Robert Parker was born in Ayre, Scotland on May 2, 1800. At the age of twenty-one, he graduated with an MA from Glasgow University. Robert Parker's father owned mines in Addrossan, Scotland and also held stock in an iron mine in Marmora, Ontario. It was ... »
Robert Parker was born in Ayre, Scotland on May 2, 1800. At the age of twenty-one, he graduated with an MA from Glasgow University. Robert Parker's father owned mines in Addrossan, Scotland and also held stock in an iron mine in Marmora, Ontario. It was this concern in Marmora that brought Robert to Canada in, or around, 1821. Robert was employed at the open pit mine as bookkeeper and paymaster on the southwest shore of Crowe Lake until it closed down. When the mine closed, Robert moved to Kingston as a teller for the Bank of British North America. It was in 1828, while in Kingston, that Robert Parker married Elizabeth Huffman, a member of a family of United Empire Loyalists (UEL) who had settled in Moscow, north of Napanee.
In 1830 Elizabeth and Robert Parker moved back to Marmora where Robert was able to claim timber lands as the spouse of a UEL. For the next nine years Parker cut timber and rafted it down the Deer and Trent waterways to the Bay of Quinte near Belleville. In 1839 Parker received a commission as an officer in the Canadian Militia from King George III to put down a rebellion. After his military commission, Parker met Edward Fidlar who had settled in Stirling and had started a timber and milling business. From Fidlar, Parker learned that Stirling was growing as a town and becoming popular as a stopping point for travellers in Hastings County. To accomodate these travellers Parker's Tavern (a hotel) was built and opened by Robert Parker.The 1840's were a busy time for Robert Parker, he served as one of the first town councillors for Stirling as well as it's first postmaster. In addition to his hotel and community positions, Parker purchased land north of Marmora for the erection of a stone mill. Robert Parker operated both the hotel and mill until he died in 1852.
Robert and Elizabeth's sons, Francis Borland and Robert Parker opened a bank, the Parker Brothers Bank, in Stirling, Ontario around the time of their father's death. The bank was eventually sold to the Soveriegn Bank of Canada. Francis Borland Parker, like his father, also served the community by working as the Clerk for the Court for the County of Hastings, as well as the Justice of the Peace for the area. It is believed that Francis Borland Parker passed away sometime around 1904.
Emily and Mabel Parker were the daughters of Francis Borland Parker. Mabel was born in 1873 and she graduated from Queen's in 1895. She was the youngest of 3 Parker girls. Mabel intended to be a teacher but it appears that Mabel stayed at home with her family . Her future husband Arthur E. Ross was still at Queen's. He graduated in Medicine in 1900 and immediately went to South Africa to fight the Boers. Mabel and Arthur were married in 1902. Their only child Donald was born in 1909 . In 1914, Arthur left agian, this time for England and then France for the WW1 effort. Mabel and Donald stayed in their home on Sydenham Street. Emily Parker, who lived to be 99, stayed in the Parker home in Stirling.
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