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Davison's of Newmarket, Ontario
Romantic Origins of the Davison Name
This information comes courtesy of Steve Davison:
The romantic origin of Sir William Davison's Title
The Baron Broughshane (pronounced Broshane) of Kensington.
Sir William Davison's family are of Scottish origin coming originally to the North of Ireland from Dundee & spelling their name Davidson in the Scottish fashion with the second "D".
They settled on Co. Tyrone where they were not wewlcome by the O'Neils who were the local magnets & Davidson it is said was challenged to a duel by the O'Neil of the day. His family were very concerned at the possibility of his being killed in the duel & of their being left to fend for themselves in a strange land so it was arranged that the O'Neil & The Davidson should put up their names on a tree & should have 3 shots with a cross bow to decide whether the Davidson's should stay where they were or move elsewhere in Ireland. The O'Neil with his second shot pierced the Davidson scroll, shooting the second "D" out of Davidson. As of the results in accordance with the pre-arranged pact the Davidson's left Tyrone & went & settled in Co. Antrim near Broughshane, but in future spelt their name DAvison without the second "D". There they lived for many generations. The family burying ground in Broughshane is immediatley adjoining that of the late field Marshall Sir George White the hero of Ladysmith who also came from Broughshane.
Sir William Davison's GGuncle was Mr. Richard who represented Belfast the a 2 member constituency in the Imperial PArliment with Mr. Hugh Cairn's who later became Lord Cairns, from 1852 to 1960.
The Davison's of Knockboy, broughshane, Co. Antrim
"The following is a brief history of the Davison's. This information was from an article in the Linen Trade Journal by Henry Lawler, Esq., November 1941"
This family ranks with the Browns, Kers & Dickeys among the earliest pioneers of the Linen Trade in Co. Antrim.
FAmily papers record that the first of the family in Ireland was John Davison who came from near Dundee & settled first in Co. Tyrone moving shortly afterward to Knockboy near Broughshane, which continued as the main family seat for quite 250 yrs. By 1669 there were three Davison houses in the neighbourhood of Broughshane occupied respectively by James, John & John Jr.. Shortly after this date some of the family built Carnstrone House at the foot of Blemis Mountain, the picturesque ruin of which still remains. After the invention of the power loom to the bleaching process, Davison harnessed the river flowing through Knockboy & erected a bleach-green; Samuel Davison was the owner in 1780, & about this date his brother John Acquired the Drumnasole property near Carnlough; his daughter Grace married Alexander Brown of Glencairn in 1783 & was the mother of Sir Alexander Brown, 1st Baronet, of Liverpool. In 1810 his son Alexander adapted the availabe water power to drive the flax dry-spinning Mill, the bleaching business of Knockboy being transfered to Raceview, where michael Harrison had erected a bleachworks in 1806, on a lease of ground necessay for the works, mill race & water rights fron the O'Neill estate.
HArrison converted the bleach works into a wet spinning mill about the year1832, but desiring to retire from active business let the mills to his nephews Alexander & John Davison who traded ther as A.& J. Davison. They has two other brothers, Richard & henry, the former of whom, Richard, migrated to Belfast residing at the Abbey, Whiteabbey. He was a promenent politician & was member of Parliment for the city of his adoption with Sir Hugh McCamont Cairns ( who subsequently became Earl Crains) fro 1852 to 1860. Alexander Davison continued to live at Knockboy & John at Raceview. Of the four brothers only one, Alexander of Knockboy, had a son, the late Richar Davison of Beechfield, Ballymena, who married Annie Patrick, the daughter of John Patrick of Dunminning. The Present representative of the family is his son, Sir William H. Davison. K.B.E.,D.L.,M.P.,M.A., (Oxen) who has represented Kensington in the Imperial Parliment since 1918.
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John Davison
John Davison was born in Tyrone, Ireland; died Toronto, Sept. 2, 1878, aged
71 years, 3 months, 26 days; died of general debility; parents' names
George and Elizabeth Davison.
John Davison built the Central Hotel on Main Street. The following is a
quotation from The History of the Town of Newmarket by Ethel Willson
Trewhella (c. 1957):
"Further south on the east side of Main Street stood the Central Hotel
erected by John Davison and originally used as a shoe and grocery store with
living rooms above. Mr. Davison was prominent in his day and was a member
of the first council in place of Erastus Jackson who was ill. A well-kept
hostelry, at one time it was owned by ___ Mitchell, again by Samuel Johnson.
A mansard roof was added to provide a third story and the name was then
changed to Central Hotel.
"The front room was used as a shoe shop, in turn a barber shop; in this room
was located in August, 1853, the first Telegraph Office; it remained here
but a few months when it was moved to the north front room of the Royal
Hotel, the residence of Dr. Orrin Ford, whose daughter was the operator.
While in the Davison building, John Davison was the operator. During the
big fire of 1862, all buildings from this hotel to halfway between Timothy
and Water Streets, were destroyed.
"Mr. Charles Macauley, in September, 1916, purchased this hotel and razed it
to make way for the three brickstores, -- Perrin's Flower Shop, Insley's
Men's Furnishings and Hooker's Dry Goods store." (pg. 122)
"Erastus Jackson, John Davison and William Wallis were appointed to take a
census of the population (1853), and by counting the heads of citizens, some
of whom were not very old, the boarders at the hotels and a large number of
railroad workers, the names of considerably more than 700 inhabitants graced
the enumeration paper." (pg. 160)
"Erastus Jackson was ill and prospects of returning soon were slight, so he
resigned and John Davison, a boot and shoe merchant occupying the building
which became the Central Hotel, was elected." (pg. 163) (This appears to
have been 1858.)
"On December 6, 1862, a fearful fire broke out at half-past three in the
morning in a wooden tenement occupied by Mr. Dieterle, a watch-maker, and
because the fire engine did not function satisfactorily at the beginning,
the flames spread until all buildings between, and partly inclusive of the
Central Hotel, on the east side of Main Street, to opposite the Railroad
Hotel, were consumed....Losses were very heavy:...John Davison,
,000.00...." (pg. 181)
"Mr. Davison rebuilt the sheds and driving house connected with his hotel."
(pg. 183)
"This, the first election, after the incorporation as a village for the
first 'new Board of School Trustees for the Common School in the village of
Newmarket,' then proceeded....Those elected were Samuel Roadhouse, Elwood
Hughes, E. D. Rogers, Robert Morrison, J. B. Caldwell and John Davison."
(pg. 190)
The Central Hotel stood at the present location of the I.D.A. drugstore.
And some about Elizabeth C Davison:
Elizabeth C. Claffy was the daughter of John and Ann Davison. She drowned
in Sandy, New York, on September 2, 1864 at the age of 23, and was buried in
Newmarket Cemetery. Mary Claffy would have been John Davison's
granddaughter. It is interesting that in (our) Newmarket Cemetery book, the
name Claffy has been altered in pencil to Cloffy.
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Robert John Davison
"R.J. Davison, general merchant, was born at Holland Landing in 1842, and first commenced business in Newmarket in 1870 as partner in the firm of Harrison, Sheppard & Co. Mr. Sheppard retiring in 1875, the style of the firm became Harrison & Davison. This latter partnership closed in 1880, and Mr. Davison then established his present extensive business, which amounts now to about ,000 per year. He deals largely in dry-goods, cloths, tweeds, ready-made clothing, hats, caps, ladies and gentlemen's furs, boots and shoes, etc., also in general groceries. He was married to Miss Mary Wright, of East Gweillimbury, in 1874; their family consists of two sons and one daughter. Mr. Davison is of Irish descent, his father, George Davison, having been born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and emigrated to this country in 1832. His maternal grandfather was a U.E. Loyalist and emigrated from Pennsylvania to the Niagara District at the close of the last century, and located in York County in 1804." p. 472, Vol. II, A History of Toronto and County of York, pub. 1885.
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