William Dunlop was born in Greenock in November 1792, he served as an army surgeon in the Anglo American war of 1812 – 1815 where he was known for his tireless professionalism. He served with the 89th Regiment of Foot and arrived in Upper Canada in 1813 and was involved in the Battle of Crysler’s Farm and Lundy’s Lane,the latter being one of the bloodiest battles of the war. A few years after the end of the war he left Canada to go to India where he was given the nickname Tiger for trying to clear tigers from Sagar Island.
In 1825 he was appointed by John Galt as the Warden of the Woods and Forests. He arrived back in Upper Canada in 1826 and acted as second in command to Galt in the Canada Company. He set up home north of Goderich after assisting Galt in the founding of Guelph. In common with Galt he published books and articles. One of his books was “Tiger Dunlop’s Upper Canada” telling of his war time experiences and his work in the development of Canada.
Tiger was A remarkable man with fiery red hair and a gargantuan appetite for whisky and tall tales. He had a fund of stories to tell and there are a fund of stories about him. He once gave three reasons for not going to church: first, a man was sure to find his wife there; second, he could not bear to be at a meeting where one man dominated the conversation; and, third, he never liked singing without drinking. He loved his liquor, which he kept in a cabinet on wheels called The Twelve Apostles. One bottle contained water and was called Judas. Even his will reflects his larger than life character. (See it in full at www.duhaime.org putting Tiger’s name in the search section))
William “Tiger” Dunlop
His brother Robert, a retired naval captain, joined him in 1833.
In 1837 during the rebellion, William raised a military unit which was nicknamed The Bloody Useless. He removed supplies from the stores of the Canada Company forcing Thomas Jones, Galt’s successor, to demand he gave up his military activities. William resigned from the company in 1838.
William became Huron’s MP IN 1841, succeeding his brother Robert, he resigned in 1846 and died in 1848.
The inscription reads:
. . . And to the Memory of
DR. WILLIAM DUNLOP
A man of surpassing talent
knowledge and benevolence.
Born in Scotland in 1792,
he served in the army in Canada and
in India and thereafter distinguished
himself as an Author and Man of
Letters. He settled in Canada
permanently in 1826 and for more
than 20 years was actively engaged
in public and philanthropic affairs,
succeeding his brother Capt Dunlop
as Member of the Provincial
Parliament and taking successful interest in the affairs of Canada, and
died lamented by many friends.
* 1848 *
There is a great deal of information on the internet including www.huroncounty.ca/museum/gairbraid.php