The two families to which he owed his origin were both identified with the struggle of the American colonies for independence. His paternal grandfather was Major Lemuel Wilmot, of Long Island, a U. E. Loyalist, who held a commission in the Loyal American Regiment, engaged in much active service on behalf of his king and country, and, soon after the close of hostilities, settled under British rule, on the banks of the St. John River, near Fredericton, in the then recently-formed Province of New Brunswick. After his migration, the Major married Miss Elizabeth Street, a sister of the Hon. Samuel Street, of the Niagara District. One of the fruits of this marriage was the late Mr. William Wilmot, of Sunbury, N.B., who married Miss Hannah Bliss, a daughter of Mr. Daniel Bliss, and a descendant of Colonel Murray, of St. John, whose name also figures conspicuously in the history of the U. E. Loyalists. Several children resulted from this latter marriage, one of whom, Lemuel Allan Wilmot, who was born in the county of Sunbury, on the 31st day of January, 1809, is the subject of the present memoir. [Illustration: LEMUEL ALLAN WILMOT, signed as L. A. WILMOT] The incidents of his early boyhood, so far as known to the writer of these pages, were few, and of little material interest to the public. He was educated at the Fredericton Grammar School, and afterwards at the Provincial University of that town. His career at college was more remarkable for diligence than for brilliancy, though he became a good classical scholar, and kept up his acquaintance with the principal Greek and Latin authors throughout his after life. He was fond of athletic exercises and aquatics, devoting sufficient attention to such matters to build up a sound and vigorous constitution. He also belonged to one of the local volunteer companies, and acquired considerable proficiency in military drill. Upon leaving the University he chose the law for a profession, and after the usual course of study was admitted as an Attorney in 1830, immediately upon coming of age. He settled down to practice in the Provincial capital, and in 1832 was called to the Bar. He was not a born orator, and during the early years of his professional life had to contend with a diffidence of manner and a slight impediment in his speech. It is said that when he first announced his determination to qualify himself for the Bar, his father, referring to the last-mentioned infirmity, endeavoured to dissuade him from a pursuit in which his stammering tongue would inevitably place him at a great disadvantage. The young man, however, was self-confident, and his subsequent career proved most incontestably that his confidence was not misplaced. All things are possible to a man endowed with a strong will, and a fixed determination to succeed. Young Wilmot possessed both these qualifications for forensic success, and had also other advantages which contributed to place him in the high rank which he eventually