Charles Albert Berczy (August 22, 1794 – June 8, 1858) was the son of pioneer

William Berczy William von Moll Berczy (December 10, 1744 – February 5, 1813) was a German-born Upper Canada pioneer and painter. He is considered one of the co-founders of the Town of York, Upper Canada, now Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Biography Berczy was ...

, later as businessman and civic official in Toronto.

Early years

Charles Albert was born in

Newark, Upper Canada Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the Niagara Region of ...

in 1794 to William and his wife Jeanne-Charlotte Allamand. Charles moved with his family to Montreal after a brief stay in

York, Upper Canada York was a town and second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the Old Toronto, old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location for th ...

in 1794. In Montreal, Charles worked at the British Commissary General as a clerk and later as acting Deputy Assistant Commissary General (1814–1816). In 1818, he moved back to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

and began a business selling tobacco with his brother

William Bent Berczy William Bent Berczy (January 6, 1791 – December 9, 1873) was a farmer, painter and political figure in Upper Canada. Life Early years He was born in London, England in 1791, the son of German immigrants William Berczy and Jeanne-Char ...

Amherstburg Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town is ...

Later years

His public life began with his appointment as

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the Essex area in 1826. He moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

following his appointment as Post Office Surveyor and Inspector of Toronto (1835–1838), and later as the city's Post Master (1838–1853). Both appointments were the result of his close ties with Sir

Francis Bond Head Sir Francis Bond Head, 1st Baronet KCH PC (1 January 1793 – 20 July 1875), known as "Galloping Head", was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the rebellion of 1837. Biography Head was an officer in the corps of Royal Engineers of ...

, the

Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confed ...

. In Toronto, Charles further joined the ranks of the city's business elites. During his time in Toronto, he held such positions as: * Director of the

Bank of Upper Canada The Bank of Upper Canada was established in 1821 under a charter granted by the legislature of Upper Canada in 1819 to a group of Kingston merchants. The charter was appropriated by the more influential Executive Councillors to the Lt. Governor, t ...

(1840–1843) * President of the Toronto Building Society (est. 1846) * Co-Founder and Shareholder of Toronto, Simcoe & Lake Huron Union Railroad (later as

Northern Railway of Canada The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a ...

) * Director and President of the Consumer' Gas Light and Water Company (1848–1856)

Personal life

During his stay in Amherstburg, Berczy courted Ann Eliza Finch and married her on June 21, 1828. They had one son and seven daughters. Towards the end however, Charles Albert Berczy's life began to unravel and as a result, he decided to end his own life in 1858 in

(and based on records buried at St. James Cemetery Berczy was survived by his daughter Charlotte De Moll Berczy (1830-1909), who married James Knight Goold and died in

Brantford, Ontario Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully independ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berczy, Charles Albert People from Niagara-on-the-Lake 1794 births 1858 deaths Canadian people of German descent Burials at St. James Cemetery, Toronto

Early years

Later years

Personal life

See also

References