William Bent Berczy (January 6, 1791 – December 9, 1873) was a farmer, painter and political figure in

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 ...

Life

Early years

He was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1791, the son of German immigrants

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 ...

and Jeanne-Charlotte Allamand, and came to old York County in

with his family in 1794. He grew up in York (now

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 ...

) (1794-1798, 1802-1804),

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

(1798-1802, 1804-1812) and

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

(1804-1812) - wherever his father's development work required the family to relocate.

War of 1812 and farming

He served in the Corps of Canadian Chasseurs during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

and was at the

Battle of Crysler's Farm The Battle of Crysler's Farm, also known as the Battle of Crysler's Field, was fought on 11 November 1813, during the War of 1812 (the name ''Chrysler's Farm'' is sometimes used for the engagement, but ''Crysler'' is the proper spelling). A Briti ...

. From 1818 to 1832, he lived on and off on a property near Sandwich (now

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

), where he grew

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

Politics

From 1828 to 1834, he represented

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lis ...

from the 9th to 11th Parliament. Despite representing Kent, Berczy was residing mostly at York during legislative sitting or in Sainte-Mélanie in then

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

after 1832.

Move to Lower Canada and later years

In 1832, he settled on the property at Sainte-Mélanie-d'Ailleboust of his wife,

Louise-Amélie Panet Louise-Amélie Panet (January 27, 1789 – March 24, 1862) was a French Canadian artist, educator and writer living in Lower Canada. Life The daughter of judge Pierre-Louis Panet and Marie-Anne Cerré, she was born in Quebec City and was educated ...

(married 1819), who had inherited it from her father,

seigneur ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (or ...

Pierre-Louis Panet Pierre-Louis Panet (August 1, 1761 – December 2, 1812) was a Canadian lawyer, notary, seigneur, judge and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born in Montreal in 1761, the son of Pierre Panet, a lawyer. Panet qualified to practice ...

. Berczy was lieutenant-colonel in the

with the 8th Military District, Canadian Militia unit based in

Berthier, Quebec Berthierville ()(also called Berthier-en-haut, and legally called Berthier before 1942) is a town located between Montreal and Trois-Rivières on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Berthierville is the seat of D'Autray ...

from 1845 to 1863, reaching the rank of colonel. He died in Sainte-Mélanie-d'Ailleboust,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in 1873, predeceased by his wife in 1863 and brother Charles Albert Berczy in 1858. Berczy and Panet died without having any children. He is buried at St-John's Anglican Cemetery in

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

Huron Indians Leaving their Residence near Amherstburg, Upper Canada, on a Hunting Excursion

Paintings

Like his father he was a painter. Two paintings by Berczy hang in the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

, ''Huron Indians leaving residence near Amherstburg''
"Huron Indians leaving their Residence near Amherstburg", painting by William Bent Berczy, appearing on lower half of page 60, Aboriginal Ontario: Historical Perspectives on the First Nations edited by Edward S. Rogers, Donald B. Smith, publ. 1994. and ''Blessing of the Fields''.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berczy, William B 1791 births 1873 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Canadian people of German descent Artists from London People from Markham, Ontario