The Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-12-05, Page 23,
Sig William Otter baptizes' at St. Georges
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GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR,, TI-IURSDAY, DECEMBER , 1974 — MGE
New book about famous general
BY W.E. ELLIOTT
William Otter was born
•December 3, 1843, on Lot 36;
Concession 1, Stanley and on
the last day of the month "was
bundled in flannel and taken to
St. George's church in Goderich
to be christened by the august
and powerful Bishop John
Strachan." Eighty-five years
later, another Bishop of
Toronto ` (Sweeny) conducted
the funeral service for General
Sir William Dillon Otter,
C.M.G., C.V.O., K.C.M.G., for-
mer Chi15f of the General Staff.
The passage quoted is from a
new book, The Canadian.
General, Sir William Otter, by
Dr. - Desmond Morton. As
authority for it he cites the
family Bible.
There was indeed a St.
Geo ' churon t e kn 14.
records had cent, and parish
been maintained
for about nine years by Rev.
R.F. .Campbell, In the bap-
tismal record appear the names
and birthdates of three Otter
children: Jacqueline Mary,.
born in 1846 in Stanley and
christened at Commissioner
Jones' residence; Frederick
Watson, born 1849; Emily May,
1851. The youngest, Harold
Charles, was born in Toronto
in 1854.
Regarding William's
christening, the Lizars sisters
wrote in their book, In the Days
of the Canada Company: "He
was christened in the drawing -
room of the rectory, Mrs. Can3-
pbell, the de la Hoopes and
other friends being gathered for
the ceremony with the father
and the . beautiful young
mother."
There .is no mention of the
bishop. If his lordship indeed
presided, he may have bypassed
the parish records.
. Author of the book, Desmond
Morton, is associate professor
of history at Erindale College,
sit
_. r n I- e , is
e cri . e. as a eltve of Gen.
iot n.
Otter,. and presumably is a
great grandson, but does not
specify.
His book is a publication of
the Canadian War' Museum,
Ottawa; and was made possible
by funds provided by the
Jack's Jottings.....
Continued from page 7B
projects. It is intended that the.
Corporation will ultimately'
progress in a financially self-
supporting and commercial
viable 'enterprise. •
The share structure of the
Corporation is divideinto two
million common shares and 20
million special shares that may
be issued for such consideration
as the board of directors may
determine. Limitations will be
placed on the extent • of in-
dividual ownership and non-
resident ownership of equity
shares. The Minister of Energy,
will at all times'hold a majority
of the outstanding shares of
each class of equity shares- of
the Corporation.
The "Corporation will be
given powers to bi5'rrow money
and .make ' investments by a
wide variety .'-cif -financing
vehicles in order to 'allow it
maximum flexibility in
operation. As (ar as --possible
this Corporation will adopt the
structure of a normal cor-
poration and will';,be a normal
business operation,,Its primary
objective: will be the assurance
of energy for Ontario users,
rather ,than profit. .
To ensure the Corporation
accurately reflects the
aspirations and interests of the
people of Ontario, ,the Cor-
poration is required to make an
annual' report to the• Minister
of Energy and this report will
be submitted to the Lieutenant
Governor in Council and to the
Assembly.
The goals of the Corporation
willbe to enhance the
availability of energyu••in On-
tario by stimulating resource
exploration and development
and ' expanding production
capability throughout Canada
or elsewhere - to encourage in-
vestment in energy projects and
the effective use, of financial,
human and other resources in
energy projects - to eridourage
development of processes and
equipment which avoid
wasteful use of energy and.
minimize - environmental
damage - to improve security of
energy supply to' Ontario
through s acquisition, par-
ticipation guarantee and; long-
, term commitment of resources.
The Minister of Energy,
stated that he made it clear in
his statement on natural gas
that there is no disposition for
the Ontario Energy Cor-
poration -to-undermine -the -ac
tivities of: the private sector.
The purpose of the Corporation
is to secure the interests of On-
tario in the matter of energy
supply. It will, in a sense, stand
between the public and private
sectors of our ' community. It
will reinforce the contribution
of both, but it will not -'rush
about attempting to displace
private activities in those areas
where activities are efficient,
appropHate, timely and
relevant to the -real needs of
Ontario.
Museum. The author has had
the 'benefit of the "Otter
papers," a vast collection from
which Sir William planned to
write the story of his life, but
waited too long.' In the out-
come, the narrative is more
candid, one surmises, than the
'subject himself would have
been.
It sums up, Dr. Morton ex-
plains, "almost a decade of
digging in: the history of the
post -Confederation Canadian
militia. Sir William's life winds
through the social and political
life of post • Confederation
Canada, and thus the narrative
provides intimate glimpses of
public affairs, especially as they,
related to the officer who com-
manded the 2nd Battalion,
Royal Canadian Chief of Staff
and the first with, rank of full
general.
"C LD AUSTERITY"
To subordinates and
superiors alike, Otter was a'
man of cold austerity, inflexible
integrity, and impenetrable
reserve. By the men under him
he was regarded' as a martinet,
suspected of trying to turn his
volunteers into British regulars
or a passable imitation thereof.
The men in the R,C:R. liked his•
second -in -command, Major
Lawrence Buchan. He com-
manded the R.C.R. (Permanent
Force) after the South African
War, and one inhabitant . of
Wolseley Barracks at that time
still recalls a cheery Christmas
message in verse, concluding:
"'God bless you, Royal
Canadians; here's your
colonel's love to you,"
The Canadian General is
well worth reading as
Canadian history, and those"
who served in one or other of
the two.great wars since South
Africa may find it profitable,
though not amusing, to peruse
the two chapters on that cam=
paign: They relate almost in-
credible blunders in regard to
armament and equipment,' the
lack of preparation for veldt'
warfare, and, the price paid in
casualities..- • ' —
The Canadians often 'mar-'
ched all day in terrible heat
without; a, drop of._water; their
rations were unsuitable and in-
sufficient, and their canvas
uniforms fell apart in the wet
and had to be patched together.
Through it all, it is pleasant to
learn, they were steadfast un-
der fire and effective in attack -
as long as they possessed any
» .ammunition,
'Ax home, their relatives, and
friends were distressed by poor
romrriunicatio'ns,- especially
delay in casualty lists.
Sometimes the only news was
in correspondents' mailed
reports, out of date when
published.
The book runts to °442 pages,
but only in five or six is there
mention of .the. Otter family's.
thirteen years in Huron. The
:Otter papers" may not have
begun that early. As it happens,
the story ha"s been told in some
detail for Huron readers: In the
London Free Press; December,
1967: "He Wanted to be a
Fire'h an;" In Huron Early
Houses, Book 111, 1969, "Sir
William Otter, Top Soldier of
His Time," and in the Signal -
Star, December, 1972, "A
Houseful of Memories."
EARLY PHOTOGRAPHER
The new biography contains;
among a number of interesting
photographs, a surprisingly
eight. Evidently there was a
professional photographer in
Goderich in 1851.
William Otter attended
Model School here, beginning
in 1849, it is stated, but there
was neither Model School nor
High School at that period.
Will' was "i•a pupil at John
Haldane's Grammar School,
and his father, Alfred William
Otter, was listed among the
subscribers as "W. • Otter."
'Morga'n's biographical work
records that the lad was
"educated Goderich Grammar
School, Model School, Toronto,
and Upper Canada College."
His father, a son of the
Bishop of Chichester and
brother-in-law of Lord Belper
of Kingston -,Hall, Nottingham,
had hoped tofind some way.of
earning a competence in
Canada that would be open to
•a gentleman, During seven
years on Lot, 36,' Con. r,
Stanley, just south of the future
•Corton, he did hisclearingand
farming through hired help,
and his account book shows 'a
yearly debt. A more detailed
story of those years would have
been interesting.
In 1847, two years before he
{moved to Goderich, he, pur-
chased the land at the gone of
"Cobourg and Lighthouse
- streets, described in his deed as
Lots 25 and "26 "north of.
Lighthouse Street" for -
the very
-good reason that Goderich
streetshad not been named, ex-
cept for West, North, East,
South and Lighthouse: The lots
subsequently were,described as.
Nos. 1 and 2, Plan' 7.
Otter bought these lots from
John MacDonald, 35, in his
first year as sheriff of Huron
° District. Macdonald was' a
"deputy provincial surveyor"
in the employ of the Canada
Company, "which let him have•.
the lots for the ground -floor
price of 10 pounds. He got 326
pounds (about $1,500) from Ot-
ter, who borrowed the money
on- mortgage from Lord Belper,
husband of his sister Emily. At
first glance, it might appear
that the Scot put it over on the
Englishman, but it must be
borne in mind that Otter would
not move to Goderich unless he
had a house for his family.
Macdonald had owned the lots
for 13 `years, evidently built a
house thereon; and that is what
Otter got for his money.
ON COBOUR.G STREET •
The author of The Canadian
General makes no mention of
this house, but it stood on Lot
2, immediately east of the 1974
Graham house and part of it
was retained 'when E.N. Lewis
had one built t r fois
er, ra, as set ort in t e
Signal -Star two years ago this
month. All '4trace of it disap-
peared when the so-called
Elliott house was demolished
seven years ago.
After Alfred Otter moved to
Goderich in 1849 he continued
to go deeper in 'debt until his
relatives pressured him to do
something, and he had in-
fluence' enough to get on the
Company payroll. When the
Company's office was moved
from Goderich to Toronto in
1853, Otter had to go along.
In " time, .the dreary round
becan fe too much for him; he
took to alcoholic beverages to
get him up, but they got him •
down ,,. and out
f Morton states that Com-
•
missioner Frederick Widder
also moved to Toronto when
head office was 'transferred.
One must express doubt,.
however, that Frederick was
connected with the Goderich of-
fice. One can hardly imagine
him sharing Jones' residence:
In any event, he had bought the
Jameson residence on
Wellington St. west in Toronto,
for 10,000 pounds, added a
two-storey addition, and this
mansion, "Lyndhurst," was a
centre of society from 1843 un -
.til. • Widder's death in 1865.
Later it belonged to the Loretto
Sisters, still later was a
seminary, find finall the site of
the new Telegram building.
Will Otter, aged 12 when he
left. Goderich, got his wish to be
a fireman, joining the primitive
company of the time. Then,
while' making has ' living as a
Canada Company clerk, he
joined the militia for diversion;
first the Victoria Rifles, then
the 2nd (Queen's Own)
Regiment. He was out in the
Fenian affair in '66, then with
the expedition to quell the Nor-
thwest Rebellion of 1885, and
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so his real career began.
GRANDSONS GENERALS
He married, in 1865,
Marianne Porter, "•-•19-year-old
daughter of Rev. James. Porter,
first superintendent of schools
for 'Toronto. They had one
child, Edrol, and she married
Edward Lyall Morton. He is
described as a -"frustrated
militia officer," but he and'
Edrol° were the parents of two
sons, both of whom became
professional soldiers, serving
Canada at home and abroad
and reaching the rank of major -
general. (Their service is
detailed in the Otter chapter of
Huron Early Houses, Book
111.)
It is convenient to set down,
from information in the Morton
book, what became of the other
children of Alfred Otter besides
Will.
.-4-144041
1845, died at four months.
now
.Jacqueline Mary died Jan.
16, 1900, "after a, hard and
uninteresting life for years
past." Widowed soon atter her
marriage to Henry Henderson,
she spent the remainder of her
life caring for 'an increasingly
deaf and cantankerous mother.
Frederick joined his brother
in the Queen's Own, but died in
1868 of tuberculosis.
Harold held a poorly paid
job with Chicago Express,
returning to Toronto to marry
Alice Scott.
Emily May married Alex.
Stewart, who ''became' police
-chief of Hamilton and' later
mayor, but died on his way to
the Yukon.
Anna (de la Hooke)• Otter;
Sir William's mother, died
August 23, 1906. "For most of
her eighty-three years she had
known the misery of genteel
poverty; for half her life she
rea
Lady Otter died Novemper
13, 1914, when he`' husband
was at Petawawa Catnpin con-
nection with his duties as direc-
tor of internment operations.
"The charm and gaiety with
which Otter won friends, par-
ticularly of the opposite sex,
had never been much lavished
on his immediate family. Still,
their marriage had lasted
almost half a century, and Ot-
ter had depended on it more
than he had realized."
Not a very happy story.
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