Bryce Gilliland RN - how Galt used his story

John Galt writes fondly of his early years in Irvine before moving to Greenock in 1789 when he was 10 years old.  A sickly child, he was often at home with his mother and heard stories told by the women she met with around Irvine.  One particular person he remembered hearing about was Bryce Gilliland (1769-1805).  Galt writes in his autobiography: -

"This infirm state led me not only to avoid the hearty exercises of other boys, but to seek indoor amusement that was, had it been observed, remarkable in one so young.  I remember that there were a number of old women who lived in the close behind my grandmother's house, and in their society to hear their tales and legends I was a frequent visitor.  One of them was the mother of Lieutenant Gueliland, who was flag-officer to Lord Nelson, and killed at the battle of Trafalgar.  He was older than me, and I do not recollect him very well, but he was a brave and intelligent officer; his townsmen have erected a monument to his memory in the church, and I have the gratification to record that I obtained for his only sister a munificent donation from the Patriotic Fund formed during the war at Lloyd's."

There is a monument to Lieutenant Gilliland in Irvine Old Parish Church which reads: -

“To the memory of Bryce Gulliland.  Late first Lieutenant of His Majesty’s Ship Royal Sovereign.  A native of Irvine, who after receiving his education there as a seaman, was impressed and from his own merit, advanced to that distinguished station, and in the 36^th year of his age, was killed in the memorable Battle of Trafalgar upon the 21^st day of October 1805.  He fell at his post in his Country’s Cause and with Nelson.  This monument as a Tribute of respect is erected by his Townsmen.” 

It is likely that Bryce Gilliland he went to sea, as many Irvine men did.  It is recorded that he was later press-ganged into service with the Royal Navy.  His naval career seemed to have started as an Able Seaman on HMS Diana in 1794 and proceeded with service on many navy ships such as HMS Standard.  He was Quartermaster on HMS Northumberland and rose to the rank of Midshipman and Master's Mate.  In 1801 he served aboard Nelson's flagship HMS Foudroyant.  He saw service in the Egyptian Campaign becoming a Lieutenant and serving on HMS Druid. (This information was obtained from a fabulous website "TrafalgarAncestors" at the National Archive.) 

Ironically, Between 1801 and 1802 Gilliland was part of the impress service based at the Strong Man pub in Lower East Smithfield, London, recruiting for the Royal Navy ship HMS Determinee.  Thereafter he was transferred to HMS Dreadnaught where he came to the attention of Admiral Collingwood. 

Admiral Collingwood

He must have made a good impression on the Admiral because on 9 October, Collingwood wrote to Lord Nelson that he wished to take his Signal Lieutenant, Bryce Gilliland with him from the Dreadnaught to the Royal Sovereign.

On 21 October 1805 Bryce Gilliland, aged 36 was killed on board the Royal Sovereign during her heroic struggles in the Battle of Trafalgar.

As John Galt points out in his Autobiography (Chapter 10), quoted above, Lloyds did, on 28 July 1803, set up a Patriotic Fund "to assist the many casualties of the Napoleonic Wars".  It is still in existence, working with armed forces charities providing help to those in need.

Perhaps John Galt was remembering the old stories he heard told by Bryce Gilliland's mother when he wrote the following passage in his 1821 novel Annals of the Parish.  The passage refers to a young man from the locality, Charles Malcolm and is told by the narrator of the book, the Rev Micah Balwhidder:-

    “I had, in the meantime, written a letter to the Lord Eaglesham, to get Charles Malcolm out of the clutches of the pressgang in the man-of-war; and about a month after, his lordship sent me an answer, wherein was enclosed a letter from the captain of the ship, saying that Charles Malcolm was so good a man that he was reluctant to part with him, and that Charles himself was well contented to remain aboard.  Anent which, his lordship said to me, that he had written back to the captain to make a midshipman of Charles, and that he would take him under his own protection, which was great joy on two accounts to us all, especially to his mother; first, to hear that Charles was a good man, although in years still but a youth; and, secondly, that my lord had, of his own free will, taken him under the wing of his patronage.”

In the Annals of the Parish, Charles Malcolm rises through the ranks becoming Captain of his own ship but dies in action against the French.

John Galt was a master at weaving real life events into his work.

Galt and the most gorgeous Lady Blessington

John Galt often attended the salon in the London home of the Blessingtons along with many literary figures of the day.  He met Marguerite, Countess of Blessington through their mutual friend, Lord Byron.  Galt and Marguerite became friends and kept up a correspondence that lasted until his death in Greenock in 1839.  Marguerite, Countess Blessington whom Galt referred to as “the most gorgeous Lady Blessington” (Autobiography 2, p193), from a quote by another admirer Dr Samuel Parr (1746-1825).  She led a very interesting life. 

Lady Blessington

Marguerite was born Margaret (Sally) Power in Clonmel, Tipperary in Ireland in 1789.  Her father was a hard living man of the minor local gentry.  He kept company with many of the local army officers and was a drunk and often in debt.  He had no scruples in accepting money in exchange for his daughter.  When Margaret was just 15 she was married off to Captain Maurice Farmer of the 47th Regiment of Foot who was stationed near their home.  Three difficult and violent months later Margaret had the courage to leave her husband and return home.  A short time later she met another English officer, Captain Thomas Jenkins, who was a very different sort of man.  She returned with him to his family home in Hampshire.  Not much seems to be known about her life there.

It was here that she met Charles John Gardiner (1782-1829), Viscount Mountjoy, later created Earl of Blessington, a widower with four children (two legitimate).  He fell in love with Margaret and paid Jenkins off.  The couple travelled to London where he set Margaret up in a home in Manchester Square.  Fortunately for the couple, Margaret’s husband (Maurice Farmer) died in debtors’ prison in 1818 leaving Margaret free to marry.  She became Countess Blessington and changed her name to Marguerite with a home in St James Square.  It was here that the couple lavishly entertained London society and where they met John Galt in 1821.

Count Blessington owned the Mountjoy Forest Estate in County Tyrone and wanted to return there, but Marguerite had no wish to return to Ireland.  In fact, Galt wrote to her on this subject from Liverpool in July 1822.  He agrees with her decision and writes in a letter dated 27 July 1822:- 

    “… I was so distinctly impressed with the repugnance which your Ladyship feels at the idea of going to Ireland, that I entered entirely into your feelings; but upon reflection, I cannot recall all the reasonableness of the argument.”

Galt goes on to write:- 

 “I really know not what apology to make to your Ladyship for all this impertinence; but somehow, since I have had the honour and pleasure of knowing you and my Lord so freely, I feel as if we were old friends; indeed, how can it be otherwise, for no other human beings, unconnected by the common ties, have ever taken half so much interest in at once adding to my enjoyments and consideration.  I am sensible not only of having acquired a vast accession of what the world calls advantages, but also friends who seem to understand me, and that too at a period when I regarded myself as in some degree quite alone, for all my early intimates were dead.” 

Count D'Orsay

Later in 1822, the Blessingtons set off on an expensively lavish grand tour of France and Italy.  Part of their entourage was a private chef and mobile kitchen.  They were joined by the young, handsome Frenchman, Alfred Count D’Orsay who had been a great favourite with London society and reputed to be Marguerite’s lover.  (Some speculated that he was the Count’s lover).  At Genoa they met with Lord Byron who seemed to have taken to Marguerite.  (She would later, like Galt, write a book about him.)  However, others she met thought her “vulgar”.  They travelled widely and spent time in Naples and Florence.  Questions were asked about d’Orsay’s inclusion with the party, and it was explained that he was to marry the Earl of Blessington’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Harriet Gardiner, whom he had never met.  However, a large financial settlement eased the bargain, and the couple were married in Naples in 1827 thus d’Orsay became Blessington’s heir as he had no sons.  The travellers moved to Paris where the Earl of Blessington died of a stroke in June 1829.

Marguerite returned to London where her reputation had preceded her.  However she managed to recreate her salon attracting many famous persons of the day although she was largely shunned by society ladies.  She and Galt kept up a regular correspondence and she often commented on his published work.  In 1835, already unwell, Galt wrote to her from Greenock:-

    “I shall soon have occasion to send your Ladyship my little work, which is now making up, for my unfortunate restlessness of mind must have something to do, and I can do nothing that is not sedentary, for to add to the trouble of entire lameness, my memory is often very ineffectual, and things of the nature of amusements more than business must, I fear, even with convalescence, be my occupation for the remainder of my life, if able to attend to them.” 

D’Orsay and Harriet’s marriage broke down in 1838 and, despite a large settlement payment from Harriet (in order that he would have no claim on the Blessington estate), financial crisis loomed.  D’Orsay continued to live with Marguerite at Seymour Place and later at Gore House (now the site of the Albert Hall) in London.  Many of the literary giants of the time were attracted to her home. 

Despite financial troubles, Marguerite was a resilient woman, and she started writing as a means of earning badly needed money.  She wrote novels and contributed to many of the monthly magazines which were popular at the time.  She contributed to Charles Dickens' Daily News.

In 1849 D’Orsay, badly in debt, left for France.  The entire contents of Marguerite’s home were sold to pay off her debts.  She left for France to join D’Orsay.  She died in Paris a few months later in June 1849.  Her obituary states -

    “Her celebrity and vogue among men of talent arose primarily from her beauty, wit, conversational powers, and highly cultivated mind.  But had she possessed no personal attractions … her published works alone would have attracted admirers around her and would have established her claim to be ranked with the most noteworthy of her contemporaries.” 

D’Orsay, an artist, took to painting portraits to earn money.  He died in 1852 and was interred alongside Marguerite in Chambourcy, France in the grey stone tomb he designed for her.

Burial place of Marguerite, Lady Blessington and D'Orsay

Marguerite was a strong woman who seemed not to care about what society thought of her.  She forged her own path through society and won the admiration of not just John Galt but many of the important people of her day.

Lady Blessington

In what was probably one of his last letters to Marguerite on 4 December 1838, just five months before his death, Galt writes from Greenock: -

    “A London correspondent mentioned you in a way that was exceedingly gratifying.  I got your Confessions of an Elderly Gentleman to read, in the perusal of which I enjoyed very great pleasure.  It unquestionably does you very great credit indeed.  Having been only twice lifted into a carriage during the last 15 months, I am utterly ignorant of the world, for I see only the local paper, and hear only of remarkable news; but occasionally my visitors tell me of what is new in public, and frequently give me cause to be not a little proud in thinking I passed so long ago so correct an estimate of your Ladyship’s powers.  But the vagueness of this expression is a proof of how much I would delight in hearing now and then from yourself as to your literary proceedings.” 

John Galt by Alfred D'Orsay

There is little doubt that his friendship with the Blessingtons greatly helped John Galt make contacts during his time in London.  His lasting correspondence with Marguerite shows their mutual regard and her letters were obviously a great comfort to him in his latter years.

John Galt's final resting place

John Galt is perhaps the most well-known of those buried in Inverkip Street Cemetery, Greenock.  A plaque on the cemetery gates highlights his importance there. 

Three flat stones mark the Galt family plot.  The first stone marks the burial place of John Galt (1750-1817) and his wife Jean Thomson (1746-1820).  John Galt (1779-1839), writer, explorer and founder of the city of Guelph in Canada is added on at the end - almost as an afterthought.  The wording reads:-

    "Here are deposited the remains of John Galt, formerly shipmaster, and afterwards merchant in Greenock.  He died 6th August 1817 in the 67th year of his age having uniformly enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him.  Also Jean Thomson his spouse who died 18th July 1826 in the 80th year of her age.  Also John Galt their son who died on the 11th April 1839 in his 60th year, author of The Annals of the Parish etc etc."

Galt's parents, John Galt and Jean Thomson were married in Irvine in Ayrshire in 1776.  Their son John was born in 1779 at Irvine.  The family moved to Greenock when John was 10 years old.  As a shipmaster, his father found it more convenient and probably more financially rewarding to sail from Greenock.  He was connected with trade to the West Indies.  John Galt (senior) built a house with a garden at the northwest corner of Westburn Street and West Blackhall Street in Greenock.  There's a plaque on the wall where the house once stood.  At that time the area would have been much quieter, and not as built up as it was later to become.

John and Agnes Galt had four children – John was the eldest born in 1779, Agnes born in 1781, James born in 1783 and Thomas born in 1785.  John Galt described his parents -

    "My father was one of the best, as he was one of the handsomest men, but he was of an easy nature.  My mother was however a very singular person possessing a masculine strength of character with great natural humour."

His mother seems to have been a strong woman with her easy-going husband being away at sea for much of the time.  She had educated John at home when they lived in Irvine.  He had many memories of those days which he wrote about in his autobiography.

The third gravestone marks the burying place of John Galt's sister Agnes Galt (1781-1855) and reads - 

    “This stone is erected in affectionate remembrance by Agnes Galt, widow of Robert Andrew Macfie, late merchant in Greenock who died 28th October 1811 esteemed by those who knew him best.  Surviving all parents, brothers, husband and children, during a long pilgrimage throughout which upheld by Christian hope she bore with patience, much bodily suffering and zealously sought the kingdom of God on earth.  This old disciple finished her course in peace 30th April 1855 and was buried here.  Phil III, 20.21.”

Agnes Galt married Robert Andrew Macfie in Greenock in 1806.  Robert was a grocer and merchant in Greenock, son of Robert Macfie sugar refiner and his wife Mary Andrew (he was one of 11 children).  He died in 1811 and is buried here.  Agnes Galt Macfie died at 7 Brougham Street in Greenock in 1855.  She is buried here with her husband.  She had outlived all her family as the gravestone poignantly mentions.

The middle stone marks the burying place of the three children of Agnes and Robert Macfie.  Their son, Robert Andrew and daughters Mary and Jane Thomson died relatively young. The stone reads:-

    “Robert Andrew McFie, fell asleep in Jesus 28 October 1824 in the 17th year of his age and Mary, his sister 13th May 1826 having just copleted her 15th year.  Both died in faith with joyful hopes of a blessed immortality.  Also their sister Jane Thomson Macfie who departed this life with longing desire to be with Christ.  She died 5th September 1831 age 22 years.  The Saints in early life removed in sweeter accents sing and blessed the swiftness of the flight that bore them to their King.”

John Galt's widow and three sons all settled in Canada and became important figures in the history of that country.  It seems fitting that Galt himself should be buried with the people who had most to do with the nurturing of his genius in his early life.  Around him in Inverkip Street Cemetery, Greenock are the graves of many of those well known to him during his years living in Greenock.

Galt's view of the Parthenon, Athens 1810

John Galt visited Athens in February of 1810 while some of the famous Elgin Marbles (the preferred term now is “Parthenon sculptures”) were being prepared for shipping to London.  In Letters from the Levant he writes of his time in Athens:-

    “The rape of the temples by Lord Elgin was at that time the theme of every English tongue that came to Athens.  While there, I wrote the Athenaid, a mock epic, in which the gods and goddesses avenge the cause of Minerva.”

Lord Elgin - source

A quote from Galt’s Athenaid reads:-

“Fired by the scheme, his way Brucides took,

And public tasks, and trusts of state forsook;

With ready gold he calls men, carts and cords,

Cords, carts and men, rise at the baited words.

The ropes asunder rive the wedded stone,

The mortals labour, and the axles groan,

Hymettus echoes to the tumbling fane,

And shook th’ Acropolis, - shakes all the plain.”

Thomas Bruce, 7^th Earl of Elgin's original intention was to make drawings and casts of the sculptures. He employed Giovanni Battista Lusieri (1755-1821), known as Don Tita a landscape artist and architect formerly in the employ of the King of Naples to undertake this work.  Lusieri was the agent who dealt with the matter for Elgin. 

The French Consul, Louis Francois Sebastien Fauvelle who was also an archaeologist, tried to stop Elgin from removing the marbles to Britain as he wanted them for France and Napoleon.  Elgin's defence was that if he did not take them, they would be destroyed by the Turks or stolen by the French.  Elgin claimed that he had a firman (permit or authority) to remove them, Galt says that he saw the firman, but being unable to read Turkish was told that it confirmed that the Earl had permission to remove one stone.  (Galt, Autobiography, Part 1, p160).  Of course, later Elgin sold the marbles to the British Government, and they are still on display in the British Museum in London.

Parthenon, Athens

In his Autobiography (Part I, p158) Galt relates that he may have had an opportunity to acquire the marbles as he was informed - “Luseri’s bills, on account of the marbles, were not honoured by the earl’s agents, nevertheless he kept his knowledge of the facts to himself”.  The marbles were shipped to Malta, but Luseri told Galt that he was concerned that he would not be paid by Elgin. 

Galt writes:-

    "Here was a chance of the most exquisite relics of art in the world becoming mine, and a speculation by the sale of them in London that would realize a fortune.  The temptation was too great.  My correspondents at Malta were Messrs. Struthers, Kennedy, and Co., to whom I wrote to pay the bills upon receiving the stones, etc etc and I shipped myself on board the vessel that I might see her safely to Hydra, where she was to put herself under the protection of a man of war.  Accordingly, that evening we sailed with our precious cargo, and next morning arrived at Hydra, from which the vessel was conveyed to Malta.  But on her arrival, there, the agent for the earl paid the bills, and my patriotic cupidity was frustrated."

Lord Byron - source

Lord Byron who was in Greece at the time, also criticised Elgin in his epic The Curse of Minerva, which, says Galt, Byron wrote after reading his Athenaid.  (John Galt was a friend of Byron and wrote a biography of the poet, The Life of Lord Byron, which he published in 1830.)  In the biography (Chapter 28, p178) Galt writes:-

    "His Lordship has published a poem, called The Curse of Minerva, the subject of which is the vengeance of the goddess on Lord Elgin for the rape of the Parthenon. It has so happened that I wrote at Athens a burlesque poem on nearly the same subject (mine relates to the vengeance of all the gods) which I called The Atheniad; the manuscript was sent to his Lordship in Asia Minor, and returned to me through Mr. Hobhouse. His Curse of Minerva, I saw for the first time in 1828, in Galignani’s edition of his works."  (The full poem is available to read online.)

However, it would appear that John Galt, despite his poetic outpourings, was not exactly taken with his view of the Parthenon.  In Letters from the Levant (p113), Galt writes:-

     "The distant appearance of the Acropolis somewhat resembles that of Stirling Castle, but it is inferior in altitude and general effect."

(Galt often compares buildings, places and people to Scottish equivalents!)

Steamboat tales - Port Glasgow

John Galt’s work The Steam Boat or as it was advertised – The Steam Boat; or the Voyages and Travels of Thomas Duffle, cloth-merchant in the Salt Market of Glasgow was published in 1821.  It is a wonderful collection of short stories told by Galt's character, Thomas Duffle.  His fellow travellers provide him with fabulous stories of their own lives as they go down the River Clyde from Glasgow to various places on the steamboat’s route.

Steamship Comet passing Dumbarton Rock

Thomas Duffle himself narrates his own views on the various landmarks they pass and of special interest are his observations on Greenock and Port Glasgow and the perceived (or perhaps real) views of the differences between Portonians and Greenockians and what each thinks of the other.  Of course, Port Glasgow was where Britain's first commercial steamship "Comet" was built in 1812 at John Wood's Yard in the town which makes the stories even more interesting.

At a stopover in Port Glasgow, Duffle narrates “I was thankful when the vessel reached the quay of Port Glasgow, where I went on shore to take my breakfast at an inn, being resolved to leave her there and travel by myself on to Greenock, which is situated about three miles to the westward.  This determination, as it proved, was most judicious on my part; for I found a comfortable house, and great civility in the attendance, facing the shipping in the harbour, with excellent warm rolls, piping hot from the baker’s, and fresh herring that would have been a treat at any time”.

Former town buildings, Port Glasgow

Duffle then goes on a walk around the town – “The waiter, to be sure, as his wont doubtless is with all strangers, directed my attention to the steeple, telling me that it was higher than the Greenock one”.  The visitor then satisfies himself that the steeple is not, as was a derogatory comment doing the rounds at the time, crooked, but perfectly straight.  He continues – “I visited the dry-dock, a very useful place for maritime purposes of various sorts, especially for repairing vessels’ bottoms; and then I went to investigate that famous antiquity, the old castle”.

Newark Castle, Port Glasgow

He also has views on the local people - “I saw several of the inhabitants at their shop-doors, and some elderly characters standing forenent the inns, waiting for the London papers.  Upon the whole they appeared to be a hamely race …”.  So ends Duffel’s short stay in Port Glasgow as he then travels on by coach to Greenock.

It is still possible to recognise several of the places named by Galt.  The steeple referred to is that of the former town buildings and now Port Glasgow's library.  In 1821 the only other comparable steeple in Greenock was that of the Mid Kirk in Cathcart Square.  Unfortunately, the dry-dock is no more, but it used to be situated just at the back of the town buildings and it is possible to see what it would have looked like in more modern times by examining the wonderful mural on the wall just to the east of the Health Centre car park.  “The old castle” – Newark Castle is fortunately still in existence.

Port Glasgow dry dock mural Port Glasgow

In January 1884 the Greenock Herald published extracts from the book.

The calamitous state of John Galt's health - a poem!

Even in the latter days of his life which he spent in ill health at his sister's house in Westburn Street, Greenock, John Galt still showed a remarkable capacity for a good put down! 

The Renfrew poet, Andrew Park (1807-1863) had the audacity to write a poem about Galt - "Answers to the Stanzas of the Celebrated John Galt on the Calamitous State of his Health".

Thou may'st be helpless, sad, and lame,

On one lone seat compell'd to stay,

And muse on youth and dreams of fame,

And hopes and wishes all away.

The verses go on to let Galt know what he'll miss

"Thou may not see the lark arise …",

and assure him that after he dies, his name will be remembered,

But, Galt, thy name is not forgot!

Posterity shall hand it down …"

Then cheer thee, Galt - thy worth, thy name,

And merits, shall live after thee;

And echo, with the trump of fame,

Shall sound thy requiem o'er the sea." 

Galt manages to produce a fitting reply -

"Sir,

I have seen this morning your obliging, and, I presume to add, sympathetic verses, which are not the less acceptable in coming from an author personally unknown to me.
It has been very flattering to me to have received so much kindness, of late, from the public press; for a man who has suffered from nine attacks of a strange species of paralysis, who has thrice lost his speech and once his sight, and now moves in continual dread, is really an object of compassion, especially one who has been very active.
I am much better, as this testifies; for I could not sign my name at one time; and the improvement came on me as quickly as the disease.  Ten minutes before I wrote this I was almost speechless.

I am, Sir, yours, very truly, John Galt"

John Galt is often perceived of as a dour man, but humour flows through much of his work, especially in his wonderful characters.  But who was Andrew Park?  Paisley Museum and Art Gallery have a portrait of the poet which you can see here.

Born in Renfrew in 1807, Andrew Park worked in a commission warehouse in Paisley before moving to Glasgow where he was employed as a hat salesman.  Business failing, he moved to London but returned to Glasgow in 1841 where he became a successful bookseller.  He spent some time travelling in Egypt. You can read another example of his verse at the National Library of Scotland website.

Park died in 1863 and was buried in Paisley Cemetery, over two hundred people followed his coffin to the grave.  It would appear that he was a very popular and convivial man.  

His obituary in the Glasgow Herald reads: -

"Death of Mr Andrew Park - Many amongst us will note, with much regret, the announcement of the death of Mr Andrew Park, who had attained local celebrity as an extensive poetical writer.  It is too much to expect that Mr Park will be remembered as a poet; but it is due to him to say that he produced some pieces in which pretty sentiments were worked out in pleasant lines.  He was a man of simple and inoffensive character, and his attractive social qualities and his fine musical voice rendered him a welcome guest at the social board."

 
John Galt was long dead by this time, but perhaps he would have approved of the wording in the obituary!

(Poem and letter reproduced in Fraser's Magazine, June 1835)

John Galt and the founding of Guelph

On 23 April (St George's day) 1827 John Galt, William Dunlop and Charles Prior took part in a ceremony which marked the founding of the beautiful Canadian city of Guelph in Ontario.  John Galt wrote in his autobiography -

Picture source - The Watt Institution

"... a large maple tree was chosen; on which, taking an axe from one of the woodmen, I struck the first stroke.  To me at least the moment was impressive, - and the silence of the woods, that echoed to the sound, was as the sigh of the solemn genius of the wilderness departing for ever."

 

The town was named Guelph in honour of the British King George IV and was laid out to a precise plan drawn up by John Galt.  Although he is probably best known in Scotland as a novelist, Galt is esteemed in Guelph as the city's founder.

Galt's plan reserved land for churches and schools.  As this extract from his autobiography shows, Galt considered education to be extremely important -

“Education is a consideration so important to a community that it obtained my earliest attention, and accordingly in planning the town, I stipulated that the half of the price of the building sites should be appropriated to endow a school, undertaking that the Company, in the first instance, should sustain the expense of the building, and be gradually repaid by the sale of the town lots.  The school-house was thus among the first buildings undertaken to draw settlers.”

Galt's own schooldays were spent in Greenock. 

He was a founding member of the Canada Company, set up to develop land and encourage settlers to what was then known as Upper Canada. 

In his novel Bogle Corbet: or The Emigrants (1831), John Galt describes life as a settler - leaving homeland and family, starting in a new, unknown place, clearing forests, building homes, the extreme weather conditions - it is not an autobiography, but Galt was writing from his own experiences and that of many of the people he met during his time in Canada.

Galt did not stay long in the country but had to return to Britain as he and the Canada Company had many differences of opinion. However Guelph is not his only legacy in Canada.  His three sons settled there and were important in the development of that country.