Person Record

Metadata

Name

Ainslie, Isabella

Othernames

neé Miller

Born

1828

Birthplace

Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland

Places of residence

New Jersey. The John Miller family later moved to Galt, Upper Canada.
In 1858, Isabella and family moved to Leith, Sydenham Twp., Grey County. In 1888, Isabella and her husband moved to 894 5th Ave. East and resided with the Rixons.

Titles & honors

Ainslie Woods is named after the family

Father

John Miller

Nationality

Scottish-born

Notes

There is an oil painting in the Grey Roots Museum collection that shows Mrs. Adam Ainslie (neé Isabella Miller). She was born in Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland, but emigrated as a girl with her parents to New Jersey. The John Miller family later moved to Galt, Upper Canada.

It was there that Isabella married Adam Ainslie in 1846 (another source says Jan. 1847). They had three children. The Ainslies (with their three children), moved from Galt in 1858, and settled in Leith, Sydenham Township, Grey County. Adam Ainslie owned and operated a distillery, ran a grist mill and ha a dock and farm. His business was called "The Leith Mills".

The eldest child, Helen Ainslie, married Henry Rixon.

Mr. Henry Rixon (=Joseph Henry Rixon), according to the 1901 Census of Owen Sound, emigrated from England in 1860. He was involved with a 19th-c distillery at Leith, Sydenham Township, Grey County, before he moved his family to Owen Sound and had the Rixon, Ainslie & Stoddart lumber enterprise. Mr. Rixon was a son-in-law of Adam Ainslie who had the Leith Mill and distillery.

According to an 1894 source, "Maitland & Rixon", described as a "Forwarders and Saw Millers' " business, was established in 1883. Circa 1904, Maitland, Rixon & Co. was a wholesale and retail lumber business and sawmilling operation in Owen Sound.

Miss Laura and Miss Eleanor Rixon (d. 1973) had continued to live in the Rixon residence at 894 5th Ave. East. This building is pictured in Ruth Cathcart's book, HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION, p. 162. Henry Rixon came to Leith in 1864 and lived there until 1888, when he moved his family to Owen Sound. For several years he sailed on the Great Lakes, as purser on the S.S. SILVER SPRAY, S.S. CAMPANA and other steamers connected to Owen Sound. He formed a partnership with James Maitland, and they had a wharf and warehouse. His sawmill became "The Rixon, Ainslie, Stoddart Company".

Isabella and Adam Ainslie had moved to town along with the Rixons, and resided with them in the same house. Helen Rixon died in 1913. Her mother likely kept house for Henry Rixon and her grandchildren.

The Rixon burial plot is at Leith Cemetery, in the former Sydenham Twp., and includes the following:
William Augustus Rixon (b. 1869-d. 1892)
Henry Rixon (father) 1838-1920
Helen Rixon (mother) 1847-1913
Ada A. Rixon 1874-1894
Ella A. Rixon 1871-1918
Alex A. Ainslie 1850-1887
Adam Ainslie 1807-1897
Isabella Ainslie 1828-1918
John Ainslie 1858-1923
Laura Rixon 1876-1963
Eleanor Rixon Dec. 27, 1973
William M. Burr 1861-1931
Frank Broderick 1856-1915
J. Jane Broderick 1867-1933
F. Rixon Broderick 1895-1958

The death record of Mrs. Isabella Ainslie shows that she passed away at Owen Sound, Ontario on September 16, 1918. Her death record reads that she was born in 1828 and that her father was a "Robert Miller" (likely should be John Miller). She passed away at her son-in-law's house at 5th Ave. East.

In the book, REMINISCENCES OF NORTH SYDENHAM (1924), by Allan H. Ross, there is some history provided about the Adam Ainslie family (pp. 88-109). This book reads that Isabella Miller (daughter of John Miller) was born at an Estate at Hawick, in Roxburghshire, Scotland. The Millers first emigrated to New Jersey, but later on moved to Galt. Ross says "Mrs. Ainslie, about the time of her marriage, is said to have borne a remarkable resemblance to Queen Victoria. The union was a happy one and three children were born to it". Their children were Helen Ainslie (b. 1847), Alex A. Ainslie (b. 1850), and John G. Ainslie (b 1858).