A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time. Various
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of the institution, he has ever been wont so ungrudgingly to render, have now ceased, and that the board can no more hope to be aided in its deliberations by his eminently sage counsels, induces a feeling of sadness almost overwhelming; yet the board would recognize as ground for profound gratitude to Him without whom ‘nothing is wise, nothing good,’ the magnitude of the work which our departed brother was enabled and allowed so wisely to undertake and successfully to accomplish in founding, and so essentially helping to build up to its present eminently prosperous condition, the Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy in its two affiliated branches.
“2. That in the judgment of this board, Mr. Allison, in devoting so large a portion of his time and wealth to the establishment of an educational institution which is of such wide-spread influence and usefulness, acted as a truly wise Christian steward, and fairly entitled himself to the pre-eminently honourable position which has been assigned to him as ‘the noblest public benefactor which has yet arisen in these provinces to benefit his country and bless the world;’ and believing that so long as this institution may continue in operation true to his design and worthy of its past history, it will stand the monument of the distinguished Christian patriot and philanthropist, perpetuating the memory alike of his wisdom and his benevolence, this board will, as performing a sacred duty, earnestly endeavour to maintain in ever increasing efficiency.”
Resolutions of a similar character were passed by the Wesleyan Methodist Conference of Eastern British America at its next ensuing annual session. See published minutes for the year 1859, pp. 21–22.
Senkler, William Stevens, Judge of the County Court of the County of Lanark, Perth, is an Englishman by birth, having been born at Docking, Norfolk county, England, on the 15th of January, 1838. His father was the Rev. Edmund John Senkler, M.A., of Cains College, Cambridge, a clergyman of the Church of England; and his mother was Eleanor Elizabeth Stevens, daughter of the Rev. William Stevens, M.A., Oxon, of Sedberg, Yorkshire, England. The parents of Judge Senkler, with their family of nine children, came to Canada in May, 1843, and resided in the city of Quebec, where the Rev. Mr. Senkler occupied for some time the position of rector of the High School. He then moved to Sorel, and in September, 1847, to Brockville, at which place he died on the 28th of October, 1872, Mrs. Senkler following him to the grave on the 16th of March, 1873. Judge Senkler was educated by his father, and commenced life in mercantile pursuits; but afterwards studied law with the Hon. A. N. Richards, late lieutenant-governor of British Columbia, and also with the Hon. Edward Blake. During the Michaelmas term of 1860, he was admitted as solicitor; and was called to the bar in Trinity term, 1861. He then began the practice of the law in Brockville, first, with J. D. Buell, then with Hon. A. N. Richards, and lastly, with his brother, Edmund John Senkler (now county judge of Lincoln), down to December, 1873, when he was appointed by the Mackenzie government, judge of the County Court of the county of Lanark. On the 15th of October, 1875, he was appointed master in chancery at Perth, by the judges of that court. On the 10th of October, 1877, referee of titles by the judges of the Court of Chancery. On the 14th of March, 1882, he was made local judge of the High Court of Justice for Ontario; and on the 26th of October, 1885, he was appointed to the position of revising officer for the south riding of Lanark by the Macdonald government. Judge Senkler has taken an active interest in military matters, and helped to organize the Brockville Light Infantry Company, which now forms part of the 42nd battalion. He held the rank of ensign in his company. True to the traditions of his house, the judge is a member of the Church of England, and served as church warden in St. Peter’s Church, Brockville, and St. James’ Church, Perth, for several years. He has also acted in the capacity of lay delegate to the Synod of the diocese of Ontario from St. James’ Church, Perth. Judge Senkler was married on the 21st of May, 1862, by the late Rev. Dr. Adamson, in the Episcopal Cathedral, Quebec, to Honor Tett, daughter of the late Benjamin Tett, of Newboro’, Ontario, who at that time represented South Leeds in the parliament of Canada, and who sat for the same riding in the first parliament of Ontario. The issue of this marriage has been two daughters and one son. Judge Senkler is a hale and hearty man, and we predict for him a long life of usefulness.
Hill, Andrew Gregory, Police Magistrate, Niagara Falls, was born on the 23rd of September, 1834, in the township of Clinton, county of Lincoln, Ontario. His ancestors were among the pioneers of the province. They came to this country immediately after the revolutionary war of 1776, and took up land as U. E. loyalists. The township of Clinton was then an unbroken wilderness, without a habitation, and without a road, save the track of the red man. Newark, now Niagara, about twenty-five miles distant, was the nearest village, and the only practicable means of reaching it was by boat down the lake. It is difficult for us now to realize the privations that the early settlers had to undergo, especially when we consider the severity of the winters, the proximity of the Indian bands, and the inaccessible condition of the country. Even in later years when small plots of land were reduced to a state of cultivation, they were compelled to manufacture their own meal by the most primitive methods. Solomon Hill was one of the second generation after these pioneers, and in 1833 he married Eleanor Gregory, also the descendant of a U. E. loyalist family. Andrew Gregory Hill was the eldest child of this marriage. Both his grandsires bore arms in the war of 1812, and were both severely wounded. Solomon Hill, his father, served with the militia in the rebellion of 1837, but privately sympathized with the patriot cause, and in later years became a great admirer of William Lyon MacKenzie, the patriot leader. Andrew was brought up to farm life, attending the public school in winter, and assisting his father in summer. At the age of eighteen he was sent to Victoria College, Cobourg, where he subsequently graduated in arts and in law, having in the meantime taught school for nearly two years in order to provide funds with which to prosecute his studies. He subsequently studied law in Cobourg, and afterwards in St. Catharines, and lastly with the late Adam Crooks, at one time minister of education for the province of Ontario, in Toronto. Mr. Hill was admitted to practice in 1862, and called to the bar in 1864. He commenced practice in St. Catharines, but only continued there a few months, when he entered into partnership with Warren Rock, late of London, and removed to Welland. Here he practised for more than ten years. He took an active interest in all local matters, being for many years in succession a member of the school board, the village council, the county council, and the county board of education. In 1864, Mr. Hill became identified with the local press, and shortly afterwards started The Welland Tribune, which paper at once became, and has since continued to be, the organ of the Reform party in the county. In 1872 Mr. Hill, being an active politician, was nominated by the Reform party of the county of Welland for the House of Commons, in opposition to the late Mr. Street, a tory, who had held the county for many years, but was defeated. In 1874 he was appointed police magistrate for the town of Niagara Falls, under the special “Act to provide for the better government of that part of Ontario situate in the vicinity of the Falls of Niagara,” which position he has held since that time. His administration in that capacity has been prompt and vigorous—some of his judgments being regarded by many as severe—but in consequence of the bold stand he took as a magistrate, he soon brought about a beneficial change in the locality, and drove away large numbers of the criminal class who formerly infested the neighbourhood. Notwithstanding his appointment as police magistrate, he still continued to practise his profession, and in 1886 was appointed solicitor for the town of Niagara Falls, for the Imperial bank of Canada at Niagara Falls, and for the Niagara Falls Street Railway Company. In 1865 Mr. Hill married Isabel Thompson, daughter of Archibald Thompson, of Stamford, who was for many years treasurer of the county of Welland, and whose ancestors were among the earliest settlers of this county.
Anderson, Alexander, Principal of the Prince of Wales College, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, was born at Aberdeen, Scotland, 30th September, 1836. His father, Alexander Anderson, and his mother, Margaret Imray, belonged to families residing in the adjacent parishes of Banchory Ternan and Midmar. Until 1854, he attended school in the town of Aberdeen. The six or seven years prior to that date were passed under the tuition of William Rattray, an educationist of considerable repute in the north of Scotland. Government grants and inspection were then in their infancy, and Mr. Rattray was one of the first in that quarter to hail the advent of a system which, sooner or later, was bound to develop into a national scheme of education. From Aberdeen, Mr. Anderson proceeded to Edinburgh to the Training College at Moray House, having gained the first scholarship at the annual competition held in that city. At this institution he remained two years. Moray