15) George Hamilton Burgar: Elected mayor for the Town of Welland in 1893 & 1894

Vital statistics

Birth: October 30, 1842 at Thorold Township, Ontario, Canada

Death: May 1, 1923 at Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Burial place: Fonthill Cemetery (Find a Grave)

Parents: Thomas / Dorothy (née Young)

Spouses: Jemima S. (née Nobles) / Elizabeth C. (née Phalmors)

Children: Bessie Belle / Frank

Occupation: Postmaster

Religion: Methodist

Community affiliations: Town Councillor / Postmaster / Union School Board

Profile

George Hamilton Burgar was born October 30, 1842, to Thomas and Dorothy Burgar, at the family house on the banks of the Welland River. His father Thomas was appointed as Postmaster by the Home Government and held that position for 40 years. George, through his hard work and integrity of character, also spent his career as Postmaster for Welland.

On October 31, 1862 he married Jemima Douglass Nobles of Simcoe, who was a granddaughter of Levi Douglass, a prominent United Empire Loyalist. Not long after his marriage he became interested in in local politics and public service.

He was elected twenty-two times total, with twenty as a councillor (first in 1871 and last in 1912), and two victories as mayor in 1893 and 1894. That total is the second most in Welland ever, next to Richard Morwood’s twenty-three election victories. In a short biography that appeared in an 1876 Tribune newspaper, it was said after he was elected councillor in 1874, that “he filled the position with so much credit to himself and satisfaction to the people that they again re-elected him as councillor for 1875, when he again showed his ability as a legislator, and was again honored by receiving nominations for both reeve and councillor…” At the end of his second year as mayor in 1894, in a summing up of the past year the treasurer congratulated the mayor and council on the economy they practiced, and that “the town’s finances were decidedly healthier than heretofore.”

In 1873 he began a business as a bookseller, connected with the Welland Post Office, in which he was acting as assistant Postmaster for his father. He succeeded his father as Postmaster in 1874. G. R. T. Sawle had recollections in a 1963 edition of the Tribune of when he was a young boy, about George Burgar as Postmaster in the 1890s: “He was a good citizen, a good business man and generally popular, but in the shelter of the post office he was a dictator, or at least the young people thought so.” Sawle then recounts how busy and loud it could get at certain times in the post office, and the “exasperated postmaster, from behind the barricade of lock boxes, frequently shouted for “quiet” usually accompanied by dire threats which he never carried out… The popular postmaster, long since deceased, may have been crabby at times but with just cause for he certainly was long suffering.”

By 1913 George had been widowed and remarried Elizabeth (née Phalmors), and it was decided they would move to Toronto. The Methodist Church community threw them a farewell party before they left for Toronto for good, and he gave this speech: “…he had been in Welland a long time and had grown up with the town and learned to like it. He had always taken a deep interest in the church and in matters pertaining to the welfare of the town. He was sorry to leave so many good friends but circumstances were such as made it advantageous for him to go to another city.”

George died on May 1, 1923 in Toronto, and he was buried in the Fonthill Cemetery. One legacy of George’s that can still be appreciated today by Wellanders is the Glasgow-Fortner House at 24 Burgar St. Burgar St. itself and Burgar Park are named after the influential family, of which George was a prominent member. The house at 24 Burgar St. was built around 1859 by George on property owned by his father Thomas. It stayed in the Burgar family until 1889 when it was bought by Nancy Glasgow, wife of Dr. Sinclair Glasgow (who would also become mayor of Welland). The house was eventually designated as a heritage property by the City of Welland in 1985.

Sources

“George Hamilton Burgar, Welland.” Welland Tribune and Thorold Mercury, May 26, 1876.
“Glasgow-Fortner House,” Canada’s Historic Places, https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=15313.
“Last Meeting of the Town Council for 1894.” Welland Telegraph, December 21, 1894.
“Presentation to Mr. and Mrs. George Burgar.” Welland Telegraph, August 29, 1913.
“Welland Had 8 Hotels When Early Aqueduct Was Built.” Evening Tribune, June 29, 1963.