James Douglas' family names

James Douglas (ca 1820 - 1891) was the son of William Douglas and Margaret Usher. He married Barbara Riddell (1830-1904), daughter of John Riddell and Helen Scott.

The two had six children together that I am aware of:

• Margaret Usher Douglas
• Helen Scott Douglas
• William George Douglas
• John Riddell Douglas
• Thomas Lunn Douglas
• Barbara Douglas

The first four names come from the names of their parents. The last two were named after James' step father (Thomas Lunn) and Barbara. But the interesting thing is where the name George comes from in William George Douglas? Could that be a clue to another family name?

James Douglas Tailor?

James Douglas (ca. 1822 to 1891) is the brother of John Douglas, my third great grandfather. I had previously thought that he had been a tailor in Owen Sound, largely based on advertisments and directory entries that I had seen:

James was the Deputy Registrar of Grey County from at least 1870, so this would have been his career prior to that. The ads suggested 1852 as the date of establishment of the business, so he would have been in that profession from 1852 to before 1870. It does make some sense that he might be a tailor as his step-father, Thomas Lunn worked in the garment industry previously and James may have worked with him at some point.

I started, however, having my doubts and started suspecting that there was a second James Douglas living in Owen Sound at the time. Sure enough I found that there was a James Douglas (1830-1898) also living in Owen Sound at the time:

I found an obituary for the second James Douglas, and sure enough he was a tailor who came to Canada in 1852. So my hunch was correct - it looks like there are two different individuals named James Douglas and the one connected to my family is not the tailor.

X00170 Possible Harry Hook in Directories - Solved!

Some time ago I had been searching for appearences of Harry Theodore Hook in city directories including some of these:

1899 Post Office Directory of London:

and

As well as in this directory from Suffolk:

As well as some other directories showing a Harry Hook on Malden Road

I can rule out the Sussex directory appearance, as I have never seen any reference to him living in Sussex.

As for the Malden Road references, I don't have anything that places him in a certain profession or location in 1899; the closest that I have is 1901 where he was a clerk in Chiswick. Nothing to connect him to Malden Road, or the profession of grocer. So with that, I have nothing to suggest that he is the same Harry Hook as in the directories.

X00122 John Logan Hook Date of Death Solved!

I had some information from other family members that John Logan Hook, a son of James Hook had died in Sierra Leone around 1850-1852 but I didn't have any death information.

I have since come across this article from The Morning Chronicle from 1852

So I have now been able to confirm that he died 30 September 1852

X00361 Is this Tew family connected?

I came across this article in the Oakville Record from 1960

I don't recognize any of the names, and this Tew family looks to have come from England, whereas mine came from Ireland. But it's worth investigating

Willard Eugene Madden

On 23 February 1941, PO Willard Eugene Madden was flying in a Harvard II A.J. 559, about four miles north-west of Collins Bay, near Odessa, Ontario with pupil pilot Walter Herbert Riddett from Wiltshire, England. At the same time, Lead Airman Claude Anthony Trebel, from Hampshire, England was also piloting a training aircraft, and the two planes collided in mid-air, killing all three airmen [D05215, D05220].

Willard Eugene Madden is buried in the Erskine Cemetery in Dunbarton Ontario. Walter Herbert Ridett and Claude Anthony Trebel are buried in Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston, Ontario. All three are memorialized in the Book of Remembrance.

Find a Grave Links:

• Pilot Officer Willard Eugene Madden
• Leading Airman Claude Anthony Trebel
• Leading Airman Walter Herbert Ridett

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Sources:
[D05215] Canada, "Canada World War II Service Files," Madden, Willard Eugene; digital images, ancestry.ca,ancestry.ca

[D05220] "Eight Airmen Are Killed In Ontario in Two Days,"Globe and Mail, 25 February 1942, p. 1, col. 2.

Profile: The Honourable William Finlayson

William Finlayson was born 12 Dec 1873 in Brantford, Ontario [D08326] the son of Alexander Finlayson and Anna Mary Tupper. He attended Wellesley Public School and Jarvis Collegiate in Toronto and the Osgoode Hall where he received his law degree [D08317, D08321]. William was called to the bar in 1898 [D08317, D08321]. He moved to Midland, Ontario where he set up a partnership with politician William Humphrey Bennett [D08317, D0821] in 1897.

He married Ethel Cordner Sinclair, the second child and second daughter of Henry and Emily Sinclair [D08289, D08279, D05480] on 6 July 1904 in Orillia [D05484].

William first entered politics in 1906 and served as mayor of Midland for two years [D08317, D08321].

William and Ethel had their first child, a son, R. William Finlayson about 1907 [D08278, D08279]. A daughter, Mary Frances Sybil Finlayson was born in 1910, followed by Phyllis Constance Sinclair Finlayson in 1912 [D08278, D08279].

William served in the militia with the 35th Simcoe Foresters prior to World War One. When the war started, he enlisted on 7 January 1916 in Barrie, Ontario [D08281]. He was first assigned to the 157th Battalion, but was transferred to the 10th Brigade, Canadian Field artillery in January of 1917 where he served as Captain until demobilization in March of 1919 [D08281, D08317, D08321].

After the war, William formed a new law partnership with George Dudley, Finlayson and Dudley Barristers and Solicitors in Midland. He entered politics again and was elected as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Simcoe East in 1923 [D08285, D08321]. In his first term he chaired the public accounts committee and then the municipal committee in his second term [D08285, D08317, D08321]. He was elected to the position of Minister of Lands and Forests and held the position until 1934 when he lost his seat in the legislature [D08285, D08317, D08321]. He was reelected in 1937 but resigned two years later to allow George Drew, the new Conservative party leader, to enter the assembly [D08285, D08317, D08321].

During his time in the provincial legislature, he worked to develop Northern Ontario and expand the provincial parks system [D08285, D08317, D08321]. He travelled extensively to the remote areas of Northern Ontario, particularly around Hudson Bay and James Bay [D08288, D08317, D08321]. Two places in Ontario are named after William Finlayson: Finlayson township in the District of Nipissing (now part of the Township of Lake of Bays) and Finlayson Point in Temagami, which later became Finlayson Point Provincial Park.

William Finlayson died 14 November 1943 or pulmonary embolism [D08280]. His wife died a few months later on 19 May 1944 [D05480]. Both WIlliam and Ethel are buried in St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Midland [D08324]

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Sources:
[D05480] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, 29392; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca

[D05484] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, Reel 116: 375, 17188, Finlayson-Sinclair; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,"

[D08278] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 119, sub-district 32, Midland, p. 17, dwelling 179, family 192; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com

[D08279] 1921 census of Canada, district 126, sub-district 27, Midland, p. 6, dwelling 59, family 59; RG 31; digital images, ancestry.com

[D08280] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, 212, 34407; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca

[D08281] Canada, "Military Service Record - William Finlayson"; digital images

[D08285] "Wm.Finlayson Dead," The Montreal Gazette, 15 Nov 1943, p. 14, col. 3; digital images, Newspapers.com

[D08317] "Former Ontario Minister William Finlayson Dies,"Toronto Star, 15 Nov 1943, p. 18, col. 3; digital images

[D08321] "Wm. Finlayson: Was Minister in 2 Ontario Governments,"Globe and Mail, 15 Nov 1943, p. 7, col. 3; digital images

[D08324] Saint Mark's Anglican Church (Midland, Simcoe, Ontario)

[D08326] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, Reel 9, Record Group RG 80-2: 459, 28728, 95; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births,"