William Botsford Jarvis

William Botsford Jarvis (May 4 1799 – July 26 1864) was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick in 1799 and moved to York (Toronto) in 1809 with his family. He was named sheriff for the Home District in 1827. In 1830, he was elected to the 11th Parliament of Upper Canada for the town of York; he was defeated in 1834. As sheriff, he presided over the executions of Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews after the Upper Canada Rebellion. He was elected to the town council for Toronto in 1841, but resigned the following year. Jarvis and Joseph Bloor established the village of Yorkville. Jarvis was also involved in the incorporation of a number of companies in the Toronto area. The Rosedale area of Toronto was named after Jarvis' residence in that area. Jarvis' wife Mary, granddaughter of William Dummer Powell, is said to have named the property after the wild roses that grew there. He retired from his post as sheriff in 1856. Jarvis died in Toronto in 1864.

William and Mary Jarvis (1799-1864) were married in 1828. They left issue five children :(1) Anne Frances Jarvis (1830-1919), married Edmund Allen Meredith (1817-1899), Under Secretary of State, Canada (2)(Mary) Louisa Jarvis (b.1831), married (Daniel) Augustus Nanton (d.1873), Barrister of Toronto and an alcoholic who died young as a result (3) Lt.-Colonel William Dummer Jarvis (b.1834) of the 12th York Rangers. Married Margaret, daughter of William Parker Ranney (4) Sarah Harriet Jarvis (b.1836), married in 1854 Lewis William Ord, son of Major Robert Hutchison Ord of the King’s Hussars, of Greenstead Hall, D.L. of Essex, England.(5) Lt.-Colonel Robert Edward Colborne Jarvis (b.1842) of the 67th Leinster Regiment). He was attached to the Staff College at Sandhurst. He then served with the Red Cross Ambulance Corps throughout the Franco-Prussian War, and was awarded by the French government, in recognition of his services at that time, one of only two gold crosses made. He was also in Lord Robert’s staff throughout the Afghan War and took part in the celebrated but catastrophic march through the Khyber Pass. Died unmarried.

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4511 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]