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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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LOCH, WILLIAM (1796-1855)

LOCH, WILLIAM, businessman, county treasurer, and churchman; b. Edinburgh, Scotland, c1796; d. Newcastle, 27 Mar 1855.

William Loch arrived in Halifax in 1816 and came to the Miramichi the next year. In 1824 he became a partner of Archibald Duncan in the general merchandising firm of Duncan & Loch. After Duncan died in 1832, at age thirty-seven, he continued in business on his own, using the name of the former partnership. Before long he had become quite wealthy, in part no doubt because of the huge quantities of Edinburgh Ale and London Porter which he sold at his store.

Loch was appointed a lieutenant in the militia in 1823. He was promoted to captain in 1825 and still held this rank in the 2nd Battalion in 1850. He was one of Newcastle's early firemen. In the late 1820s and early 30s he was in charge of the town's fire engine and showed "great promptitude and zeal" in getting it out to fight fires as far away as Nelson and Chatham. In 1846 he was named one of five Newcastle firewards.

In 1839 Loch succeeded Joseph Home as county treasurer, and he held this part-time appointment for the rest of his life. In 1844 he was foreman of a 'grand inquest' which inquired into the conduct of magistrates and county officials. In 1850 he and Alexander Rankin constituted a committee of management of the branch of the Commercial Bank of New Brunswick at Newcastle, of which Thomas C. Allan was agent and cashier. In 1851 he was a director of the Northumberland Agricultural Society.

Loch was one of the original members of the committee set up in 1825 to build St James Presbyterian Church, and he was a trustee for nearly thirty years. He gave liberally to the church during his lifetime, and after his death, at age fifty-eight, the board received "a magnificent bequest of money and lands which made St James Church one of the best, perhaps the best, endowed church in the Province."

When the census of 1851 was taken the residents of Loch's home included an elderly aunt surnamed Schlanders, two clerks, and two servants.

Sources

[d] Gleaner 31 Mar 1855 / Facey-Crowther; Gleaner 10 Nov 1829, 25 Jan 1831, 22 May 1838 (ad), 12 May 1840 (re. county accounts), 18 Jul 1842 (ad), 28 Sep 1844, 29 Dec 1846, 3 Feb 1851; Hoddinott; NB Almanac & Reg.; NB Courier 26 May 1832


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