The Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-03-28, Page 6PAGE f-aODERlCH SIGNAL -STAR; THURSDAY; MARCH :8; 1.x74
Wife,nurse,guardian
BY W.E. El.330TT
The. eccentric will of. "Tiger"
Dunlop is wicifik known. In
contrast, that IN his brother
Robert is a no-nonsense in-
strument of a single sheet, com-
prising a few bequests ink
'vt .language of the utmost brevity.
Penned 135 years ago and still
legible, it . wase probably
deposited in the first. Huron
registry office on Quebec Street,
and thereafter in a courthouse
vault, surviving the fire of
1954. The text is here
published, almost certainly for
a first time.
About all ,that Captain
Robert Graham Dunlop had to
bequeath was a pair of town
tot's, which he left t9 "my dear
wife, Louisa". She survived
him by 30 years, directing in
her will tlilt. she be buried "in
the same grave in which the
body of my beloved husband
lies". This was done, beyond
doubts but no memorial • of
Louisa is to be found at the
• Dunlop tomb' on the hill
overlooking the Maitland,
Upon an eight -foot ,granite slab
are inscribed tributes to the life
and works of, the Dunlop
`brothers, provided long ago by
Louisa Dunlop herself.
When Robert Dunlop ran in
1836 for election to the
Legislative Assembly, there was
gossip arhong Goderich ladies
about the' bachelor brothers
and their housekeeper- from_
Scotland. , No incident of the
Dunlop story ' has been so
- tenaciously remembered as the
coin -toss devised by Dr. Dunlop
to decide which'of the .brothers
'should marry Louisa. He called'
heads, tails, and heads again,
preserving his bachelorhood,
but no historian has offered an
explanation "as to why Robert .
failed to check the .coin asit
fell. A doubleheaded penny
could not • come up tails, d
The captain won the 'election`
over Col. Van, Egrnond 35"to,
25. He and Louisa were
married July 4, 1836, _by the
first rector of St. George's
church, Rev. R.F. Campbell.
Capt. Dunlop's will is not ac-
compa•nied by the numerous
certificates and declarations at-
tached nowadays to such in-
struments; there is nothing blit'
the essential declaration of the
witnesses. The testator is -
described' as "of the township
of. Colborne in the County -of
Huron, London District." The
county had been set up by
legislation in 1840,Jeffective in
1841.
' Witnesses tothis will were °
Daniel .•, 'Lizars, clerk .of the
peace, .and John Stewart, attor-
ney at -law.'` The handwriting of
the will so much reseriibles the
signature of Lizars as to en-
courage belief that he may have
written it. The text:
"I will arid, bequeath to my
',dear wife, Louisa, twci lots in
the town of Goderiah; .Lots 21
south of street 'number' 2 south
Of West$, street." (Streets were
not then named, except ,West,
South, East and North, and
possibly Lighthouse). "And. the
-lot -next, which I' now hold in
fee and which said lots are at
present occupied and. in.
possession of .•dphn 'Galt
Esquire, and the house erected,
thereon is used as the Registry
Office for the County of Huron.
' "to. James Hag'gar"t,
Colborne, 100 acres in Ashfield
to which I am entitled by grant.
from the Crown as an Officer of
the British Navy. .
"All therest and residue of.
my real and personal estate to
my brother, William Dunlop
Esquire, and tomy wife,
Louisa, share and .share"alike.'`•
He - appointed as executors
William Dunlop and' Louisa
Dunlop.
The lot referred to as No, 21
was long ago renumbered as
1`96. It is at the southwest cor-
ner`�of Wellesley and Quebec
Stree' s now the residence of.
>i'.H. -•MDonald
was mistress of Oairbraid, its.
• farm and .staff.
Mrs. Dunlop died March '15,
1871, at Gairbrai 1. • Her will,
made seven y,,ears earlier., 'gave
the value of, her estate as
$1200, but " some of. the.
treasures she bequeathed to
relatives of her own and of the
Dunlops would command enor-
thous prices today. The "large
round dining table"
, bequeathed to Rev. 'ITharles
Fletcher would be the
mahogany table which had
been centre of•the doctor's vast
hospitality, The silver cup with
John Galt, -at the time 'of
Robert Dunlop's death, was 28
years of age. Later he became
registrar for the United Coun-
ties of Huron, Brine and Perth.
Capt. Dunlop ob ined the
Quebec Street lots m the
Canada Company in 183 as a
modest investment,in •al
estate cloae to thharbo
which was the commercial can•
tre of the settlement. After his
death, Louisa sold Lot 21 to
James McMahon, taking' a
mortg tge back.
In an 1845 codicil to his
famous will, Dr. Dunlop left his
dwelling, garden and pasture
land to, his sister:in-law. In his
will he had bequeathed her "all
my shire of the household fur-
niture and .such traps". ' Thus
she was well-to-do, and for 23
yearn after the doctor died she
U do , u
a sovereign in it h`ad already
been listed in Dr. Dunlop's will
as a bequest to his sister, Janet
Graham Dunlop. Two bequests
of the 'same article invite more
explanation than is likely to be
forthcoming- at *this late date.
Rev. .Charles Pletcher, an
executor as well as a
beneficiary, had been a United
Presbyterian minister, 1148-51.
Mrs. ;Dunlop's bequests were
as follows:
"To Mrs, Janet McColl, Hay,
my watch and` chain, feather
bed and mattress.
"To Alexander, son of John,
nephew of my late husband,
Captain Robert Graham
Dunlop, the silver cup with a
sovereign in it, and all my
silver plates with the Dunlop
'family cies n
"To -Rev, Charles Pletcher,',.
my large round dining table,
also my' set, of China' fruit
dishes, together with my table
napkins.
"To my sister, Mrs. Janet
McColl and daughter, Mri.
,,Mary McGregor, equally �bet-
ween them, all my wearing ap-
parel, not otherwise disposed
of:
"The remainder' of real
estate,' money or property not
heretofore disposed of, share
and share alike between Dun-
can Carmichael, my. nephew, -
Daniel McColl,'Robert William
McColl and Duncan McColl,
'sons of my. late brother Hugh,
provided such; division will
meet the approbation of my
- executors, but should they be
unable to agree ..oir the
equitable division of anypart
of such ,residue, then my
executors shall sell the same
and divide the proceeds equally
among the parties named."
eerrne rat
r / u
i 7
j
A
The handwritten will of Captain Robert Graham Dunlop, R.N.
. was made•'on January 11, 1841, about six weeks before h€s
fof-Dt�n€el'
•
'who was a witness. '
death •at-�Gairbraid. The writing appears to be tha
Lizars, Clerk of the Peace,Huron county
had just -been -set up, out of London Distrit, and young John
„Gall hadopened a registry office in a house on Quebec
Street owned by Captain Dunlop, There; probablyi the- will
was first deposited 103years ago. So far as known, the text'
has never before been reproduced.
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' The executors named, -in ad-
dition to Mr. Fletcher, were
,Robert Gibbons, later sheriff,
and Daniel McColl.
Dr. William Dunlop served a
termin the provincia
Parliament after the death of -
his brother' in 1841,, then was
made • superintendent of
Lachine Canal. •His health
failed rapidly. Louisa reached
him six .weeks before his death,
Jorma 28, 1848 and. made him
comfortable until the end. Then
she had his body _placed in a
lead casket and began the 400 -
mile journey tb Gairbraid,,,first
by ship.
When the casket and its
faithful escort reached
Hamilton, as Marion Macrae
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235.0120
(continued on page 7)
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