Part 60
=King, Edwin David=, M.A., Q.C., Barrister, Halifax, was born at Onslow, Colchester county, Nova Scotia, on the 26th of December, 1841. His father, John King, was a Scotchman by birth and parentage, and, on his mother’s side, was first cousin of the distinguished Scotch philosopher, Thomas Carlyle. When an infant, he removed with his parents to Nova Scotia, where he continued to reside until his death in June, 1887, in the eighty-second year of his age. For a long period he had been an active justice of the peace, having at one time, for some ten years, filled the office of stipendiary magistrate, for the town of Truro, where he resided at the time of his decease. In November, 1828, he married Sarah Ann, only daughter of the late Nathaniel Marsters, of Onslow, and the mother of the subject of our sketch. She is still living at Truro. Mr. Marsters was a loyalist of English descent, and with his parents removed to Nova Scotia at the time of the rebellion of the New England colonies. He represented the township of Onslow for some years in the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia. Edwin David King early manifested a fondness for study, and could read very well (so we have been told) when four years of age. He attended such schools as Onslow provided, until the summer of the year 1856, when, being in feeble health, he was sent to be a clerk in a store at Antigonish, with the promise, however, that if at the end of two years his health improved, and he still desired it, he should receive a legal education. He accordingly left Antigonish in 1858, and took the high school course at the Provincial Model School, Truro. Subsequently he studied at Acadia College, Wolfville, where, in 1863, he graduated, taking the B.A. degree in course, and in 1866, on submitting a thesis, he received the degree of M.A. In September, 1863, he entered upon the study of the law, and removed to Wallace, Nova Scotia, where he was articled as a law student with Henry Oldright, barrister. He studied with Mr. Oldright two years, during which time having acquired a knowledge of phonography, he spent the winters in Halifax, as assistant reporter to the Legislative Council, Mr. Oldright being the official phonographic reporter for that body. In 1865, his articles of clerkship were transferred to James Royer Smith, Q.C., an English barrister, registrar of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, and practising at Halifax. He was admitted to the bar of Nova Scotia in December, 1867, since which time he has practised his profession at Halifax, and has also been a member of the Barristers’ Society, of Nova Scotia. He is now the senior member of the firm of King & Barss—W. L. Barss, LL.B. (Harvard), having been admitted a partner with him in January, 1877. In October, 1875, he visited Bermuda, on a special retainer, as leading counsel for defendant in the celebrated burial case of James _vs._ Cassidy. (This was an action of trespass brought by Rev. Mr. James, rector of the parish of Hamilton, against Rev. John Cassidy, then pastor of the Methodist Church there, for reading the Methodist burial service, and officiating at the burial of one of his own congregation, in the parish church yard, and, at the time, was the occasion of intense excitement throughout the island). In 1884, he was called within the bar, and received letters patent, appointing him a Queen’s counsel. Since 1875, he has been retained as counsel in many important cases growing out of the Liverpool Bank failure; insurances cases; actions involving the title to the Shubenacadie Canal, etc. He has a large practice in the Supreme and County Courts of Nova Scotia. Mr. King became actively associated with the Nova Scotia militia in 1863, and in 1864 was commissioned as adjutant of the 4th Cumberland regiment, with the rank of captain. On removing to Halifax in 1865, he took command of a company in the 11th Halifax regiment, and remained actively connected with that corps until the re-organization of the militia, under the Dominion statutes and regulations. He is a member of the Senate of the University of Acadia, having been elected in 1882, and he is also a governor of Acadia College, to which position he was elected in 1883. In 1876, he was appointed one of the directors of the Halifax School for the Blind, and held the office for one year. In 1872, the Halifax School Association for promoting the efficiency of the public schools was formed, and he was its first secretary, occupying that office for three years. He has always been a total abstainer from alcoholic drinks, having joined the cold water army when a child. In 1863, he first became a member of the order of Sons of Temperance, and in 1865, was initiated into the Grand Division of Nova Scotia. For some time past he has, however, ceased to be an active member of this organization, owing to the pressure of other duties. He is a prominent member of the Halifax Young Men’s Christian Association, and is one of the six trustees in whom its property is vested, having been first elected to that office in 1875. He has also been a member of its executive committee for many years. In 1871, the Sunday School Association of the Maritime provinces was formed, and he has ever since been an active promoter of that work, and has thrice filled the office of president of the association. He was also chairman of its executive committee from 1872 until 1885, when separate associations for the several provinces were organized. Since 1885, he has been chairman of the executive committee of the Sunday School Association of Nova Scotia. He is a Liberal-Conservative in politics, and helped to kill repeal in February, 1887. He takes an active part in elections, both Dominion and local. On the college question he is opposed to “consolidation,” and in favour of placing higher education outside the pale of state support or control. He believes that the smaller, fairly well equipped colleges in our country, managed and sustained by denominations or other independent agencies, can better secure the guards and checks, and afford facilities for the mental, moral, and Christian culture, demanded of the youth of our country. On several occasions he has publicly supported these views. He is a Baptist, as were his parents. He united with the Baptist Church at Wolfville, in 1861, and since 1868, he has been a member of the first Baptist Church in Halifax. He is one of its deacons, superintendent of its Sunday school, and chairman of its finance committee. On the 6th of February, 1869, he was married to Minnie S., eldest daughter of John W. Barss, who is a banker and justice of the peace, residing at Wolfville, Nova Scotia. This gentleman is well known in the Maritime provinces, by his generous benefactions for benevolent purposes. Acadia College, Wolfville, has been, perhaps, foremost among the objects of his bounty, having received donations from him amounting in the aggregate to $10,000 and upwards. Mrs. King, who is a native of Halifax, received her education there and at the Ladies’ Seminary, Warren, Rhode Island, United States. They have no children of their own, but have adopted as their daughter, a niece of Mrs. King’s, who lives with them at Halifax.
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=Antliff, Rev. J. Cooper=, M.A., D.D., Montreal, was born at Huddersfield, England, on the 1st February, 1844. He is the eldest son of the late Rev. W. Antliff, D.D., who for fifty years enjoyed the distinction of being one of the bright and shining lights of Methodism in England. In 1862 he was made editor of the _Connexional Magazine_, and for five successive years held that post; he was then called to take charge of the Theological Institute opened at Sunderland, and for thirteen years he acted as its principal. Rev. Dr. W. Antliff, we may here add, held during his lifetime nearly all the positions of honour in the power of his denomination to bestow. He was a forcible and effective preacher, possessed of great natural force of character, of unbending integrity, good literary ability, and possessed of administrative talents of a high order. The Rev. J. Cooper Antliff, the subject of our sketch, received his educational training in Haslingden Wesleyan School, and at Edinburgh University. When only eighteen years of age he became his father’s colleague to whose counsel and example he owes much of the success that has so far attended his life work. After spending sixteen years in the ministry in the British conference, in 1878 he was sent out from England to take charge of the Primitive Methodist Church, Carlton street, Toronto, for five years, when according to the arrangement of the Conference he was to return to England. But owing to the union of the Methodist bodies in Canada in 1883, he abandoned his home-going, and was appointed to the office of secretary of the General Conference by the united bodies, and thereby became custodian of the public documents of the church and keeper of its records, an honour that has been highly appreciated by his numerous friends. After a ministry of six years in the Carlton street church, Dr. Antliff removed to Montreal to take charge of the Methodist Church on Dominion square, where he is now doing good work for the Master. While in Toronto he took part in every social and moral reform, and was generally a favourite among all who had the good of humanity at heart. For four years, from 1879 to 1883, he was editor of the _Christian Journal_, the denominational paper of the Primitive Methodist church in Canada. He was one of the founders of the Ministerial Association, and was its secretary for two years, and afterwards its president for one year. He had the degrees of M.A. and B.D. in course conferred upon him by the University of Edinburgh, and in 1887 Victoria University conferred upon him the honorary degree of D.D. He is a member of the Board of Regents of Victoria University, and of the Senate of the Wesleyan Theological College at Montreal; and is also a member of the court of appeal of the Methodist church, which consists of six clergymen and six laymen. The Rev. Dr. Antliff is possessed of good natural abilities, and has a highly cultivated mind, brimful of knowledge. As a preacher and a lecturer he is highly popular, being blessed with good oratorical powers, and a voice both sweet and powerful. Matter, however, is of greater importance than even voice, and of this he has an abundance. It is varied in character, being both secular and sacred, ancient and modern, scientific and scriptural, and he deals it out with no sparing hand. The style of his sermon varies: he can handle a subject well, either textually or topically, while as an expository preacher—perhaps partly the result of his five years residence in Scotland—he shines with considerable lustre. His platform utterances are generally excellent, and at times powerful, especially when dealing with the cause of temperance. In politics he advocates Liberal measures; but owing to his ministerial duties he does not give prominence to his political views. Dr. Antliff has been twice married; first, in Derby, England, to Fanny Holden, daughter of John Holden, of Dalbury Lees, Derby. She died in Toronto in February, 1880, leaving three children, two boys and a girl. Second, in Toronto, 1882, to Mrs. Ray, widow of Dr. Ray, and daughter of the Rev. E. Gooderham.
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=Robinson, Samuel Skiffington=, Barrister, Orillia, Ontario, was born in the city of Montreal, Quebec province, on the 6th January, 1845. His father, Arthur Guinness Robinson, was a civil engineer, and superintended the works on the Lachine Canal, at Montreal, when they were first being constructed. His mother was Mary Mulock. His uncle, Charles J. Robinson, is now county judge for Lambton county. The mother of the Hon. Edward Blake and the widow of the late Judge Connor were half-sisters of Arthur G. Robinson. The grandfather of the subject of our sketch, Samuel Robinson, M.D., belonged to Dublin, Ireland, and in July, 1832—along with his son Arthur G.; William Hume Blake, his wife, mother and sisters, and his brother, Rev. D. E. Blake; the late Archdeacon Brough, who had married Miss W. Blake; the late Justice Connor; and the late Rev. Mr. Palmer, archdeacon of Huron—sailed for Canada. The vessel which they had chartered for the voyage—the _Ann_, of Halifax—had scarcely been at sea three days when one of the crew was seized with cholera and died, and the body before morning was thrown overboard. In consequence of this untoward circumstance, the party felt inclined to return to Ireland, but owing to the sanitary measures adopted by Dr. Robinson the plague was stayed. After a voyage of seven weeks they reached the St. Lawrence, and found that cholera had become epidemic in Canada. They were subjected to a short quarantine at Grosse Isle, and were then permitted to pursue their journey to Toronto (Little York), where they remained about six weeks, and here the party separated. Mr. Brough went to Oro, on Lake Simcoe, Dr. Skiffington Connor to Marchmont village, Orillia township, and the Blakes to the township of Adelaide, of which the Rev. D. E. Blake had been appointed rector by Sir John Colborne, the then governor of the province. Dr. Robinson returned to Ireland, taking his son Arthur G. with him, who, the following season, returned with his brother Charles (now county judge of Lambton), and settled in Orillia township, Charles going farther west. Samuel Skiffington Robinson received his education in Upper Canada College, from which he graduated; and having adopted the law as a profession, he entered the office of Blake, Kerr, Lash & Cassels, in Toronto, where he remained until he was called to the bar. He shortly afterwards moved to the beautifully-situated town of Orillia, which he has had the satisfaction of seeing rise from a backwoods village to a thriving town of four thousand inhabitants. He has succeeded well in his profession, and is at present solicitor for the Dominion Bank agency there, and holds several other important positions. Mr. Robinson has not entirely confined himself to his professional duties, and as a consequence his fellow citizens have honoured him by electing him mayor of the town, which position (1887) he now occupies. He held the office of churchwarden in the St. James Episcopal Church of Orillia, for a number of years; and for several years was president of the Reform Association. He, too, has devoted some attention to the militia, and holds an ensign’s commission in the Simcoe battalion. In politics Mr. Robinson is a Liberal; and in religion is an adherent of the Episcopal church. On the 13th December, 1871, he was married to Elizabeth Millar. Mrs. Robinson’s brother, Melville Millar, was the first mayor of Orillia, which position he held for several terms.
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