Showing 3 results

The Lewis family of Hamilton, Ontario became well-known in the local community through their children. Thomas Lewis, a successful cigar manufacturer, and his wife Ann Arthur, a dramatic reader of Shakespeare, had 14 children, some of whom displayed an aptitude for music and theatre acting. In particular, their daughter Flora became an amateur theatre actress and their daughter Ida Lewis became the famous professional theatre actress known as Julia Arthur. Born in Hamilton in 1869, Julia began acting at the age of eleven, making her hometown debut as Portia in a local amateur theatre company production of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” In 1883, she made her professional debut in Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” Julia studied music and the dramatic arts in both Germany and England for three years and then moved to New York to work as an actress, landing a role in “The Black Masque” to much acclaim from theatre audiences. She returned to England and was invited to join the renowned Sir Henry Irving’s Lyceum Players Company. She returned to Canada in the late 1890s as one of the most popular and successful stage performers of her time. In 1898, Julia Arthur married Benjamin Pierce Cheney, a millionaire and prominent banker and real estate developer from Boston, Massachusetts. She retired from the theatre and began a short career as a film actress in 1908, acting in a few movie pictures, including some war propaganda films. By 1920, her husband’s financial empire had suffered such serious losses that Julia was forced to return to the stage to earn a living. Julia Arthur lived most of her adult life in Boston and died in 1950.

William Bruce (1832-1927) was born at Unst, Shetland Islands on November 7, 1832 and was the eldest son of Magnus Bruce of an old Scottish family. William was brought to Canada at the age of four; attended Dr. Tassie’s school in Hamilton, and at the age of sixteen entered McQuesten and Fisher’s foundry as an apprentice. He later attended Oberlin College in Ohio and from 1858-1867 was a writing master at the Central School in Hamilton. He was skilled in penmanship, illumination of manuscripts, painting and was also an expert photographer, astronomer, lecturer and a keen freemason.
On March 1, 1855 William Bruce married Jennet Blair of Glanford. The Blair family came to Canada from Ayrshire, Scotland around the same time as the Bruce family. Jennet was described as “a lady remarkable for mental and physical activity.” William and Jennet Bruce had two sons and a daughter. Irvie, the elder son, died in adolescence. William Blair the artist, born in 1859, died in Stockholm Sweden. In 1906, Bella Christina, Mrs. John Walkden, died in 1958 at the age of ninety.
About 1869, William bough the ten acres of property on Hamilton Mountain which is now Bruce Park, between Queensdale and Brucedale Avenues East. Here at “Elmwood” Mrs. Bruce kept a cow and chickens, a vegetable garden and orchard, kept house, brought up the children, and looked after her husband’s comfort. She died on January 27, 1904.
Of all William Bruce’s interests perhaps astronomy was the most outstanding. His observatory in the hayfield behind his house attracted not only the surrounding population but also many noted scientists. Some of his telescopes are at McMaster University, Hamilton. William Bruce died at “Elmwood” 191 Brucedale Avenue, Hamilton, on March 7, 1927 and was buried in Hamilton cemetery with full masonic rites.
William Blair Bruce (1859-1906) was the first artist from Hamilton to gain international status. He was a figure, landscape and marine painter. He studied law and worked as an architectural draftsman before turning to art. Bruce attended the Hamilton Mechanics Institute, 1877, and studied privately under the Hamilton artist, Henry Martin. He attended Academie Julian, Paris 1881 and was also active in Giverny. He married Caroline Benedicks, a Swedish sculptor, in 1888.

The McAfee family members were United Empire Loyalists who lived in the Hamilton area (formerly known as Head-of-the-Lake), during the War of 1812. The region at the time was agricultural and consisted of various townships including Ancaster, Barton, Binbrook, Glanford and Saltfleet. Most residents were farmers, innkeepers, or labourers in trades such as pottery. These early colonial townships protected themselves with local militias made up of able-bodied men ages 16 to 60 from the nearby communities, who were required to serve as part-time soldiers if needed. These men would assemble for an annual muster call in preparation for a possible future military campaign. With war looming against the Americans in 1812, brothers Angus (1780-1832), Daniel (1791-1878) and Samuel (1793-1870) McAfee enlisted in the 5th Lincoln Militia. The two flank companies of this regiment were commanded by Captain Samuel Hatt and Captain James Durand, and also included Lieutenant Robert Land, son and namesake of one of Hamilton’s first settlers. The brothers saw action in various skirmishes and fought with Major General Isaac Brock during the Siege of Detroit. All three brothers survived the war and returned home. Daniel and Samuel took over a pottery business, and Angus became an innkeeper in Barton Township.