Bartholomew Bull
Bartholomew Bull was an immigrant to Upper Canada, who arrived at York, with his wife and his first-born child in 1818.[1] In 1824 he acquired his own parcel of land, 200 acres on the brow of the Lake Iroquois Escarpment, between what is now Dufferin Street and Ossington Avenue, north of Davenport Road, and south of St. Clair Avenue.[2]
Bartholomew Bull | |
---|---|
portrait of Bartholomew Bull, the Patriarch of Spadunk. | |
Born | 1791 Tipperary, Ireland |
Died | 1879 (aged 87–88) |
Nationality | United Kingdom / Canada |
Occupation | farmer |
Known for | influential pioneer in Upper Canada. |
When he was clearing his land Bull received a contract to supply cordwood to the garrison at Fort York.
Bull's father had been a friend of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, and Bull's home hosted Sunday prayer meetings, before a local church was built, and he is credited for helping establish the church in Upper Canada.[3]
Nicholos Flood Davin, in "The Irishman in Canada", lists Bull as an early success story, rising from "bush farmer", to prominent land owner, whose sons became doctors and lawyers.[4]
References
-
J. Hume Grisdale (2000-09-29). "The Story of B.H. Bull & Son and their Jerseys". Archived from the original on 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
He was born in 1791 to John and Mary Bull in County Tipperary, Ireland. In 1818, at 27 years of age, he with his wife and first child, a daughter, Mary, came to Canada and settled in "muddy York".
-
Nancy Byers, Barbara Myrvold (1997). "St. Clair West in Pictures A history of the communities of Carlton, Davenport, Earlscourt, and Oakwood" (PDF). Toronto Public Library. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-09-21. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
Several individuals who were to have a major impact on the district acquired land and began clearing farms northwest of York during this time. These included Bartholomew Bull from County Tipperary, Ireland (1824); George Cooper, a native of Rutlandshire, England (1831); Aaron Silverthorn, a member of a Loyalist family originally from New Jersey (1834); and David Rowntree of Cumberland, England.
-
"Davenport-Perth Methodist Church (Spadunk) – Toronto, Ontario". 2014-10-10. Archived from the original on 2019-04-06. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
As a young man in England, Bartholomew’s father, John Bull, had been a close friend of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.
-
Nicholas Flood Davin (1877). The Irishman in Canada. S. Low. p. 276. ISBN 9781293949276. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
on Bartholomew Bull, at Davenport, who worked his way up from bush-farming to be a large property holder, and who gave to the country two physicians, one lawyer, and one magistrate--John P. Bull, J.P., who is ever helping on all kinds of improvement; nor, perhaps, if particulars are to be enlarged on, should it be forgotten, gave wives to two gentlemen--Dr. Patullo and Mr. James Good--both of Irish origin.