Church and that Reverend Court. He signed all the original deeds of pews given to subscribers, on behalf of the session, which at first managed the temporal as well as spiritual affairs of the congregation. He was charged by the session, in 1794, with the administration of the poor fund of the Church. He was session clerk in 1802, at the time when Mr. Young's affair was under consideration, but he took no part in that business, nor did he vote for or against Mr. Young, when the question of that gentleman's resignation was brought before the congregation. On all other occasions, whenever any important matter had to be dealt with, he invariably occupied the foremost place. It was so, we have seen, when a syndic was needed to deal with the Government respecting the ground belonging to the Church, supposed to have been appropriated in building the ramparts of the city; and when the secession took place, in 1803, and the party opposed. to the calling of Mr. Somerville carried off the keys of the church, he was one of those appointed to take measures to secure the rights of the congregation. His name appears more frequently than any other in the church books. He died on the 5th July, 1820, aged sixty-seven years.

The entire community of Montreal, as well as the Scotch Church in St. Gabriel Street, owed not a little to this public spirited Highlander. His influence did not die with him. His descendants are to-day occupying, and have, since his decease, occupied positions of honour and usefulness in the community. It was Mr. Fisher's good fortune to marry a woman of great personal worth, Catherine Embury, and she had a large share in stamping upon the family the superior character which they afterwards displayed. She was the daughter of Rev. Philip Embury, the pioneer of Methodism in America; and being a devout woman and deeply attached to the peculiarities of the system in which she had been trained, she asserted such ascendency over the

minds of her children, that they all, in after years, joined the Methodist church. Mr. Fisher's eldest daughter married Rev. John Hick, a Methodist preacher of some note. Mr. Fisher's eldest son, Daniel, a merchant in St. Paul Street, met with a sad death by an explosion of gunpowder, in 1826. He was a man of high character, and a leading member of the Methodist Church of Montreal, which then stood at the corner of St. James and St. Francois Xavier Streets, on the site of the present Medical Hall. After his death, a memorial tablet was affixed to the wall of the church, which was removed to the new church on St. James' street, when it was erected in 1845, where it may be seen, and it will, no doubt, accompany the congregation to their more splendid edifice in St. Catherine Street, now in course of erection. The inscription is as follows:—

"Sacred to the memory of the late Daniel Fisher, Esquire, merchant of this city, and one of the Trustees of this chapel, towards the erection of which he was a munificent contributor. The inflexible integrity which marked his mercantile transactions; the exemplary manner in which he discharged his relative duties; the secresy and liberality of his benefactions to the indigent, were the fruits of that religion, under the influence of which, in his last affliction, he was patient, and in death victorious. He died December vi, MDCCCXXVI, in the xxxixth year of his age.

"The Trustees have erected this monument as a tribute of respect to departed worth."

The second daughter was married first to William Hutchison, a merchant in St. Paul Street, and after his decease to the late William Lunn. From this daughter the Lunn, Dr. G. W. Campbell, and Judge Cross connection is descended.

Mr. Fisher's second son, John, followed his father's business, first in Montreal and afterwards in Quebec. His

representatives to-day are Dr. Arthur Fisher, of Sherbrooke street, and his sons, Roswell C. Fisher, advocate, and Sidney A. Fisher, M.P., for Brome. The late T. W. Ritchie's family are also descended from Duncan Fisher, their mother being a daughter of John, just mentioned.

Elizabeth, Mr. Fisher's third daughter, was married to the late John Torrance, and had a numerous family, and through her, the large John Torrance connection, including Sir A. T. Galt's family, and the families of the late Rev. Dr. Mathieson and the late Robert Esdaile, must also be counted in among Duncan Fisher's posterity.

James, Mr. Fisher's third son, married a sister of the late William Lunn, who still resides in Hamilton, Ontario.

The most distinguished of Mr. Fisher's family was Duncan, who married the widow Budden, mother of Mr. E. H. King, formerly President of the Bank of Montreal. Duncan Fisher, Jr., was a Q.C., and occupied a prominent place at the Bar of Lower Canada. The late Justice Smith was his partner. Duncan was always regarded by the family as its brightest member, and was much respected by the community for his great legal talents. He died. December 27th, 1845, aged 45 years. The late Judge Torrance studied his profession in the office of Mr. Fisher, who was his uncle; as did also Justice Cross, who is married to his niece.

It may be truly said that old Duncan Fisher and his excellent spouse, Catherine Embury, have been greatly honoured and blessed in their posterity.

William England, whose name stands next on the trust, was a native of Scotland, who arrived in Montreal before 1789, as in that year he attended the services of Christ Church and was a subscriber to its funds. He was a cooper by trade, and the house still stands, at the corner of Dorchester and St. Dominique streets, which was once his

shop. A few years ago it had repairs made to it which changed its external appearance; but the walls are the same that he occupied in prosecuting his business, which was then and for fifty years afterwards, a leading industry of the city. The coopers were amongst the most influential and prosperous of Montreal's citizens, in the days when potash, flour and the other produce of Ontario, were all forwarded in bulk, to be here prepared for shipment to the markets of the old world. Every large mercantile house had its own cooper.

Mr. England subscribed ten guineas towards erecting the Church in 1792, and two pounds for liquidating the debt remaining on the building in 1800. Pew No. 5 belonged to him.

With Duncan Fisher and Wm. Hunter, he was appointed an elder in 1792, and was session clerk in 1794. His name was also associated with Mr. Fisher's on the original deeds of pews granted in 1792. He voted for the retention of Mr. Young in November, 1800, and, as a member of the Temporal Committee at the time, he took part in the Young investigation. He died December 29th, 1822, in the 84th year of his age. The Herald's obituary notice remarked:—"The deceased was for a long term of years resident here, and enjoyed a reputation for integrity and industry that procured him a very general esteem."

Mr. England formed one of the minority opposed to the calling of the Rev. James Somerville, in 1803, and seceded with a few others to organize a new congregation with Rev. Robert Forrest as minister. From that time forward his name does not appear on the records of the St. Gabriel street Church; but it is interesting to notice that his grandson, Alexander England, became connected with the Church in St. Gabriel Street a few years ago, and at his death, in 1885, he received burial at the hands of the present writer. He was born at Norway House, his father, James

England, son of William above mentioned, being in the employ of the N. W. Co. His mother was an Indian

woman.

Alexander Hanna or Hannah—for it is sometimes spelt in the one way and sometimes in the other, whose name comes next in the deed, was a merchant in Montreal. He was one of the three to sign the contract with Perrault, for the wood work of the Church. He also subscribed ten guineas towards the undertaking. He died on 20th July, 1798. It is believed that he was a native of Galloway, Scotland; but had emigrated to the colonies south of the line 45°, prior to the commencement of the revolutionary war. His British feeling was too stout to allow him to avow allegiance to the stars and stripes, and so he joined the loyal exodus to Canada, settling in Montreal. He owned pew No. 18.

Alexander Fisher, the sixth of the Trustees, was a brother to Duncan Fisher, the elder. He kept a hostelry in St. Mary street. He subscribed ten guineas towards the building fund, but we find no further trace of his name in connection with the Church. He died before the year 1800, leaving several children. One daughter was the second wife of Rev. John Hick, already mentioned. His two sons, John and Daniel, became afterwards prominent as citizens and general merchants. It was John who occupied a foremost place in the contendings for the Church of Scotland interests, from the year 1844 onwards. Further mention will be made of him by and by, as well as of his brother Daniel, and their descendants. He occupied pew No .26.

William Hunter was another of the Trustees. He was one of several brothers, natives of Kilmarnock, Scotland, who came to Montreal in the eighteenth century, and