Earl of Derby. He was batonnier of the Montreal bar in 1902 and later batonnier-general. His close conformity to the highest standards of his profession and his devotion to his clients’ interests gave to him a standing that was an honor to his profession. He was elected an honorary member of La Chambre de Commerce of Montreal in 1902 and in 1904 he became one of the incorporators of the La Presse Publishing Company. He was also one of the promoters of Lafontaine Club and he likewise belongs to Club Canadien and Pointe Claire Golf Club.

Judge Beaudin has always given his political allegiance to the conservative party. He unsuccessfully contested Laprairie-Napierville for the house of commons at the general election in 1908.

For some years previous to his assuming judicial duties in 1912, he had been frequently referred to by the press and profession as a most competent man for the bench, and of him the Montreal Witness said: “He ranks high in his profession, his thorough legal sense, knowledge of the law and extensive experience qualifying him for early judicial preferment.”

In 1883 Mr. Beaudin was united in marriage to Miss Mary Norris, a daughter of John Norris, of Montreal, and they reside at No. 44 Bishop Street. In religious faith Mr. Beaudin is a Roman Catholic. In all matters of citizenship pertaining to the material, intellectual, political and moral progress of the community he is deeply interested, but after all he regards the law as his real life work.

SIR WILLIAM HALES HINGSTON, KT., M. D.

Sir William Hales Hingston, Kt., M. D., whose professional activities constituted valuable contributions to the world’s work, his ability winning him wide recognition and high honors from various scientific bodies, was born at Hinchinbrooke, province of Quebec, June 29, 1829, a son of the late Lieutenant Colonel S. J. Hingston, of His Majesty’s One Hundredth Regiment. He was a representative of a distinguished Irish family, closely related to the Cotters of Cork, the Latouches of Dublin and the Hales. He supplemented his early education, acquired in a local academy, by study in St. Sulpice, now Montreal College, and having determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he prepared for his chosen calling by a course in McGill University, which he completed with the class of 1851. He further carried on his investigation, study and research abroad, obtaining a diploma in the Royal College of Surgery at Edinburgh in 1852, and subsequently obtaining diplomas in France, Prussia, Austria and Bavaria. He was the first Canadian to whom was accorded the honor of membership in the Imperial Leopold Academy at Vienna.

Dr. Hingston entered upon the active work of his profession in Montreal and continued an eminent member of the profession to the time of his death, winning notable renown in surgery. His ability along that line constantly developed. He possessed the steady hand and the cool nerve of the surgeon and his professional skill gained him rank with the most prominent representatives of the profession on the American continent. For many years he was surgeon in the Hotel Dieu Hospital, where he gave clinical instructions in surgery. He was also governor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and at one time was its president. He was honored with election as a first secretary of the Canadian Medical Association, and later was called to its presidency.

He was the organizer of the first board of health in the Dominion, and his efforts in behalf of sanitary interests were far reaching and beneficial. Not only did he display marked skill in surgery, but also eminent ability as an educator, and upon the organization of Bishop’s College Medical School was chosen professor of surgery and clinical surgery, and became dean of the faculty, but at length was forced to sever his connections with that institution, owing to the many other demands made upon his time and services. He never refused to respond to a call for professional aid if he could possibly meet it, and it would be difficult to name a physician and surgeon of Canada whose labors have reached out beneficially to a larger number of people. When, during an epidemic of smallpox, a local board of health was organized, Dr. Hingston was made its chairman, and he also became chairman of the provincial board of health, when in 1885 the province was again being visited by that calamity. He was an energetic advocate of vaccination.

It was but natural that a man of his ability and position should have written much upon professional topics. He was a valuable contributor to the medical literature of his day, one of his most important publications being his “Climate of Canada and its Relation to Life and Health,” published in 1885. Competent authority pronounced this “the fullest work, which has appeared on the subject and apart from its economic and ethnological value, is, from its pleasing style, delightful to read.” Scientific bodies conferred high honors upon Dr. Hingston and in addition, he was elected an honorary member of different state boards of medicine and by many state medical societies in the United States. When the British Association for the Advancement of Science visited Canada some years ago, he was chosen vice president and not long afterward was elected an honorary member of the British Medical Association.

His professional activity would alone entitle him to wide distinction, yet he was active in other fields and in connection with the public affairs of the country.

He became president of the Montreal City & District Savings Bank, and also vice president of the City Passenger Railway Company. In 1875 Montreal elected him its mayor, and he served one term, when he declined renomination. For coolness and judgment, which he displayed during the Guibord affair in Montreal, he received the thanks of the Earl of Dufferin, then governor general of Canada. Bishop’s College University at Lennoxville conferred upon him the honorary degree of D. C. L., while Victoria University of Toronto gave him the honorary degree of LL. D. He was made vice president of the Montreal branch of the St. John’s Ambulance Association and in 1875 was appointed a commander of the Roman Order of St. Gregory. Twenty years later, or on the 24th of May, 1895, he was knighted by Her Majesty, the late Queen Victoria, and he was called to the senate of Canada by the Earl of Aberdeen, January 2, 1896. His political allegiance was given to the conservative party, and his study of vital questions and issues of the day brought about the familiarity of Canadian politics, which enabled him to discuss such subjects with those to whom such study was a life work.

In 1875 Dr. Hingston was married to Miss Margaret Josephine Macdonald, a daughter of the late Hon. D. A. Macdonald, at one time lieutenant governor of Ontario. Her mother was Katherine, the second daughter of the late Hon. Colonel Alexander Fraser of Frasersfield, Ontario. Lady Hingston was educated in Montreal and has been very prominent in charitable and benevolent work. She is a member of the Ladies Committee L’Institute des Ecoles Menageres, vice president of the Needlework Guild, honorary president of the Loyola Literary Club; prominently identified with the local League for the Prevention of Tuberculosis; formerly president of the Woman’s Park Protective Association; etc., and was elected president of the Catholic Girls’ Club of Montreal (an association largely founded by her), in 1911.

Sir William Hingston was a member of the Roman Catholic church to which Lady Hingston also belongs. He passed away on February 19, 1907, but there lives in the minds of those who knew him and of the professional world at large, the memory of distinguished service for the benefit of his fellowmen, in the path of his chosen profession. A keen intellect, splendidly developed, was brought to bear upon complex medical and surgical problems and the result of deep thought, wise research and careful investigation, made his contribution to the world’s work of the utmost benefit.

HON. JAMES KEWLEY WARD.

Out of the struggle with comparatively small opportunities Hon. James Kewley Ward came finally into a field of broad and active influence and usefulness. Not seeking honor but simply endeavoring to do his duty, honors were yet multiplied and prosperity followed his undertakings. His father settled on the Isle of Man and it was there that the son, James Kewley Ward, was born on the 9th of September, 1819. He was reared and educated at the place of his nativity but the opportunities of America attracted him in early manhood, and he crossed the Atlantic to New York, remaining for a decade in that city. His initial experience in the new world was one of continuous advancement, for the wise use he made of his time and opportunities brought about the development and increase of his powers. He left New York for Canada in 1853, and settling in Montreal engaged in the lumber business, which he found a profitable field of labor, owing to his keen discernment and his wise management of his affairs. He also became deeply interested in the Canadian cotton manufacturing industry and in time came to rank with the leading representatives of manufacturing and commercial interests in his province.

Important and extensive as were his business affairs, Mr. Ward never allowed these to preclude an active and helpful interest in the municipal life or provincial welfare. For eighteen years he was a valued member of the town council of Cote St. Antoine, and for nine years he was mayor, giving to the city a businesslike and progressive administration that brought about needed reforms and improvements. In 1882 and again in 1887 he was defeated in the dominion general election, after which he was appointed to the legislative council in 1888 and in 1903 was made a member of the council of public instruction. He reached the remarkable old age of ninety-one years, yet remained an active factor in the work of the legislative council, being seen daily at his desk in the legislature, taking a keen interest in many public questions which were submitted for consideration. He was a liberal and his position upon any vital issue was never an equivocal one. He stood stalwartly in defence of what he believed to be right and for the best interests of the province at large. He was a man of broad vision, whose public service was characterized by no petty personal prejudices. Duty was his watchword in public office, and he seemed to view a vital question from every possible standpoint.

Hon. Mr. Ward was connected with various public institutions, having to do with the welfare and benefit of the unfortunate or tending to alleviate hard conditions of life for the needy. He was a governor of the Montreal General Hospital and of the House of Industry and Refuge, was president of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane and president of St. George’s Society and other organizations. He passed away October 2, 1910, having kept his faculties unimpaired to the last. To build up rather than to destroy had ever been his broad policy, and through life he had attacked every important work which he undertook with a contagious enthusiasm.

JOSEPH MEDARD GUINDON.

Joseph Medard Guindon, engaged in the real estate business in Montreal since December, 1908, was born at St. Ignace du Coteau du Lac in the county of Soulanges, on the 23d of March, 1866, a son of Jules and Marguerite (Wilson) Guindon the father born at St. Eustache and the mother at Coteau du Lac. The ancestry of the Guindon family can be traced back to Pierre Guindon, who was born in 1648 and died September 27, 1733. He married Catherine Rouchallet dit Bergerac, who died August 22, 1710. To his marriage were born three children. The eldest son, Jean Baptiste Guindon, was born September 15, 1707, and married, February 14, 1729, Madeleine Labette. Pierre Guindon, the second son, was born in 1708, and died October 7, 1709. Paul Guindon, the youngest son, was born August 21, 1710, and married November 16, 1733, Marie Josette Aube dit Aubert, to which marriage were born two sons: Paul, August 20, 1735; and François, March 23, 1737. Paul Guindon married Marie Amable de Maisonneuve in 1770 and had one son, Amable, born in 1772. Amable Guindon married in 1809 and had a son, Magloire, born October 15, 1811. Magloire Guindon was married in 1835 to Josette Guindon, his cousin. He took up arms at the revolt of St. Eustache in 1837, was arrested and imprisoned for a period of seven months after the confiscation of the greater part of his goods. To his marriage were born six children of whom Jules, born in 1840, married Marguerite Wilson, May 20, 1865, at Coteau du Lac. To them were born eleven children, the most of whom died at an early age.

Joseph Medard Guindon was a student in l’Ecole du Plateau in Montreal, where he completed the commercial course in 1882. He then turned his attention to the hardware trade and in 1897 became a hardware merchant in Valleyfield, where he conducted business for nine years. In 1907 he established a hardware store in Montreal, of which he was proprietor for two years. In December, 1908, he opened a real estate office with L. D. Latour under the firm name of Latour & Guindon, in which business he has since been engaged with a large capital. He has personally made investments in improved property and vacant land and his holdings are now very extensive. As real estate agent and expert he has a large clientage and his business is growing year by year. He is thoroughly informed concerning realty values and the energy and enterprise which he displays in carrying on his work have constituted the salient forces in the attainment of his success.

Mr. Guindon has been twice married. On the 30th of June, 1886, he wedded Rosalinda Bourdon, a daughter of Narcisse and Marie Anne (Bisaillon) Bourdon, and to this marriage was born one son, Paul Herve, whose birth occurred at Valleyfield, April 2, 1898. On October 7, 1902, Mr. Guindon was again married, his second union being with Marie Rose Anne Sevigny, a daughter of Philias and Madeleine (Cantin) Sevigny. The children of this marriage are: Marguerite, Marcelle, Suzanne, Juliette, Mario, Robert, Jacques and Jean Rodrigue.

While living in Valleyfield Mr. Guindon served as city alderman from 1898 till 1904. He manifests a deep interest in municipal affairs and all lines of public progress, but has never been ambitious to hold office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business interests, which are now extensive and important.

WILLIAM PATTERSON, K. C.

William Patterson was born in Ormstown, Quebec, and is a son of the late Samuel Patterson. He was educated at the public school of Ormstown; Huntingdon Academy at Huntingdon, Quebec; McGill University of Montreal, which institution conferred upon him the degree of B. A. with first rank honours in classics, in 1886, M. A., in 1889, and B. C. L., in 1895; and at Laval University, which granted him the LL. B. degree in 1900.

Mr. Patterson was principal of the Royal Arthur school at Montreal from 1888 to 1898, during which time he organized and directed a movement in favor of a school history of Canada, written from a Dominion instead of a provincial point of view, the object being, while the history of our country is told from its earliest periods, to direct, as far as possible, the mind of the reader from the various currents of provincial history into the broader channel of the Dominion and to make the boys and girls of Canada feel as they grow up into the responsibilities of citizenship that under confederation we have a united country and a united people. He addressed in support of the movement the Provincial Association of Protestant Teachers of the Province of Quebec at their annual convention in McGill Normal school, Montreal, in October, 1889, and also addressed the Teachers of the Province of Nova Scotia at their annual convention, in Halifax, in December, 1890. He also read before the Royal Society of Canada at Montreal in June, 1891, a paper entitled A Proposal for a Dominion Text-Book of Canadian History. He was appointed secretary of the Dominion history committee, with the Hon. George W. Ross, later Sir George W. Ross, as chairman, by the Dominion Educational Association at its first meeting, which was held in Montreal in July, 1892. The result of these efforts was the organization of the Dominion history prize competition, open to authors of recognized ability, and the publication in June, 1897, of The History of the Dominion of Canada, by W. H. P. Clement, B. A., LL. B., which had been awarded the first prize, and of A Canadian History for Boys and Girls, by Miss Emily P. Weaver, which had been awarded the second prize--both works written from the viewpoint indicated above.

Mr. Patterson organized at Ormstown, Quebec, in 1888, the Chateauguay Literary and Historical Society and was its corresponding secretary from that time until 1895, when, under the auspices of the society and in the presence of over seven thousand people, many of whom had come from a distance, a monument erected on the Chateauguay battlefield by the Dominion government, the outcome of a long agitation, was unveiled in memory of Colonel de Salaberry’s brilliant victory of 1813 over the American invading army.

Mr. Patterson was called to the Quebec bar in July, 1901, and has since successfully practiced his profession at Montreal, where he is the attorney of the Dominion Alliance and of other bodies. He is the author of the Handbook of Commercial Law, published in 1904. In 1910 he was appointed joint crown prosecutor for the district of Beauharnois and in April, 1912, was created a king’s counsellor.

Mr. Patterson married Miss Naomi Florence Smith, a daughter of Robert Smith, of Westmount, Quebec, in July, 1909. He is a liberal in politics and has taken an active part on the hustings in all federal and provincial elections at Montreal and in its vicinity since 1900. His church membership is held in the Presbyterian denomination, and he is a member of the Canadian and Reform Clubs of Montreal. His residence is at 2290 Mance Street, Montreal.

WILLIAM HENRY ATHERTON.

William Henry Atherton was born on November 15, 1867, in Salford, a suburb of Manchester, in Lancashire, England, of Joseph Atherton, sanitary engineer, and Sarah (Nicholls) Atherton. His grandfather, William Atherton, was of a line of merchants and was the last volunteer fire chief in Salford where in Peel Park Museum his famous fire dog “Lion” held an honoured place. His maternal grandfather’s family of Nicholls had farms in Yorkshire and previously in North Wales.

William Henry Atherton spent his early boyhood at the old cathedral city of Norwich in Norfolk, and in 1879, at the age of twelve, started his classical studies at Stonyhurst College, in Lancashire, graduating from the class of Rhetoric in 1886 and matriculating the same year in the first class in the University of London. After several years’ further classical studies he entered the course of scholastic philosophy at St. Mary’s College, Stonyhurst, and at the end of the third year, in 1895, presented his theses in Universa Philosophia, which he passed with distinction “aptus ad docendum,” the degree being equivalent to the Doctorate of Philosophy, which was, after a further thesis on “Beatitudo Finalis” accepted as _ad eundum gradum_ at the University of Ottawa in 1908. From 1898 to 1902 he pursued a four years’ course of scholastic divinity at St. Beuno’s College, St. Asaph, North Wales. When not engaged in the above courses he taught for nearly ten years as a professor of classics and elocution at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, and Beaumont College, Old Windsor, Berkshire, two of the principal “public schools” of England. At both of these colleges he had charge of the dramatic performances, which are a recognized and important feature in their educational system. There he produced many of the best examples of the classical drama as well as of the best modern plays. He also had charge of the preparation of the annual or term “academies” or “speech days” and thus his students presented parts of Latin, Greek, English and French classical pieces.

On coming to Canada in 1907 William Atherton taught classics for a year at St. Albert, Alberta, at the Bishop’s Seminary, assisting Mgr. Légal in the preparation of a history of the Catholic church in North Alberta. In 1908 he taught classics at Loyola College, Montreal. Since then he has filled other educational posts in the city as lecturer in psychology and ethics at the College for the Higher Education of Women, established in connection with Laval University; professor of the English course in the new “Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales” erected by the Gouin government in 1910, and from 1911 he has also been an examiner in Arts for the entrance examinations conducted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the province of Quebec. During his career in Montreal Dr. Atherton has identified himself with most phases of the sociological problems of the city. In 1908 he was invited to assume the managership of the Catholic Sailors’ Club, a position he still holds. In 1909, when the City Improvement League was established, he was selected to become the executive secretary. He is a member of the Civic Secretaries’ Association in connection with the National Municipal League of America, a member of the National Housing Association, the International City Planning Conference and the American Civic League. At the Toronto convention of the International City Planning Congress held in June, 1914, he was appointed by the Canadian delegates to represent them before the Commission of Conservation of the Dominion government to urge the creation of a special Municipal Improvement Bureau in connection with that Commission, to co-operate with and to organize the various movements for city planning, housing and civic improvements in the Dominion. He has taken an active part in most of the recent Civic Improvement and Good Government movements in Montreal, being one of the pioneers in affecting the appointment of the Metropolitan Parks Commission for Montreal, and a consistent advocate of better housing conditions for the working classes. He was the organizing secretary of the notable Child Welfare Exhibition held in Montreal in the Drill Hall on Craig Street in October, 1912. In 1914 he was a member of the executive committee of the “clean-up week” movement, a great public health movement which was taken up by the whole city, in which he acted as chairman of the Co-operation Committee.

Dr. Atherton has been the author of many contributions and criticisms to literary, philosophical and civic journals. His first work, published anonymously under the auspices of the Catholic Truth Society of England, was the Life of Father Damien, the Leper Priest, which appeared in England in 1889, attracting attention as the first authentic life then published. Dr. Atherton has identified himself with the literary life of Montreal. He was one of the founders of the Montreal branch of the Dickens’ Fellowship of which he has been vice president for three years and president for the years 1912-1913-1914. He is the author of the two volumes of the history of Montreal under the French Régime and under the English Rule now being published.

HON. RAYMOND PREFONTAINE.

Joseph Raymond Fournier Préfontaine was a member of an old French family which was established in 1680 in New France. Mr. Préfontaine was born at Longueuil on the 16th of September, 1850. He began his education under private tutors and completed his classical studies at St. Mary’s College under the direction of the Jesuit Fathers. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree at McGill University and was admitted to the bar in 1873. While taking up his private practice he began at the same time occupying himself with public affairs with success.

There are few men who, step by step, possessed more than he the rare gift of being always the man of his time and who at all times retained the favor of his friends. He made his debut in municipal politics as alderman for Hochelaga, and in 1879 became the mayor of that municipality, which honorary post he held until 1884. At this period the progress of Montreal was slow, it being the custom to retard rather than hasten her development. The town and city officers at that time were struggling along with inadequate acts and regulations. They were like the undeterred scientists of old who obstinately tried to solve the problem of squaring the circle although without the slightest vestige of success. New blood was needed and Hochelaga supplied the first infusion in the person of Mr. Préfontaine. When Hochelaga was annexed to Montreal Mr. Préfontaine became alderman of the Montreal council and president of the public works commission. The task which confronted him was not a small one. On the one hand he had to fight against a routine held sacred, and on the other hand against a majority which was absolutely neglecting the eastern part of Montreal.

In 1898 Mr. Préfontaine was mayor of Montreal and began to carry out his program of action. Nothing was neglected for the advancement of the city, and he employed to the utmost his legal acumen and ability in restoring Montreal to her rights. From that time he displayed a deep and abiding devotion to Montreal East which owes so much to him, his labors in this connection being the crowning achievement of his efforts. It was he who gave to the city the Viger railroad station, and this was in itself but a small matter when compared with the shipbuilding yards, the mammoth warehouses and thousands of habitations that he by his persistency won for the French region of the metropolis. He thought of everything; the street railway service, the electric lighting system, the street paving, all these bore the stamp of his personality. He was sometimes unjustly accused of lending himself to questionable deals but always emerged from these ordeals without a stain upon his character or a shadow of doubt remaining as to the entire justification of his actions.

He was the Haussman of the city. It was generally known that he was the friend of the working men and would defend their interests as his own. It was but natural therefore that the workingmen of Hochelaga were his best friends and his stanchest partisans. They were his standard bearers throughout the entire town and were the first who made possible his election to the magistracy of the city. Mr. Préfontaine lifted Montreal out of the old routine and after he was elected mayor all worked hand and glove with him in order to crown his work, and it is not short of the truth to say that a complete reorganization of the municipal autonomy took place.

Hon. Mr. Préfontaine at the time of his death had been in politics for thirty years. In 1875 he was elected member of parliament from Chambly to the legislature of Quebec and continued to represent that county from 1886 to 1896 in the Dominion parliament. In his early days he served as president of the Young Men’s Liberal Association and later as president of the Club National. He was always the man of the hour. His remarkable popularity, the wide prestige which he enjoyed in the liberal party and the financial world, his intimate knowledge of political and administrative affairs, all betokened him the foremost man in the province of Quebec and more particularly in the district of Montreal. He was actively interested in all the movements of his party; few were the counties which he did not visit during the campaigns, and he took part in all the important debates. From his debut he was always in the public eye. Men like him are always the first in all ranks of life. One sees him ceaselessly battling when vital interests are at stake. At the general elections of 1900 he was elected by a large majority for Maisonneuve and Terrebonne. At the time of his death he was representing Maisonneuve, which had elected him by a majority of twenty-five hundred votes. When the Hon. Mr. Tarte resigned from the Laurier cabinet Mr. Préfontaine was prevailed upon to accept the portfolio of marine and fisheries. It is to him that Canada owes the fine organization of this department and the excellent results obtained.

Let us recall what he wrote regarding this subject on the 21st of October in Le Soleil: “We receive every day confirmation of the happy news that the harvest of this year will surpass all hopes. In fact, everything indicates that it will be phenomenal. The Grain Merchants Association values for only the west the production of wheat at ninety-one and a half millions bushels; that of oats at sixty-seven millions of bushels; that of flax at half a million. On the other side the reports from Quebec and Ontario are excellent. There is no doubt that our exportations of agricultural products will this year largely exceed those of 1903, our maximum year, which amounted to one hundred and fifteen million dollars. These figures are so outstanding that they speak for themselves. They mean that the facilities of transportation will have to be considerable to ship all of this,--that is that the St. Lawrence route will be largely put in requisition to export our grain and in return, for the importation of articles sent in exchange. But they signify also that large sums of money will come into the treasury and that the St. Lawrence route will well merit its share. The St. Lawrence begins at the head of Lake Superior and goes as far as Belle Isle, I may say nearly to Newfoundland.

“One of my predecessors asked from Sir Wilfrid Laurier twenty-five million dollars for the single purpose of deepening the channel from Montreal to the Gulf. It is far from being completed. Since the channel was started we have not yet expended one-fifth of this amount and yet we can look backward with confidence and contemplate with pride the work accomplished. It is needless to give here the figures. Suffice it to say this is not a financial treatise but a statement to the people, telling them frankly that in less than five years we have created from nothing at Sorel, the national workshops of maritime construction, the most perfect, the best equipped, the best managed in existence in Canada and which would do credit to any other country. We have constructed the dredges and the apparatus necessary for digging and maintaining the channel at a desirable depth. The channel will be thirty feet in depth throughout almost its entire course. We have reasonably widened the curves wherever they were met. We have constructed signals and placed buoys to extend as far as the gulf and join with the channel. We have installed submarine bells and we are experimenting with a new electrical system for the direction of the vessels in the channel. We have made the channel between Montreal and Sorel as light at night as it is by day. We are now replacing floating fires with stationary fires. We have commenced and will continue with powerful vessels specially constructed to this end to make possible winter navigation and this trial, mark my words, will culminate in good results. That is as a matter of fact quite a goodly sum of finished work since Sir Wilfrid Laurier has come into power and, without boasting too much, since he has entrusted to your humble servant the portfolio of marine, so much decried by our good friends, the conservatives.

“Now, as far as professional progress is concerned, we can still cite without fear of criticism improvement of the law in regard to pilots who are now under control of my department, new conditions regarding more severe regulations, etc.; the revision of the law for the examination of captains and mates; the re-drafting of the law regarding the inspection of steamships; the creation of a competent tribunal of nautical inquiries; the establishment of navigation schools, and the organization of a scientific system of oceanographic and hydrographic observations. Here, in brief, between two viewpoints, we can, I believe, address our friends in order to show them in a new and authentic light the liberal work which has been done on the service of our grand maritime route. But you say in Quebec that with all this there still will be accidents on the river. This I cannot deny and no one regrets it more keenly than I. There will be accidents everywhere and these will happen in spite of all the precautions taken and at the moment when they are least expected. It is for this very reason that we call them accidents. Accidents happen on the canals, they will happen in mid-ocean and they might even happen in the port of Quebec if Providence so ordains, which I sincerely pray, not.”

At the outbreak of the Boer war Mr. Préfontaine gauged public feeling in Canada correctly and favored the contribution of men to the cause of the Empire and also favored the establishment of a Canadian navy. While maintaining offices in the city hall he displayed remarkable faculty for winning friends. It was said of him that no matter how bitterly opponents assailed him he never bore resentment. As years went by this trait actually made admirers out of those who had formerly been enemies. He was always ready to do a friendly act and was naturally of an optimistic temperament, being scarcely ever known to show a sign of dejection or low spirits. A belief in the possibilities of an undertaking always served as a stimulus to his intense activity, usually accompanied by the desired results.

In June, 1876, Mr. Préfontaine married Miss Hermantine Rolland, and unto them were born three sons: Rolland, a civil engineer in Montreal; Fernand, of the firm of Préfontaine & Drouin, architects of Montreal; and Adrien, now deceased.

Mr. Préfontaine died in Paris, France, December 25, 1905. At that time Mr. Lawrence A. Wilson said of his dead friend: “As the last candle lights were flickering out their little flames upon the gilded Christmas trees that had made so many young and old hearts happy, a cruel message, wrapped in thunder, reached us. A man had died: Yes! a big, big man in the fullest sense of the word. A generous friend he was always to the needful, irrespective of color, creed or nationality and one whom I have never known, during twenty years, to have harbored over night an ill feeling against his greatest political foe. When I asked him recently during a friendly conversation why he worked so hard to the detriment of his personal interests and particularly of his health, he replied, ‘My greatest pleasure is to be able to do something for my friends.’ He was a kind husband to his devoted but now sorrowing wife, a good father to his three bright boys, a solid friend to all those he trusted and a faithful, unflinching follower of his chief, Sir Wilfrid Laurier. That man was Raymond Préfontaine.”

The Montreal Daily Star editorially said of him: “Canadian public life has produced few men who would be more sincerely mourned by an army of personal friends than will the late Raymond Préfontaine. He was a man who was always bigger than his party, bigger than his numerous victories and broader in his sympathies than many a man who made more display of public spirit. A genuine liking for the big, generous man pervaded all classes of the community and was no small share of his strength in any political contest. His death comes at an exceedingly bad time for the country, just when he had taken up the problem of the St. Lawrence channel in real earnest and was bent upon giving us a clean bill of health. He has hardly been long enough in the federal field for the nation to learn to know him as he has long been known in this district. As a public man he has come in for not a little criticism. He was a candidate who stood fire well and was seldom irritated into replying with unwise petulance. Perhaps at times he displayed too great a faith in the financial recuperative powers of this city but after all is said and done, that was a generous fault. At this moment our people will only remember the attractive personality, the stanch British subject, the warm-hearted political leader who lies dead in the French capital.”

La Presse, whose editor, Mr. Dansereau, was a close personal friend of the late Hon. Raymond Préfontaine, after referring to the news of his death, continues: “We do not seek to hide our deep emotion, for he was counted among our oldest friends, and we were the last Canadians to grasp his hand before he embarked at New York on the steamer which took him across. Had he any presentiment? He was serious and pensive, nothing about him of the ordinary joy which is connected with the perspective of a short journey was shown in his manner. The distinguished deceased had eminent qualities, for he was a man of action and energy. He had done more in two years for the development and aiding of navigation than all his predecessors in the department since confederation. At least he has the merit of tracing a program that must not be laid aside. Life is ephemeral; fame matters little to him at this moment. But his family will have the consolation of a heritage more precious than fortune, that of his talent, his prestige, of his political and administrative worth.”

PROFESSOR THOMAS ALBERT STARKEY.

Professor Thomas Albert Starkey, a well known educator, lecturer and physician of Montreal, was born in Hertford, England, a son of Thomas Starkey. His early education was obtained in his native town and in 1894 he was graduated from London University with the degree of M. D. Subsequently he pursued a course in the University Collegiate Hospital in London and was house surgeon at the Brompton Hospital. Subsequently he was sent to India to carry on researches and promote the cure and prevention of the plague and cholera. He worked in the Imperial Research Laboratory in Bombay from 1899 until 1901 and afterward was given charge, under the sanitary commission, of the entire hygienic condition of two large districts, his labors there being of inestimable value in improving existing conditions.

On his return to England Dr. Starkey pursued public health work in the laboratory of University College at London and was also bacteriologist of the London county council. He came to the new world in 1902, being appointed in November of that year professor of hygiene at McGill University of Montreal. In 1906 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Sanitary Institute of England and is now secretary and examiner of the local branch of the same body. In 1910 he was elected the first president of the Canada Public Health Association in which connection his efforts have been far-reaching and beneficial. Not only has he done important practice and research work, but has also written upon questions relating to the public health. He has lectured on the Ancient and Modern Methods of Water Supply--A Comparison, and on kindred subjects, all of which have to do with the public health and the prevention of disease.

In September, 1904, Dr. Starkey was united in marriage to Miss Josephine MacCullum, a daughter of the late Dr. Duncan Campbell MacCullum, and they have one son, Hugh. It would be difficult to measure the usefulness of the life work of Dr. Starkey, but the scientific world acknowledges its indebtedness to his efforts and his labors, far-reaching and effective, have been beneficial forces for humanity in various sections of the world.

CHARLES CHAPUT.