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CHARTERIS. The Charteris family stands among
the early representatives of the County of Kent. The first of the family
concerning whom there is any definite record is Charles Charteris, the
grandfather of Dr. C. R. Charteris, of Chatham. He was born in
Dumfrieshire, Scotland, and married Miss Diana Reed, daughter of John
Reed, of Northumberland, England. Three children were born of this
union: John, deceased; Diana Elizabeth, of Australia; and Charles
George. The father was a captain in the 28th Light Dragoons of
Scotland, and on the disbanding of the regiment became a member of the
Yeomanry Cavalry.
Charles George Charteris was born July 25th,
1828, in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and came to Canada in 1846, settling in
Chatham, Ontario, where he was employed by Witherspoon & Charteris,
general merchants and agrents for the Gore Bank, of which Alexander
Charteris was one of the partners. At the expiration of five or six
years, Charles George Charteris engaged in the lumber business with
William Baxter, continuing therein until 1857, when he was appointed
treasurer of the County of Kent, which position he held until the time of
his lamented death, February 27th, 1887. He was one of the
most popular of the county officials, being held in high esteem by the
best people of the county. In local politics, also, he was a prominent
figure, and for two terms was a member of the town council. He was the
second mayor of Chatham, holding that office in 1857. Always interested
in the welfare of his adopted city, he was decidedly a public-spirited
man. At one time he was agent for the Bank of Upper Canada at Chatham,
and worked for the settlement of their real estate interests in the County
of Kent. In political affiliation he was a Reformer, and in religious
connection a Presbyterian.
On December 25th, 1849, Charles
George Charteris married Miss Elizabeth Baxter, daughter of William
Baxter, of Chatham, and to this union were born eight children: F.W. a
farmer of Chatham township; Mrs. Colles, of Chicago; Mrs. Dr. Mustard, of
Ohio; Dr. C. R., of Chatham; F.G.Y., a farmer of Chatham township; Charles
George; Caroline; and Harriett Louisa, deceased.
The Charteris family is a very ancient one in
the annals of Dumfriesshire, Scotland. They are supposed to have been
ofiginally of French origin, settling in Scotland in the reign of George
II. A large tract of land was granted to the family for important
services to the king, and a portion of this property is still in the
possession of some of the descendants of the family. The following may
prove of interest in connection with the ancient history of the family:
On the night of April 4th, 1608, James VI slept at Amisfield
Castle, on his way to England, and the bed he occupied that night is now
preserved in the museum of antiquities at Edinburgh. There is also
preserved in the same museum a door on which a hero of the Charteris
family is represented in the act of tearing asunder the jaws of a lion –
the same being a true representation of an incident in the history of the
family.
Dr. C.R. CHARTERIS was born in Chatham
township, County of Kent, July 22nd, 1865, and was educated in
the central and high schools of Chatham. His medical course was taken in
the Toronto School of Medicine and Victoria University College of
Physicians and Surgeons, Toronto, from which institutuion he was graduated
in 1887, receiving the degree of M.D.C.M. The same year he began
practicing in Chatham, becoming a member of the board of health of the
city during that year. In 1888 he continued his medical studies in the
hospitals of London and Edinburgh. Upon his return in 1889, the Doctor
settled at Florence, County of Lambton, Ontario, where he built up an
extensive practice. At the end of four years of hard work, much of his
practice being in the surrounding country, the continuous driving made
itself felt in a breaking down of his physical strength, and the Doctor
moved to Chatham, where he is relieved of much of the out-of-town work,
and in his eight years of practice in that city he has met with his former
success. He is a member of the Ontario Medical Association. In January,
1900, he was appointed physician to the County House of Refuge, and also
to the county jail. Dr. Charteris was appointed in 1896 a member of the
Library Board, being chairman thereof in 1897 and 1903. This year (1904)
he is chairman o f the board of health.
On November 19th, 1890, Dr.
Charteris was married to Miss Margaretta Webster, daughter of John
Webster, postmaster at Florence, and they have three children: Gwendoline
Isabella, Charles Maxwell and Walter Francis. The Doctor and his wife are
members of the Presbyterian Church, and in his political faith he is a
Reformer. Socially he belongs to the Sons of Scotland and to the I.O.O.F. |
