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Robert Y. Fish 

Born: 1835
Died: 1928, April 12
Municipality; Wellesley; 6th Division
Years on local council Wellesley: Councillor 1872-76; 2nd Deputy Reeve 1877-1881; Waterloo; Mayor in 1894
Years on County Council 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1899 1900
Occupation; Pump-maker, storeowner and sawmill owner
Spouse: Mary Jane Reynolds; ?Sarah Amelia
Children; Frank Wiman; Bert; Robert
Politics: Liberal
Religion; Methodist
Notes:
  • Pump-maker in Linwood. "Samuel Bundy, a grain-cradle maker, in partnership with Mr Fish who started up the general store disposing of the pump-making business to Louis Miller" (Maple Leaf Journal p 58)
  • 1868-1887-Linwood postmaster (WHS1968 56:67) Before 1885, the Linwood post office was in the store of R.Y. Fish, with Miss Fish being the postmistress (WHS1963 51:88)
  • c1871 - opened a general store in Linwood (Canadian Trade Review)
  • 1887-Wellesley Tp Board of Health ordered the sawmill, owned by R.Y. Fish, to stop obstructing the flow of creek water to the premises of David Pollock and James Bugg. Mr Fish refused to comply on legal grounds (WHS1985 53:112)
  • Rented the store to Mr Kern and W. Bundy and left for New York.
  • Moved to Waterloo where he was mayor in 1894, but later returned to Linwood where in 1902 he was operating the Linwood Comer Store that included a millinery and dressmaking shop (Linwood Tweedsmuir)
  • c1901- "engaged in lumbering enterprise with sawmills at Elmsdale, Perry Township, Parry Sound...it is principally hardwood for the manufacture of furniture...such as birch, elm, basswood, pine and hemlock...exported largely to the United States" (Canadian Trade Review)
  • "He was an accomplished speaker and frequently delivered addresses in behalf of the party which he supported" (obituary)
Businesses and Organizations:
  • Linwood General Store
  • Linwood Wesleyan Methodist Church
Sources: WHS1963 51:88, WHS1968 56:67, WHS1985 73:112; Linwood Tweedsmuir; Canadian Trade Review; obituary Waterloo Chronicle 19/4/1928 p1
Photo: Confederation number pp47, 100 years p47; Waterloo Chronicle 19/4/1928 p1

This information is excerpted from: "Waterloo County Councillors: A Collective Biography," researched and complied by Elizabeth Bloomfield and Linda Foster. (c) 1995 Caribou Imprints. It is reproduced by permission of Dr. Bloomfield.    ​The full text of the book can be seen here. ​