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Thomas Wilson

Male 1828 - 1891  (62 years)


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  • Name Thomas Wilson 
    Birth 27 May 1828  Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Census 1861  Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location 
    age 34, born SCT, machinist 
    Census 1871  Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location 
    age 44, born SCT, machinist & engineer, Catherine Ott living in house (mother?) 
    Census 1881  Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location 
    age 53, born SCT, machinist, Catherine Oto, 73, in house (mother?) 
    Death 1891 
    Burial Grove Cemetery, Dundas, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I5862  Family Tree
    Last Modified 27 Mar 2023 

    Father Charles Wilson 
    Mother Margaret McGregor 
    Family ID F1816  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Agnes Gamble Jardine,   b. 1832, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 8 May 1889, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 57 years) 
    Marriage 13 Jun 1851 
    Children 
     1. Margaret Jean Wilson,   b. 1852, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1853, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 1 year)
     2. Charles Wilson,   b. 10 May 1854, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Nov 1938, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 84 years)
     3. Mary Wilson,   b. 1856, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location
     4. Agnes Wilson,   b. 1859, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location
     5. John Wilson,   b. 1863, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location
     6. Thomas Wilson,   b. 1866, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location
     7. Edward Wilson,   b. 1868, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location
     8. Colin Wilson,   b. Jun 1871, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location
     9. Clara Wilson,   b. 15 Aug 1873, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 29 Jan 1946, Dundas, Wentworth, ONT Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 72 years)
    Family ID F1815  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 27 Mar 2023 

  • Notes 
    • from "The Canadian biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men", 1880 (ancestry.com)
      Thomas Wilson, late mayor of Dundas, and one of the leading machinist and manufacturers of the town, was born in Dunbartonshire, Scotland, May 27, 1828. his grandfather was a manufacturer in Glasgow, and his father, Charles Wilson, was a distiller in the old country, and a farmer in Canada. His mother was Margaret McGregor, a descendant of the McGregors and Grahams of Sterlingshire. In the early youth of our subject the family moved to Lanarkshire, where he received a parish school education, and 1843 they all came to Canada West. Thomas learned the trade of a machinist with John Gartshore, of Dundas, commencing at 16 years of age, working twenty-five years for the same man, and managing the machinery department of his shops for sixteen years. Mr Wilson then purchased The Foundry and machine works, and for thirty-six years he has been working in the same building, with some enlargement and alterations from time to time. Business in their line is a little depressed just now, but ordinarily they give employment to seventy-five skilled mechanics, and do business of about $125,000 annually, your specialties being steam engines, boilers and mill machinery, though they make all kinds of machinery. Their market is mainly in Ontario and Manitoba. They do a great deal of marine work for the latter province, and the firm of Thomas Wilson and Co., is nearly as well known in the Valley of the Red River of the North, as in almost any part of Ontario. The old "Dundas Foundry and Engine Works," established more than forthy years ago (1838), were never in better hands or turned out more excellent work. Mr Wilson was connected, many years ago, with an artillery force, being Sergeant-Major of the same, and was Captain of a company of home-guards during the Fenian raids, but has never had occasion to deal in a serious manner with "villainous saltpetre". Some of his most useful work has been done in the municipality of Dundas, he being in the council of number of years, and mayor in 1876, 1877 and 1878. His practical good sense and working qualities cropped out there as well as in his own shops. He also has been of good service at times on the school board, and is a justice of the peace. Though not a rabid politician, nor in this respect very active, Mr. Wilson is an unwavering Reformer, and is president of the local association of his party, and has a high standing in its councils. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and has been one of the managers of Knox church for years. His character stands well, and in religion as well as secular matters is active and efficient. His wife was Miss Agnes Jardine, a native of Renfrewshire, Scotland. They were married June 13, 1851, have lost two children, and have eight living. Charles, the eldest son, is married and lives in Dundas; Mary is the wife of John A. Mcmahon, of Kingston, and the rest are single.