A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time: A Collection of Persons Distinguished in Professional and Political Life, Leaders in the Commerce and Industry of Canada, and Successful Pioneers
History
A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time: A Collection of Persons Distinguished in Professional and Political Life, Leaders in the Commerce and Industry of Canada, and Successful Pioneers
* * * * *
=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,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account