A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose

considerable influence, and owned extensive properties in the counties of Wicklow and Wexford, now in possession of the DeRenzie family. They took an active part in the troubles of 1798. One of them was reputed in his day the best horseman and swordsman in Ireland. During the Irish rebellion his father, at great personal risk, saved the life of a priest by placing himself between the levelled muskets and their intended victim. For this service the rev. gentleman presented him with a sword now in the possession of the subject of this sketch. Tablets in Kilpipe and Kilcommon churches note the resting-places of members of his family. His uncle was appointed surveyor to the customs at Montreal by the British government; and his cousin, B. Burland, is at present a surgeon-major in the 19th Hussars. George B. Burland’s education was entrusted to a private tutor, and when his schooling was over, he entered upon business pursuits, in 1844, in the office of his uncle, George P. Bull, who was at that period proprietor and publisher of the Hamilton _Gazette_. His cousins, Rev. Geo. A. Richard, and the late Hon. Harcourt B. Bull, were then residents of Hamilton; and he remained with them some three or four years and then returned to Montreal. This initial connection with the press soon led to another stage in a cognate branch of publication. The late George Matthews, engraver, succeeded, after many efforts, in inducing the Bank of Montreal to have its bills printed in Canada, the plates being then engraved at the Bank of England, in London. Having secured this step, his next important move was to obtain for that department a manager who could be relied upon for his intelligence and business energy to carry out the new undertaking with success. The choice fell upon Mr. Burland; and thus having identified himself with the undertaking from the first, and acquired an interest in it, his energy, industry and tact enabled him soon to attain to a full partnership. His partner, Mr. Matthews, having secured a competency in the course of time, retired from the business, and left Mr. Burland to conduct affairs. The latter then set about to widen the sphere of his operations, and in spite of many obstacles, which only seemed to stimulate his pluck and perseverance, and notwithstanding the strenuous opposition of the American Bank Note Company and his former partner, he successfully established the British American Bank Note Company, which has been intimately connected with the engraving and printing of the bank note work of the country for over a quarter of a century. Besides being the founder, Mr. Burland is president, and has been general manager of the company since its incorporation. In 1874 he obtained a charter of incorporation for the Burland Lithographic Company, the destinies of which he successfully conducted, as president and general manager, until 1886, when he retired from that double office, on account of his health, and because of his other multifarious interests and occupations. Indeed, he is concerned in many important business enterprises. He is president of the Protestant Insane Asylum of the province of Quebec, to which charity he donated the sum of five thousand dollars. He is a life governor of the Montreal General Hospital, Western Female Hospital, Montreal Dispensary, Boys’ Home, Protestant Orphan Asylum, Irish Protestant Benevolent Association, and Protestant Orphan Asylum, Ottawa, and a life member of the Art Association, of Montreal. To support the principles advanced by the Rev. James Roy, who had been accused of heresy in the Methodist church, and with the view of retaining him in the ministry, Mr. Burland built and equipped one of the handsomest churches in the city of Montreal, at a cost of over $50,000. We merely mention this as an instance of the liberal assistance which he has extended to others without desiring or allowing publicity, and in fact many other proofs of his generosity are known to the writer, which have been carefully hidden from the world by their donor. This sacred edifice has since become the property of the St. Gabriel Church congregation, to which body Mr. Burland donated the sum of $5,000. He also contributed the sum of $2,500 to the Congregational College, Montreal, and has always been a liberal contributor to charitable objects. He was, furthermore, one of the original subscribers to the stock of the Windsor Hotel Company, Montreal, and was one of the few who formed a syndicate to complete the building at a time when its success appeared to be doubtful. He has been one of the directors for many years, is the vice-president, and largest shareholder in the company. He is also widely interested in the manufacturing industries and joint stock companies of the Dominion, and is one of the largest property-owners in the city of Montreal. Some of its most modern and artistic buildings have been erected by him, and he was the first of the citizens to import some of the beautiful woods of British Columbia which have been used in their construction. Mr. Burland married, in 1857, Clarissa, the youngest daughter of the late George Cochrane, of Quebec, by whom he had one son and three daughters. When his son became of age a few years ago he presented him with $25,000 as a birthday present. His gifts to other members of his household have been proportionately liberal on their attaining their majority. The action of Mr. Burland in this matter, as well as in his numerous acts of munificence to the many charitable institutions of the city of Montreal and elsewhere, is worthy of the highest commendation, and we trust the day is not far distant when the men of wealth and noble instincts will follow his example, and not defer the disposal of their wealth till after death, but witness, in the evening of their days, the great blessings they were enabled to impart to their fellow beings. In the year 1883 Mr. Burland paid a visit to Europe with his family, travelling over England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and Switzerland, and thereby greatly benefiting his health; and since then, while still keeping an eye on his numerous interests, he is free to devote much time to works of philanthropy and public usefulness. He is still comparatively a young man, and there is every reason to hope that he will be spared many years to the circle of his family, and to the more enlarged sphere of good citizenship. Men of his stamp are not met with every day, and the lesson of patience, industry, thrift and business management, resulting in the accumulation of large wealth, invested where it can do most private and public good, which his career presents, is worthy of permanent commemoration. * * * * * =Tellier, Hon. Louis=, Judge of the Superior Court of the province of Quebec, St. Hyacinthe, is a son of Zephirin Tellier, of Ste. Melanie de Daillebout, yeoman, and Luce Ferland, daughter of Prisque Ferland, and was born at Berthier-en-haut, December 24th, 1844. The Tellier family came from France about 1789, its progenitor in this province settling at Berthier-en-haut. Mr. Tellier was educated at Joliette College; began the study of law at Joliette, under the Hon. Mr. Baby, who became federal minister of inland revenue, and is now one of the judges of the Court of Queen’s Bench, and finished at St. Hyacinthe, under the Hon. Hubert W. Chagnon, now a puisne judge of the Superior Court, and was called to the bar at Montreal on the 16th of October, 1866; and since 1873 has been in practice at St. Hyacinthe, being the senior member of the firms of Tellier, DeLabruere and Beauchemin, and of Tellier, Lussier and Gendron. He has a liberal share of business in both the civil and criminal courts, and an honorable standing in the profession, being a hard student, well informed in law matters, and preparing his cases with the greatest care and credit. His opinion on legal points is not given hurriedly, but, once expressed, can be relied on. He is very precise and honorable in all his dealings. His law library is one of the best of its kind in the district of St. Hyacinthe. Mr. Tellier was deputy prothonotary of the Superior Court, and deputy clerk of the circuit court for this district, from 1863 to 1873, and crown attorney for the same from the last-named date until 1878. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in September, 1878, for the county of St. Hyacinthe, and an unsuccessful candidate at the general election in