up on the Common was judged to be of sufficient importance to its owner
to induce the finder to advertise as follows in the _Oracle_ of
Saturday, Aug. 14th, 1802:--"Found lately near the Garrison, a Cow-bell.
Whoever has lost the same, may have it again by applying to the Printer
hereof, on paying the expense of this advertisement, and proving
property. York, Aug. 7, 1802."
Again, in the _Oracle_ of Feb. 25, 1804:--"Found on Saturday last, the
11th instant, a Bar of Iron. The owner may have it again, by applying to
the Printer hereof. York, Feb. 8th." And again: "Found on Friday, the
5th instant, two silk handkerchiefs. The owner can have them again by
applying to the Printer, and paying the expense of this advertisement.
York, Oct. 12th, 1804." In October, 1806, an iron pot was picked up:
"Found, on Sunday last, the 12th instant, on the beach opposite Messrs.
Ashbridge's, an Iron Pot capable of containing about two pails full.
Whoever may own the above-mentioned Pot, may have it again by proving
property, and paying charges, on application to Samuel Lewis or to the
Printer hereof. York, Oct. 16th, 1806."
A barrel of flour was found on the beach near the Garrison in 1802, and
was thus advertised: "The Public are hereby informed that there has been
a barrel of flour left on the beach near the Garrison by persons
unknown. Whoever will produce a just claim to the same may have it, by
applying to the Garrison Sergeant-Major, and paying the expense of the
present advertisement. J. Petto, G. S. Major, York, March 22, 1802."
Once more: in the _Gazette_ of Dec. 3, 1803: "On the 26th ult. the
subscriber found one-half of a fat Hog on the Humber Plains, which he
supposes to be fraudulently killed, and the other half taken away. The
part which he found he carried home and dressed, and requests the owner
to call, pay expenses, and take it away. John Clark, Humber Mills, Dec.
2, 1803."
Peter Russell's name became locally a household synonym for a _helluo
agrorum_, and not without some show of reason, as the following list in
successive numbers of the _Gazette and Oracle_ of 1803 would seem to
indicate. Of the lands enumerated he styles himself, at the close of the
advertisement, the proprietor. We have no desire, however, to perpetuate
the popular impression, that all the said properties had been patented
by himself to himself. This, of course, could not have been done. He
simply chose, as he was at liberty to do, after acquiring what he and
his family were entitled to legally, in the shape of grants, to invest
his means in lands, which in every direction were to be had for a mere
song.
The document spoken of reads thus: "To be sold.--The Front Town Lot,
with an excellent dwelling-house and a kitchen recently built thereon,
in which Mr. John Denison now lives, in the Town of York, with a very
commodious water-lot adjoining, and possession given to the purchaser
immediately. The Lots Nos. 5, 6, and 7 in the 2nd, and lots No. 6 and 7
in the 3d concession of West Flamboro' township, containing 1,000 acres,
on which there are some very good mill seats; the lots No. 4 and 5, in
the 1st concession of East Flamboro' with their broken fronts,
containing, according to the Patent, 600 acres more or less; the lots
No. 1, 3 and 4 in the 2nd, and lots No. 2 and 3 in the 3rd concession of
Beverley, containing 1,000 acres; the lots No. 16 in the 2nd and and 3rd
concession of the township of York containing 400 acres; the lots 32
and 33 with their broken fronts, in the 1st, and lots No. 31 and 32 in
the 2nd concession of Whitby, containing 800 acres; the lots 22 and 24
in the 11th, lot 23 in the 12th, and No. 24 in the 13th and 14th
concessions of Townsend, containing a 1,000 acres; the lots No. 12, 13
and 14 in the 1st and 2nd concession of Charlotteville, immediately
behind the Town plot, containing 1,200 acres; the lots Nos. 16 and 17 in
the 1st concession of Delaware township, on the river Thames (La
Tranche) containing 800 acres; the lots Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 in the
10th; No. 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 in the 11th, and Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 7 in the
12th concession of Dereham, containing 3,000 acres, with mill-seats
thereon; and also the lots Nos. 22, 24, 25, 26, and 28 in the 1st, Nos.
22, 23, 25, 27 and 28 in the 3rd, Nos. 22, 24, 25, 26 and 28 in the
11th, and Nos. 22, 24, 25, 26 and 28 in the 12th concession of Norwich,
containing 600 acres, with mill-seats thereon. The terms are either
cash, or good bills of exchange on London, Montreal and Quebec, for the
whole of such purchase, in which case a proportionably less price will
be expected, or the same for one moiety of each purchase, and bonds
properly secured for principal and interest, until paid, for the other.
The prices may be known by application to the proprietor at York. Peter
Russell."
Clearly, an idea of the prospective value of property in Canada had
dawned upon the mind of Mr. Russell in the year 1803; and he aimed to
create for himself speedily a handsome fortune. His plans, however, in
the long run, came to little, as in another connexion, we have heard
already.
Survivors of the primitive era in Upper Canada have been heard sometimes
to express, (like Lord Clive, after his dealings with the rajahs,) their
surprise that they did not provide for themselves more largely than they
did, when the broad acres of their adopted country were to be had to any
extent, almost for the asking. But this reflection should console them;
in few instances are the descendants of the early very large
land-holders much better off at the present hour than probably they
would have been, had their fathers continued landless.
Mr. Russell died at York on the 30th of September, 1808. His obituary
appears in the _Gazette and Oracle_ of the following day. "Departed this
life on Friday, the 30th ultimo, the Hon. Peter Russell, Esquire,
formerly President of the Government of the Province, late Receiver
General, and Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils: a
gentleman who whilst living was honoured, and sincerely esteemed; and of
whose regular and amiable conduct, the Public will long retain a
favoured and grateful remembrance."
Of the funeral, which took place on the 4th of October, we have a brief
account in the paper of Oct. 8, 1808. It says: "The remains of the late
Hon. Peter Russell were interred on Wednesday the 4th instant with the
greatest decorum and respect. The obsequies of this accomplished
gentleman were followed to the grave by His Excellency the Lieut.
Governor (Gore) as Chief Mourner; with the principal gentlemen of the
town and neighbourhood; and they were feelingly accompanied by all
ranks, evincing a reverential awe for the Divine dispensation. An
appropriate funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Okill Stuart. The
Garrison, commanded by Major Fuller, performed with becoming dignity the
military honours of this respected veteran, who was a Captain in the
Army on half-pay." The editor then adds: "deeply impressed with an
ardent esteem for his manly character, and the irreparable loss
occasioned by his death, we were not among those who felt the least at
this last tribute of respect to his memory and remains." (The Major
Fuller, above named, was the father of the Rev. Thomas Brock Fuller, in
1873 Archdeacon of Niagara.)
As we have elsewhere said, Mr. Russell's estate passed to his unmarried
sister, Miss Elizabeth Russell, who, at her own decease, devised the
whole of it to Dr. W. W. Baldwin and his family. The Irish family to
which Mr. Russell belonged was originally a transplanted branch of the
Aston-Abbotts subdivision of the great English family of the same name;
and a connexion, through intermarriages, had long subsisted between
these Russells and the Baldwins of the County of Cork. Russell Hill in
the neighbourhood of Toronto, is so called from a Russell Hill in
Ireland, which has its name from the Russells of the County of
Cork.--During the Revolutionary war, Mr. Russell had been Secretary to
Sir Henry Clinton, Commander-in-chief of the Army in North America from
1778 to 1782.
At the beginning of Peter Russell's advertisement of properties, it will
have been observed that he offered for sale "an excellent dwelling-house
in the town of York," described as being in the occupation of Mr. John
Denison. The building referred to, situate, as it is further mentioned,
on a "front town lot, with a very convenient water-lot adjoining," was
the "ornamental cottage" noted in our journey along Front Street, as
having been once inhabited by Major Hillier, of the 74th. On its site
was afterwards built Dr. Baldwin's town residence, which subsequently
became first a Military Hospital, and then the head office of the
Toronto and Nipissing Railroad.
But Petersfield was also associated with the history of Mr. Denison, who
was the progenitor of the now numerous Canadian family of that name.
Through an intimacy with Mr. Russell, springing out of several years'
campaigning together in the American Revolutionary war, Mr. Denison was
induced by that gentleman, when about to leave England in an official
capacity in company with General Simcoe, to emigrate with his family to
Upper Canada in 1792. He first settled at Kingston, but, in 1796,
removed to York, where, by the authority of Mr. Russell, he temporarily
occupied Castle Frank on the Don. He then, as we have seen, occupied
"the excellent dwelling-house" put up "on a front lot" in the town of
York by Mr. Russell himself; and afterwards, he was again accommodated
by his friend with quarters in the newly-erected homestead of
Petersfield.
We have evidence that in 1805 a portion of Petersfield was under
cultivation, and that under Mr. Denison's care it produced fine crops of
a valuable vegetable. Under date of York, 20th December, 1805, in a
contemporary _Oracle_, we have the following advertisement: "Potatoes:
To be sold at Mr. Russell's Farm at Petersfield, by Mr. John Denison, in
any quantities not less than ten bushels, at Four Shillings, York
Currency, the bushel, if delivered at the purchaser's house, or Three
Shillings the bushel, if taken by them from the Farm."
And again, in the _Gazette_ of March 4, 1807: "Blue Nose Potatoes. To be
sold at Mr. Russell's Farm near York. The price three shillings, York
currency, the bushel, if taken away by the purchasers, or they will be
delivered anywhere within the precincts of the Town, at Four Shillings,
in any quantity not less than ten bushels. Application to be made to Mr.
John Denison, on the premises, to whom the above prices are to be paid
on delivery. Feb. 14, 1807."
Our own personal recollection of Mr. Denison is associated with
Petersfield, the homely cosiness of whose interior, often seen during
its occupancy by him, lighted up by a rousing hospitable fire of great
logs, piled high in one of the usual capacious and lofty fire-places of
the time, made an indelible impression on the boyish fancy. The
venerable Mrs. Sophia Denison, too, Mr. Denison's better half, was in
like manner associated in our memory with the cheery interior of the
ancient Petersfield farm-house--a fine old English matron and mother, of
the antique, strongly-marked, vigorous, sterling type. She was one of
the Taylors, of Essex; among whom, at home and abroad, ability and
talent, and traits of a higher and more sacred character, are curiously
hereditary. We shall have occasion, further on, to speak of the
immediate descendants of these early occupants of Petersfield.
On the south side of the expansion of Queen Street, in front of
Petersfield, and a little beyond Peter Street (which, as we have
previously noticed, had its name from Peter Russell) was the abode of
Mr. Dunn, long Receiver-General of Upper Canada. It was (and is) a
retired family house, almost hidden from the general view by a grove of
ornamental trees. A quiet-looking gate led into a straight drive up to
the house, out of Queen Street. Of Mr. Dunn we have already discoursed,
and of Mrs. Dunn, one of the graceful lady-chiefs in the high life of
York in the olden time. In the house at which we now pause was born
their famous son, Alexander Roberts Dunn, in 1833; who not only had the
honour of sharing in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava in
1856, now so renowned in history and song, but who, of all the six
hundred there, won the highest meed of glory.
Six feet three inches in stature, a most powerful and most skilful
swordsman, and a stranger to fear, Lieut. Dunn, instead of consulting
his own safety in the midst of that frightful and untoward melee,
deliberately interposed for the protection of his comrades in arms. Old
troopers of the Eleventh Hussars long told with kindling eyes how the
young lieutenant seeing Sergeant Bentley of his own regiment attacked
from behind by two or three Russian lancers, rushed upon them
single-handed, and cut them down; how he saved the life of Sergeant
Bond; how Private Levett owed his safety to the same friendly arm, when
assailed by Russian Hussars. Kinglake, the historian of the Crimean war,
records that the Victoria Cross placed at the disposal of the Eleventh
Hussars was unanimously awarded by them to Lieut. Dunn; the only cavalry
officer who obtained the distinction.
To the enthusiasm inspired by his brilliant reputation was mainly due
the speedy formation in Canada of the Hundredth Regiment, the Prince of
Wales' Royal Canadian Regiment, in 1857. Of this regiment, chiefly
raised through his instrumentality, Mr. Dunn was gazetted the first
major; and on the retirement of the Baron de Rottenburg from its
command, he succeeded as its Lieutenant Colonel.
In 1864 he was gazetted full Colonel: at the time he had barely
completed his twenty-seventh year. Impatient of inactivity, he caused
himself to be transferred to a command in India, where he speedily
attracted the notice of General Napier, afterwards Lord Napier of
Magdala; and he accompanied that officer in the expedition against King
Theodore of Abyssinia. While halting at Senafe in that country, he was
accidently killed by the sudden explosion of his rifle while out
shooting deer. The sequel can best be given, as well as an impression of
the feelings of his immediate associates on the deplorable occasion, by
quoting the touching words of a letter addressed at the time to a near
relative of Colonel Dunn, by a brother officer:
"In no regiment," says this friend, "was ever a commanding officer so
missed as the one we have just so unhappily lost: such a courteous,
thorough gentleman in word and deed, so thoughtful for others, so
perfect a soldier, so confidence-inspiring a leader. Every soldier in
the regiment misses Colonel Dunn; he was a friend, and felt to be such,
to every one of them. The regiment will never have so universally
esteemed a commander again. We all feel that. For myself I feel that I
have lost a brother who can never be replaced. I can scarcely yet
realize that the dear fellow is really dead, and as I pass his tent
every morning I involuntarily turn my head, expecting to hear his usual
kind salutation, and to see the dear, handsome face that has never
looked at me but with kindness. I breakfasted with him on the morning of
the 25th, and he looked so well as he started off with our surgeon for a
day's shooting. Little did I think that I had looked on his dear old
face for the last time in life. . . . I cannot describe to you what a
shock the sad news was to every one, both in my regiment and indeed in
every one in the camp. Our dear Colonel was so well known, and so
universally liked and respected.
"Next day, Sunday, the 26th of January, he was buried about 4 o'clock
p.m.. I went to look at the dear old fellow, before his coffin was
closed, and his poor face, though looking so cold, was yet so handsome,
and the expression of it, so peaceful and happy. I cut off some of his
hair, which lately he wore very short, a lock of which I now send you,
keeping one for myself, as the most valuable souvenir I could have of
one I loved very dearly. And I knelt down to give his cold forehead a
long farewell kiss. He was buried in uniform, as he had often expressed
a wish to me to that effect. Every officer in the camp attended his
funeral, and, of course, the whole of his own regiment, in which there
was not a single dry eye, as all stood round the grave of their lost
commander. He has been buried in a piece of ground near where our camp
now stands, at the foot of a small hill covered with shrubbery and many
wild flowers. We have had railings put round the grave, and a stone is
to be placed there with the inscription: In memory of A. R. Dunn, V.C.,
Col. 33rd Regiment, who died at Senafe on 25th January, 1868, aged 34
years and 7 months."
Thus in remote Abyssinia rest the mortal remains of one who in the happy
unconsciousness of childhood, sported here in grounds and groves which
we are now passing on Queen Street. In numerous other regions of the
earth, once seemingly as unlikely to be their respective final
resting-places, repose the remains of Canadian youth, who have died in
the public service of England. We are sharing in the fortune and history
of the mother country, and like her, or rather like the ubiquitous Roman
citizen of old, we may even already ask "_Quae caret ora cruore
nostro?_"--sadly as individuals, perhaps, but proudly as a people.
The occupant of Mr. Dunn's house at a later period was Chief Justice
McLean, who died here in 1865. He was born at St. Andrews, near
Cornwall, in 1791. At the battle of Queenston, he served as Lieutenant
in Capt. Cameron's No. 1 Flank Company of York Militia, and received a
severe wound in the early part of the engagement. He was afterwards for
some time Speaker of the House. An admirable full-length painting of
Chief Justice McLean exists at Osgoode Hall.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XXIII.
QUEEN STREET, FROM BROCK STREET AND SPADINA AVENUE TO THE HUMBER.
Immediately after the grounds and property of Mr. Dunn, on the same
side, and across the very broad Brock Street, which is an opening of
modern date, was to be seen until recently, a modest dwelling-place of
wood, somewhat peculiar in expression, square, and rather tall for its
depth and width, of dingy hue; its roof four-sided; below, a number of
lean-to's and irregular extensions clustering round; in front, low
shrubbery, a circular drive, and a wide, open-barred gate. This was the
home of one who has acquired a distinguished place in our local annals,
military and civil--Colonel James Fitzgibbon.
A memorable exploit of his, in the war with the United States in 1813,
was the capture of a force of 450 infantry, 50 cavalry and two guns,
when in command himself, at the moment, of only forty-eight men. He had
been put in charge of a depot of stores, at the Beaver Dams, between
Queenston and Thorold. Colonel Boerstler, of the invading army, was
despatched from Fort George, at Niagara, with orders to take this depot.
Fitzgibbon was apprized of his approach. Reconnoitring, and discovering
that Boerstler had been somewhat disconcerted, on his march, by a
straggling fire from the woods, kept up by a few militiamen and about
thirty Indians under Captain Kerr, he conceived the bold idea of dashing
out and demanding a surrender of the enemy! Accordingly, spreading his
little force judiciously, he suddenly presented himself, waving a white
pocket-handkerchief. He was an officer, he hurriedly announced, in
command of a detachment: his superior officer, with a large force, was
in the rear; and the Indians were unmanageable. (Some extemporized
war-whoops were to be heard at the moment in the distance.)
The suggestion of a capitulation was listened to by Colonel Boerstler as
a dictate of humanity. The truth was, Major DeHaren, of the Canadian
force, to whom, in the neighbourhood of what is now St. Catharines, a
message had been sent, was momentarily expected, with 200 men. To gain
time, Fitzgibbon made it a matter of importance that the terms of the
surrender should be reduced to writing. Scarcely was the document
completed when DeHaren arrived. Had there been the least further delay
on his part, how to dispose of the prisoners would have been a
perplexing question.
Lieutenant Fitzgibbon was now soon Captain Fitzgibbon. He had previously
been a private in the 19th and 61st Regiments, having enlisted in
Ireland at the age of seventeen. On the day of his enrolment, he was
promoted to the rank of sergeant; and a very few years later he was a
sergeant-major. He saw active service in Holland and Denmark. His title
of Colonel was derived from his rank in our Canadian Militia.
His tall muscular figure, ever in buoyant motion; his grey,
good-humoured vivacious eye, beaming out from underneath a bushy,
light-coloured eyebrow; the cheery ring of his voice, and its animated
utterances, were familiar to everyone. In the midst of a gathering of
the young, whether in the school-room or on the play-ground, his
presence was always warmly hailed. They at once recognized in him a
genuine sympathizer with themselves in their ways and wants; and he had
ever ready for them words of hope and encouragement.
Our own last personal recollection of Colonel Fitzgibbon is connected
with a visit which we chanced to pay him at his quarters in Windsor
Castle, where, in his old age, through the interest of Lord Seaton, he
had been appointed one of the Military Knights. Though most romantically
ensconced and very comfortably lodged, within the walls of the noblest
of all the royal residences of Europe, his heart, we found, was far
away, ever recurring to the scenes of old activities. Where the light
streamed in through what seemed properly an embrasure for cannon,
pierced through a wall several yards in thickness, we saw a pile of
Canadian newspapers. To pore over these was his favourite occupation.
After chatting with him in his room, we went with him to attend Divine
Service in the magnificent Chapel of St. George, close by. We then
strolled together round the ramparts of the Castle, enjoying the
incomparable views. Since the time of William IV. the habit of the
Military Knights is that of an officer of high rank in full dress,
cocked hat and feather included. As our venerable friend passed the
several sentries placed at intervals about the Castle, arms were duly
presented; an attention which each time elicited from the Colonel the
words, rapidly interposed in the midst of a stream of earnest talk, and
accompanied by deprecatory gestures of the hand, "Never mind _me_, boy!
never mind _me_!"
Colonel Fitzgibbon took the fancy of Mrs. Jameson when in Canada. She
devotes several pages of her "Winter Studies" to the story of his life.
She gives some account of his marriage. The moment he received his
captaincy, she tells us, "he surprised General Sheaffe, his commanding
officer, by asking for a leave of absence, although the war was still at
its height. In explanation, he said he wished to have his nuptials
celebrated, so that if a fatal disaster happened to himself, his bride
might enjoy the pension of a captain's widow. The desired leave was
granted, and after riding some 150 miles and accomplishing his purpose,
he was back in an incredibly short space of time at head-quarters again.
No fatal disaster occurred, and he lived," Mrs. Jameson adds "to be the
father of four brave sons and one gentle daughter."
The name of Colonel Fitzgibbon recalls the recollection of his sister,
Mrs. Washburne, remarkable of old, in York, for dash and spirit on
horseback, spite of extra _embonpoint_; for a distinguished dignity of
bearing, combined with a marked Hibernian heartiness and gaiety of
manner. As to the "four brave sons and one gentle daughter," all have
now passed away: one of the former met with a painful death from the
giving way of a crowded gallery at a political meeting in the Market
Square, as previously narrated. All four lads were favourites with their
associates, and partook of their father's temperament.
Of Spadina Avenue, which we crossed in our approach to Col. Fitzgibbon's
old home, and of Spadina house, visible in the far distance at the head
of the Avenue, we have already spoken in our Collections and
Recollections, connected with Front Street.