The Waugh Family
An historical and photographic perspective

John Rogerson Waugh c 1885
John Rogerson Waugh c 1885
 
Agnes Rennie c 1882
Agnes Rennie c 1885
 

John Rogerson Waugh &

Agnes Rennie
Born: August 1, 1833 Born: April 24, 1836 (Glenda Waugh)
Place: Lairdholme, Tundergarth, Scotland  Place: Carluke, Lanarkshire
Married: February 13, 1857
Place: Carluke, Lanarkshire
Died: March 7, 1908   Died: Oct 18, 1915
Place: Morningside, Edinburgh   Place: Hillend Garden, Lesmahagow
Buried: Buried:

John Rogerson Waugh was the brother of William Waugh and uncle of John (the Joker) Waugh. He was probably named in honour of Dr. John Rogerson of Lochmaben who served as a Medical Doctor to Catherine the Great of Russia.

 

The Rennie Side of the Family

Agnes Rennie's parents were James Rennie (born c. 1795) and Mary Scott (born c 1797).

1841 Scotland Census - Carluke, Lanarkshire

James Rennie's occupation was listed as "Cotton Handloom Weaver".

Name: Agnes Rennie
Age: 10
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1831
Gender: Female
Where born: Scotland
Civil Parish: Carluke
County: Lanarkshire
Address: Carluke Crawford St
Parish Number: 629
Household Members:
Name Age
James Rennie 46
Mary Rennie 44
David Rennie 17
William Rennie 15
Lilias Rennie 13
Agnes Rennie 10
Isabella Rennie 5
Alison Rennie 3

Source Citation: Parish: Carluke; ED: 1; Page:  4; Line: 960; Roll: CSSCT1841_103-0430; Year: 1841. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1841 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: 1841 Scotland Census. Edinburgh, Scotland: General Register Office for Scotland. Reels 1-151. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland. Description: The 1841 Census for Scotland was taken on the night of 6 June 1841.

1851 Scotland Census - Carluke, Lanarkshire

Name: James Rennie
Age: 56
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1795
Relationship: Head
Spouse's Name: Mary
Gender: Male
Where born: Carluke, Lanark
Parish Number: 629
Civil Parish: Carluke
Town: Carluke
County: Lanarkshire
Address: Old Brigend
Occupation: Hand Loom Weaver (cotton)
ED: 1
Household schedule number: 86
Line: 14
Roll: CSSCT1851_150
Household Members:
Name Age
James Rennie 56
Mary Rennie 54
William Rennie 25
Lilias Rennie 23
Agness Rennie 20
James Rennie 9

Source Citation: Parish: Carluke; ED: 1; Page: 14; Line: 21; Roll: 1073; Year: 1851. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1851 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: Scotland. 1851 Scotland Census. Reels 1-217. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland. Description: The 1851 Census for Scotland was taken on the night of 30/31 March 1851. The following information was requested: place, name, relationship to head of family, marital status, age, gender, profession, birthplace, and whether blind, deaf, and dumb.

1851 Scotland Census - Hollows Mill, Canonbie
(uncertain)

Name: WAUGH , John
Address: Hollows Mill(814)
Parish: Canonbie
Relationship: household of John Graham
Marital Status: unmarried
Occupation: SERVANT farm
Age: 20
Born: born Middlebie Dms
Household No: 12/43

 

 

John Rogerson Waugh & Agnes Rennie

John Rogerson Waugh and Agnes Rennie were married on February 13, 1857, in the United Presbyterian Church in Carluke. They had five children: Mary Waugh (born January 13, 1858, in Cambusnethan), Isabella Waugh (born April 29, 1859, in Cambusnethan), Lillias "Lily" Rennie Waugh (born February 24, 1861, in Cambusnethan), Elizabeth "Lizzie" Waugh (born November 29, 1862, in Cambusnethan), and George Waugh (born April 25, 1865, in Cambusnethan).

Children Born Place Died Place
Mary Jan 13, 1858 Cambusnethan March 31, 1937 Crossford, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire
Isabella April 29, 1859 Cambusnethan Aug 23, 1944 Avondale and Glassford, Lanarkshire
Lillias Rennie Feb 24, 1861 Cambusnethan May 10, 1929 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Elizabeth Nov 29, 1862 Cambusnethan Dec 3, 1945 Edinburgh
George April 25, 1865 Cambusnethan 1909 Edinburgh

 

1861 ..........

1861 Scotland Census - Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire

Name: John Waugh
Age: 28
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1833
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Agnes
Gender: Male
Where born: Tennergarth, Dumfries
Registration Number: 628
Registration district: Cambusnethan
Civil Parish: Cambusnethan
County: Lanarkshire
Address: Darngavel Cottage
Occupation: Coal Miner
ED: 16
Household schedule number: 42
Line: 22
Roll: CSSCT1861_93
Household Members:
Name Age
John Waugh 28
Agnes Rennie 30
Mary Waugh 3
Lillias Waugh 1 Mo
Isabella Waugh 1

Source Citation: Parish: Cambusnethan; ED: 16; Page:  8; Line: 22; Roll: CSSCT1861_93; Year: 1861. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1861 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: Scotland. 1861 Scotland Census. Reels 1-150. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland. Description: The 1861 Census for Scotland was taken on the night of 7/8 April 1861. The following information was requested: place, name, relationship to head of family, marital status, age, gender, profession, birthplace, and whether blind, deaf, and dumb.

Just to the north of Darngavel is Blackhall Cottage where John's brother William Waugh married Alison Lindsay  on Nov 29, 1861.  William Waugh and Alison Lindsay had children born at Kirkhall, Auchterhead,  Summerside, and Daviesdyke (Kirkhall or Diura). John Rogerson Waugh's parents George Waugh and Isabella Barclay were also living in Allanton, Cambusnethan during the 1870s and until their deaths in 1877 and 1878.

RCAHMS Archaeology Notes for KirkhallDaviesdykes & Darngavel Cottage

Map showing location of Darngavel Cottage c 1861
Map showing location of Darngavel Cottage c 1861
More detailed maps showing Darngavel, Kirkhall, Auchterhead, Summerside, and Daviesdykes

 

1871 ..........

1871 Scotland Census - Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire

Name: John Waugh
Age: 38
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1833
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Agnes
Gender: Male
Where born: Finnergath, Wigtonshire
Registration Number: 628
Registration district: Cambusnethan
Civil Parish: Cambusnethan
County: Lanarkshire
Address: Damside
Occupation: Coal Miner
ED: 1
Household schedule number: 42
Line: 10
Roll: CSSCT1871_120
Household Members:
Name Age
John Waugh 38
Agnes Waugh 40
Mary Waugh 13
Isabella Waugh 11
Lillias Waugh 10
Elizabeth Waugh 8
George Waugh 5

Source Citation: Parish: Cambusnethan; ED: 1; Page:  7; Line: 10; Roll: CSSCT1871_120; Year: 1871. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1871 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Original data: Scotland. 1871 Scotland Census. Reels 1-191. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland. Description: The 1871 Census for Scotland was taken on the night of 2/3 April 1871. The following information was requested: place, name, relationship to head of family, marital status, age, gender, profession, birthplace, and whether blind, deaf, and dumb.

 

1876 ..........

Mary Waugh married Gavin Stewart Scott (ploughman) on Jan 3, 1876, at Orchard Colliery in Carluke.

Mary Waugh
Mary Waugh
From http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/13065203/person/-1233528

Gavin Stewart Scott c. 1906
Gavin Stewart Scott c. 1906
Mary Waugh and Gavin Scott had 12 children

 

Lillias Rennie Waugh, c 1880
Lillias Rennie Waugh, c 1880

 

1881 ..........

1881 Scotland Census - Carluke, Lanarkshire

Name: John Waugh
Age: 48
Estimated birth year: abt 1833
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Agnes
Gender: Male
Where born: Tundergath, Dumfreishire
Registration Number: 629
Registration district: Carluke
Civil parish: Carluke
County: Lanarkshire
Address: Orchard Colliery Row
Occupation: Colliery Oversman
ED: 5
Household schedule number: 154
Line: 3
Roll: cssct1881_208
Household Members:
Name Age
John Waugh 48
Agnes Waugh 50
Ellizabeth Waugh 18

Source Citation: Parish: Carluke; ED: 5; Page:  41; Line: 3; Roll  cssct1881_208; Year: 1881. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1881 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.   Original data: Scotland. 1881 Scotland Census. Reels 1-338. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland. Description: The 1881 Census for Scotland was taken on the night of 3/4 April 1881. The following information was requested: place, name, relationship to head of family, marital status, age, gender, profession, birthplace, and whether blind, deaf, and dumb.

Orchard Row, Overtown

This is a row of 36 two-apartment houses owned by Houldsworth of Coltness, and let at a rental of 2s. 3d. per week, exclusive of rates. There are no sculleries. Water is supplied by two stands in front of the row. Dust-bins are in use, and scavenging of a sort is done regularly. Dry-closets of a very unsatisfactory type are in use. There are small gardens in front of those houses. [Evidence presented to Royal Commission, 25th March 1914]
http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/143.html

 

1882 ..........

Lillias Rennie Waugh married Alexander Thom Cringam on Aug 18, 1882. Alexander Thom Cringan was born on Oct 13, 1860, in Carluke, Lanarkshire. His parent's were Robert Cringan (b. 1821) and Janet Thom (b. 1826). They were married on Oct 1, 1841, in Clarkson.

Alexander Cringan and Agnes Rennie had eleven children: Robert Ellis Cringan (Aug 10, 1883 - Aug, 1907); John Waugh Cringan (July 23, 1885 - April 18, 1949); Agnes Rennie Cringan (March 31, 1887 - Jan 25, 1968); Janet Thom Cringan (Feb 27, 1889 - May 10, 1972); Lillias Waugh Cringan (Dec 20, 1890 - July 13, 1967); Elizabeth Russell Cringan (Dec 20, 1893 - Oct, 1983); Isobel Margaret Cringan (Jan 31, 1895 - Jan 30, 1966); Annie Clark Cringan (Feb 3, 1897 - Dec 4, 1977); Helen MacDonald Cringan (June 11, 1899 - Feb 2, 1924); Marie Alexander Cringan (July 31, 1901 - Jan 11, 1992); and Catherine Gartshore Cringan (April 25, 1907 - March 13, 1960). - from Alex Cringan See more about Alexander Thom Cringan from Alex Cringan.

 

John Rogerson Waugh, Agnes Rennie with children
John Rogerson Waugh, Agnes Rennie with children
Orchard Colliery, Carluke, Lanarskshire c 1885
Courtesy of Alex Cringan

 

1886 ..........

Alexander Thom Cringan and Lillias Rennie Waugh emigrated to Canada in 1886.

 

1891 ..........

In the Edinburgh Post Office Directory for 1888 there is a listing for John Waugh, coal and lime agent; office, 12 Shandon Place.

1891 Scotland Census - St. George Burgh, Edinburgh

Name: John R Waugh
Age: 58
Estimated birth year: abt 1833
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Agnes
Gender: Male
Where born: Dumfriesshire
Registration Number: 685A/2
Registration district: St George Burgh
Civil parish: Edinburgh St Cuthberts
County: Midlothian
Address: 12 Shandon Place
Occupation: Coal Merchant and Lime Agent
ED: 107
Household schedule number: 38
Line: 14
Roll: CSSCT1891_338
Household Members:
Name Age
John R Waugh 58
Agnes Waugh 60
Isabella Waugh 28
George Waugh 26

Source Citation: Parish: Edinburgh St Cuthberts; ED: 107; Page:  7; Line: 14; Roll CSSCT1891_338; Year: 1891. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1891 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.   Original data: Scotland. 1891 Scotland Census. Reels 1-409. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland. Description: The 1891 Census for Scotland was taken on the night of 5/6 April 1891. The following information was requested: place, name, relationship to head of family, marital status, age, gender, profession, birthplace, and whether blind, deaf, and dumb.

 

1901 ..........

1901 Scotland Census - St. George Burgh, Edinburgh

Name: John Waugh
Age: 68
Estimated birth year: abt 1833
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Agnes
Gender: Male
Where born: Innvergarth, Dumfriesshire
Registration Number: 685/1
Registration district: St George
Civil parish: Edinburgh St Michael
County: Midlothian
Address: 26 Shandon Place
Occupation: Coal Merchant
ED: 137
Household schedule number: 58
Line: 13
Roll: CSSCT1901_369
Household Members:
Name Age
John Waugh 68
Agnes Waugh 70
George Waugh 35
Isabella Waugh 41

Source Citation: Parish: Edinburgh St Michael; ED: 137; Page:  9; Line: 13; Roll CSSCT1901_369; Year: 1901. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1901 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.   Original data: Scotland. 1901 Scotland Census. Reels 1-446. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland. Description: The 1901 Census for Scotland was taken on the night of 31 March/1 April 1901. The following information was requested: place, name, relationship to head of family, marital status, age, gender, profession, birthplace, and whether blind, deaf, and dumb.

Shandon Place (lower left), home of John Rogerson Waugh and Agnes Rennie during the 1901 Scotland Census
Shandon Place (lower left), home of John Rogerson Waugh and Agnes Rennie during the 1891 and 1901 Scotland Census

1901 Canada Census - Ward Three, Toronto Centre, Ontario
 
Name: Lillias W Cringan
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Married
Age: 40
Birth Day & Month: 24 Feb
Birth Year: 1861
Birthplace: Scotland
Relation to Head of House: Wife
Immigration Year: 1885
Racial or Tribal Origin: Scotch (Scotish)
Nationality: Canadian
Religion: Presbyterian
Province: Ontario
District: Toronto (Centre) (City/Cité)
District Number: 116
Sub-District: Toronto (Centre) (City/Cité) Ward/Quartier No 3
Sub-District Number: A-35
Household Members:
Name Age
Alex T Cringan 40
Lillias W Cringan 40
Robert Cringan 17
John Cringan 15
Agnes Cringan 14
Jennie Cringan 12
Lillias Cringan 10
Bessie Cringan 8
Isabel Cringan 5
Annie Cringan 3
Helen Cringan 1
Abigial Clarkoon 43

Source Citation: Year: 1901;Census Place: Toronto (Centre) (City/Cité) Ward/Quartier No 3, Toronto (Centre) (City/Cité), Ontario. Page 14, Family No: 133. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1901 Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1901. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2004. <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1901/index-e.html>. Series RG31-C-1. Statistics Canada Fonds. Microfilm reels: T-6428 to T-6556. Images are reproduced with the permission of Library and Archives Canada. Description: The fourth census of Canada covers seven provinces - British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontairo, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec; two territories - the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories; and one district - the District of Keewatin. In 1901 the Northwest Territories was comprised of these seven districts: Alberta, Assiniboia, Athabasca, Franklin, Mackenzie, Saskatchewan, and Ungava. The census provides many details about individuals and families including: name, gender, age, relationship to head of household, marital status, birthplace, religion, and occupation.

 

Advertisement for Toronto Conservatory of Music, circa 1900, including ATC's ad; from collection of Beth Campbell
Advertisement for Toronto Conservatory of Music, circa 1900, including ATC's ad; from collection of Beth Campbell

 

1904 ..........

In the Edinburgh Post Office Directory for 1904 there is a listing for a John R. Waugh & Son, coal agents, 26 Shandon Pl; Telephone 1410 Central.

Waugh, Jn. R. & Son, coal agents, 26 Shandon Pl.; Telephone, 1410 Central; Slateford Rd.; Telephone, 1410A Cantral
Waugh, Jn. R. & Son, coal agents, 26 Shandon Pl.;
Telephone, 1410 Central; Slateford Rd.; Telephone, 1410A Central

Motor Cars advertisement from the Edinburgh Post Office Directory for 1904 - 1905
Motor Cars advertisement from the Edinburgh Post Office Directory for 1904 - 1905

 

1908 ..........

John Rogerson Waugh died on March 7, 1908, at 84 Marchmont Crescent, Edinburgh.

 

1909 ..........

George Waugh, Coal Merchant, Single, died of "general paralysis" in 1909, at the age of 43. His sister, Elizabeth Robertson, 84 Marchmont Crescent, was the informant.

 

1911 ..........

1911 Scotland Census - Hallhill Farm, Kirkfield Bank, Lesmahagow


Gavin Stewart Scott (69), Mary Waugh Scott (53), Thomas Scott (29), Jean Scott (19), Mary Scott (15), Lillias Scott (11), Agnes Rennie (80)
See
original document

1911 Canada Census - 633 Church St., Ward Three, Toronto North, Ontario

Name: Lillias Cringan
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Married
Age: 50
Birth Date: Feb 1861
Birthplace: Scotland
Relation to Head of House: Wife
Spouse's Name: Alex T Cringan
Immigration Year: 1886
Tribal: Scotch (Scotish)
Province: Ontario
District: Toronto North
District Number: 126
Sub-District: Ward three
Sub-District Number: 84
Place of Habitation: 633 Church St
Household Members:
Name Age
Alex T Cringan 50
Lillias Cringan 50
John W Cringan 25
Agnes R Cringan 24
Janet C Cringan 22
Lillias W Cringan 20
Elizabeth R Cringan 18
Isabella M Cringan 16
Annie C Cringan 14
Helen M Cringan 12
Marie A Cringan 9
Catherine G Cringan 4
Abbie Clarkson 55

Source Citation: Year: 1911;Census Place: Ward three, Toronto North, Ontario. Page 5, Family No: 47. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.   Original data: Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2007. <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1911/index-e.html>. Series RG31-C-1. Statistics Canada Fonds. Microfilm reels T-20326 to T-20460.
Images are reproduced with the permission of Library and Archives Canada. Description:
This fifth census of Canada covers the nine provinces and two territories of Canada as of 1911: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, the Yukon Territory, and the Northwest Territories. The census provides many details about individuals and families including: name, gender, age, birthplace, year of immigration, nationality, and origin. The names of those listed in the census are linked to actual images of the 1911 Census.

  Abbie Clarkson is the housekeeper

 

1915 ..........

Agnes Rennie died on Oct 18, 1915, in Hillend Gardens, Lesmahagow.

 

1928 ..........

Alexander Thom Cringan and Lillias Waugh arrived into Glasgow from Montreal aboard the Canadian Pacific Steamship Minnedosa on Aug 16, 1928. Their proposed address in the UK was c/o Wm. Russell, Maplehurst, Carluke, Scotland.

 

 
1929 ..........
 
Lillias Rennie Waugh died on May 10, 1929, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
 
1937 ..........
 
Mary Waugh Scott died on March 31, 1937, in Hillend Gardens, Lasmahagow.
 
1944 ..........

Isabella Waugh died on Aug 23, 1944, at 70 Townhead St., Strathaven, Avondale and Glassford, Lanarkshire. The informant was J.W. Scott, Nephew, University College, Cardiff.

1945 ..........

Elizabeth Waugh Robertson, Widow of George Robertson, Marine Engineer, died on Dec 3, 1945, at 12 Melville Terrace, Edinburgh, at the age of 83.

Lillias Rennie Waugh & Alex Cringan

The following information and photos have been provided courtesy of Alex Cringan (grandson of Lillias Rennie Waugh):

Trimble, Dorothy Irene Robertson, 1990. THE HERITAGE OF THE PAST: Settlers: Alexander Thom Cringan and Lillias Rennie Waugh. Published privately, Toronto, ON., Canada

Lillias Rennie Waugh (1861-1929), the third of five children of John Waugh (1833-1908) and Agnes Rennie (1836-aft1908), was born in Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland, February 24, 1861. She married Alexander Thom Cringan (1860-1931) on August 18, 1882. They had 11 children, two sons born in Scotland, and nine daughters born in Canada. Lillias and Alex and their two sons emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1886.

Lillias Rennie Waugh Cringan and Alexander Thom Cringan camping
Lillias Rennie Waugh Cringan and Alexander Thom Cringan camping with their first three children in the summer of 1887; Robert, standing, John seated on the ground, and Rennie in arms; photo taken in either Niagara Falls or Balmy Beach; given to Alex Cringan by Dorothy Trimble.

Lillias Rennie Waugh Cringan has been described by members of her family as intelligent, accepting, compassionate and patient. Although very busy with her eleven children and home, she had many interests and a deep concern for others. Lillias was concerned about pre-school education. Her daughter, Marie Taylor, recalls when she was four years old going with her mother every Thursday to the home of Mrs. James L. Hughes where several ladies experimented with various teaching methods such as Montessori and Proeblian. Lillias was concerned about the rights of women. As was the custom, Lillias gave calling cards to friends which announced the days she would be "At home" to receive visitors. Over tea they discussed the issues of the day and the rights of women. She campaigned for Margaret Patterson who became the first Magistrate of Women's Court in Toronto. She belonged to a support group for the Yorkville Home for Unmarried Mothers and frequently employed their girls as domestics. She was a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Lillias did not want anyone thinking that she was anxious to marry off her nine daughters. When in their teens only two of the girls were allowed to attend the same party. When young gentleman called for the girls to take them to parties or concerts Lillias would seldom appear in case they should think that they were being looked over as prospective husbands. Some of Lillias wise sayings and practices have been carried down through the generations. "The back is made for the burden rather than the burden for the back" was a favourite saying. "One cuts and the other chooses" was a rule handed down to our children when food such as an apple or a piece of cake was to be shared. "Never let the sun go down on your wrath" was another guideline. "Better that their bones be broken than their spirit" was an adage by which the Cringan children were brought up and which Rennie perpetuated in bringing up Bill and Cringan.

Alexander Thom Cringan visited Canada in 1885-86 (on the Circassia, g in New York Oct. 19, 1885), then returned to Britain where he completed his Licentiate at Curwen's Tonic Sol-Fa College in London. In 1887 A.T. and Lillias Waugh with sons Robert Cringan and John Cringan came to Canada in a ship powered by both sails and engine. Near Newfoundland the rudder of the ship broke and the ship foundered for six weeks before they were rescued. Six weeks after they arrived in Toronto Agnes Rennie Cringan was born.

The Toronto Directory lists the addresses of Alexander Thom Cringan as follows:
1887 - 168 Robert Street,
1888 354 Huron Street,
1890-92 - 23 Avenue Road,
1893 - 34 Sussex Street,
1898 - 633 Church Street,
1920's - 1262 Broadview Avenue, East York.

Biographical Note from TORONTO ART AND MUSIC (1891):

The leader of the choir of the Central Presbyterian Church, Mr. Alexander T. Cringan, was born at Carluke, Lanarkshire, Scotland, October 13th, 1860. Receiving his early training at the local Grammar School, he got his musical education at the Tonic Sol Fa College, London, Eng., where he took the special subjects of harmony and voice training and the art of teaching music. Mr. Cringan is a graduate and licentiate of the Tonic Sol Fa College [2] , having the degree of G.L.T.S.C. In 1887 he was appointed Superintendent of Music for the Toronto Public Schools. He was conductor of the Tonic Sol Fa Society during 1886-7. Since 1887 he has been identified with the Scottish Select Choir and the Summer School of Music of the American Vocal Music Association. Mr. Cringan is the author of the Canadian Music Course and Teachers' Handbook. He conducted with marked ability the school children's concert in the Pavilion Music Hall, March 21st, 1890, and the Carnival Concert in the Crystal Palace in the same year. Since 1887 he has been choirmaster at the Central Presbyterian Church.

Alex Cringan
Alex Cringan
Univ. of Toronto Graduation, 1899

The Cringan Family c 1904
The Cringan Family c 1904

Lillias Rennie Waugh
Lillias Rennie Waugh

 

MUSIC WORLD BEREAVED IN DEATH OF A. T. CRINGAN
Veteran Teacher Was Known to Toronto for 45 Years
YOUTHFUL SPIRIT
By Augustus Bridle (From Toronto Daily Star) (1931)

Music to him was never old. Enthusiasm was never dim. Interest never flagged. He loved as much to sing at the age of 70 as he did at 25. The art of music as a language remained to him as tremendous as it had been when, in 1885, he came to Toronto as the first chief of music in the public schools.

Surviving are a brother, Robert, in Los Angeles, California; a son, John W., Toronto; eight married daughters, Mrs. William C. McIntyre, Ogdensburg, N. Y.; Mrs. James W. Gardner, Hamilton; Mrs. Rhoderick (sic) Macdonald, Windsor; Mrs. Ewen S. Campbell, Detroit, and Mrs. R. C. Trimble, Mrs. Lloyd Morrow, Mrs. Walter S. Taylor, and Mrs. Joseph Atkinson Jr., all of Toronto. Another daughter died eight years ago to-day.

The body will be In Rosedale Presbyterian church, Huntley and South Drive, for half an hour on Tuesday afternoon previous to the service which is to take place at three o'clock. A private service will be held at 1.15 o'clock in the home of Mrs. Trimble on Inglewood Drive.

Recall First Appearance

Thousands of fathers and mothers all over Canada recall the days when the young Scot from Edinburgh with the tenor voice, the fine Scottish accent and the glowing evangelism in a new cause stood before them in the classroom. His message to them was the alluring tone relations between the five whole tones and two semitones in the diatonic scale. With a wooden pointer he traced out on the modulator the outlines of a melody - sometimes two pointers at once, one for the "air," the other for the second part in harmony. He showed them by ear and eye the almost personal characteristics of these tones.

Because this was news, Cringan liked it. To hear children sing was always, to him, one more proof of heaven upon earth. To help them discover tone, pitch, melody, simple harmony, was in him a sensation of the divine element in man.

Years ago a speaker on art told how once upon a time he had tried to teach seven races of children unable to speak English in a western school the colors of tones in the scale by using seven colored cardboard notes to imitate the rainbow.

"I was glad to hear you make that point," said Cringan with a rare Scottish twinkle. "But it was not you that discovered it. Neither did I. But I read it years ago in a magazine."

Not much that was new in singing ever escaped this master of teaching children to sing, who had reared ten children of his own in a home whose constant atmosphere was the joy of music.

Had Perennial Optimism

It is almost perfunctory to say that A. T. Cringan was one of the few musicians left in Canada of the older nineteenth century school besides Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Blight, E. W. Schuch and Edgar Doward. But when musicians older than himself might recall the good old days of oratorio and Torrington and Adelina Patti, he could always take a grander joy in the musical joys of the present and the future. I have met many musicians; never one of finer perennial optimism than A. T. Cringan.

He was born and educated in Lanarkshire, married in Edinburgh, and took his earliest music training in the Tonic Sol-Fa college in London. He came to Canada in 1885; returned to Edinburgh in 1886 to finish a college course; became choirmaster first of Central Presbyterian church on the corner of what is now Bay St. and Grosvenor St. - torn down when Bay St. was extended and widened. In 1897 he became choirmaster of Cooke's church, four years after it was dedicated. He was one of the charter members of the Mendolssohn choir in 1894, when A. S. Vogt conducted part-songs and motets in Massey Hall with a chorus of less than 100.

For several years after his retirement from the directorship of music in public schools he had a vocal studio at the Toronto Conservatory, while he continued to teach music to classes in the Toronto normal and model schools.

In his later years he became inspector of music for Provincial normal and model schools and remained in that capacity until his death.

Cringan was not merely a musical educator; he was a lifelong apostle. He did for School music in Toronto very much what Torrington did for church music and oratorio. He was a pioneer. Before he came here, music in schools was a Cinderella of the curriculum. It was his job to liberate it by scholarly enthusiasm.

Won Recognition

He was one of the few musicians of the last decade of the 19th century to gain the degree of Mus. Bac. in the University of Toronto.

He was not content to be an evangel of the Tonic Sol-Fa; he would demonstrate that a man who believed in this rather revolutionary system for schools was as competent to pass technical and academic tests as any of those who believed there

was nothing good in music outside the treble and bass clef. As one result of this he became one of the first presidents of the Toronto Clef Club at a time when perhaps no other member of the club had any use for Tonic Sol-Fa at all.

He believed mind and soul in a system which had its origin in England and by which, to this day, even in Toronto, many Britishers sing; the system which got its fundamentals, not in arbitrary lines and space and ABC as on the keyboard, but in the scale itself, that could be shifted up and down on the lines and spaces a,s a man climbs a ladder.

In the '60's and '70's this Tonic Solfa notation based in its scale upon an old Italian do-re-mi or solfeggi system, became all the rage in English schools. Children learned to sing at sight by means of it, much more easily than by the use of notes on lines with dots and tails and what not.

It was Cringan's self-imposed and at first unpopular task to teach this system. He believed in it because he had learned by it. He succeeded in teaching children to become interested, not in a mechanical art of reading by the mere sense of pitch from the staff but to be conscious of the tones in the scale itself; the family of five tones and two semitones each related to the other by a sort of mystic bond.

For years all the choruses that Cringan trained for school concerts sang from Curwen's Tonic Sol-Fa sheets. Later he adopted a modified system, using the Tonic Sol-fa for a scale only and teaching classes to sing to the staff notation by means of the movable Doh. But he never gave up his early belief that scale is the great thing, that the ear is mare fundamental in music than the eye. The system taught in junior classes to-day, not only in Toronto but all over Ontario is essentially what Cringan taught when he came here in 1886.

Trained Chorus for Royal Visit

When Massey Hall was opened in 1894 one of the programs was taken by a chorus of 700 children trained and conducted by Cringan. When the present King and Queen visited Toronto in 1902 he was asked as a compliment to conduct the great chorus of 6,000 children who sang in honor of the visit. He was then teaching music in model and normal schools and had passed his Mus. Bac. Tor.

Nearly twenty years ago I was shown a copy of the Ontario archaeological report of which one of the most interesting chapters was a record of how A. T. Cringan in 1897 had anticipated all the present-day Indian folksong collectors in Canada in transcribing by ear a number of Indian melodies, a thing never before done in Canada.

Patiently he listened to an Indian chief from the Munceytown reservation sing the old Five Nations melodies; and he set them down. In this baffling melodic feat he found the enormous value of the ear training he had received in the Tonic Sol-Fa. It made no difference exactly on what pitch the chief had his Doh, the melody was taken down as parts of the scale. making with students at the summer school which he regularly conducted at the University Training school here. These students were all teachers of music. To him they were all youths like himself, gloriously venturing upon fresh musical discoveries in an age when most of the marvels of music are in mechanism.

He made an entire phonograph collection of Indian melodies which he transcribed in the report [4]; and for years later his reports covering a total of 100 Iroquois melodies, formed a valuable item in the annual book issued by David Boyle the Ontario archaeologist.

Mr. Cringan delivered a series of lectures on this subject in Canada and Great Britain, and he also wrote a series of practical works on the teaching of music. He was always ready to prove a point. He loved discussion rather than argument. He was always learning from experience and from the successes of other people.

Aided Mendelssohn Choir

To the Mendelssohn Choir he devoted several years of his leisure hours. He seldom missed a rehearsal. In the great works of the choir he found direct inspiration and was one of the most emphatic in declaring that here was a new gospel of choral music. After lessons at the Conservatory he used often to walk up with Vogt through Queen's Park, discussing the works of the choir.

"I think Brahms must have been a tenor singer," he said once, discussing the Brahms Requiem. "He makes the tenor parts of his works so beautiful."

Music to him was life. For it he never felt that he was sacrificing anything. With his courage, zeal, mental ability and tireless industry he might have been much more materially successful in a business. But he was born to teach, to sing, to be an evangel. In days when the material rewards of music were low he brought up a family to all of whom he gave a good education, and, what was more precious, the example of a character who always saw more good than evil in others, was always ready to devote himself to a cause, remained a consistent member of the church and was always ready to help some one less experienced than himself.

In music he did a pioneer work in Canada second only to that of Torrington and Vogt. When Torrington was king of music here, Mr. Cringan was one of his ablest helpers. He taught many a school choir patriotic pieces for Torrington to conduct. When Vogt took the more modern leadership, he became a still greater enthusiast for the new works.

The death of his elder son, one of Canada's most promising violinists, was a severe blow to one who loved both music and family so deeply. The death of Mrs. Cringan last year removed one who had been much more than a good mother. The Cringan home was always a place of gladness in which music had a wonderful part. In that home, or in the school, in the choir loft, in the chorus, in the studio, Alexander T. Cringan was always a man of extraordinary warmth of personality, whom it was a pleasure to meet because he was not only a great enthusiast, a merry soul and a real gentleman, but also had the genuine qualities of a vastly original character. The foregoing is from Trimble's article on ATC in Trimble (1990).

ALEXANDER THOM CRINGAN

A kindly gentleman has left us, and though our hearts are sore because he has gone, yet was there no sorrow in his leaving, for he was glad to be away to be with one whom he missed sorely. He loved his music, he loved his garden with its flowers, his pipe and his game of curling, but best of all he loved the gentle little woman whom he called Mother - she who had stood by his side through all the years, the mother of his children and in very surety his partner.

He was too good a soldier to show his grief over being left behind when she went on, but his heart is happy now, because he is with her. His son and his daughters have the happy memory of a good father and a Christian gentleman, and we in Rotary the knowledge that Rotary is poorer because he has gone, but richer because of the imprint his life left on the history of our Club. Alex. Cringan carried in his life all those attributes of a good Rotarian and the example he left us will be ever an inspiration to his fellow-members that they should pattern their lives likewise.

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