By James McTavish

Captain George Lyon of Richmond was born in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1790, the eldest child of George Lyon, long time Baillie (Mayor) of that town and his wife, Elspet Philip.  There were a total of ten children in the family. Four members of the family subsequently came to Canada and the Richmond area.

1. George Lyon: (1790 – 1851) married Catherine Radenhurst in Sorel, Lower Canada in 1813.

2. John Lyon:  (1794 – 1816)

3. Elizabeth Lyon:  (1798 – 1866) married William Hosey in 1824

4. Mary Lyon: (1899 – 1877)

5. William Lyon:  (1802 – 1813)

6. Margaret Lyon: (1805 – 1838) came to Canada in 1829 accompanied by her youngest brother, Robert.  She married Reverend Robert Short, the local Richmond Church of England clergyman in 1833.  She died in Bytown in 1838.

7. Catherine Lyon: (1806 – 1836) married James Clark in 1825 and lived in Daviot, Aberdeenshire until her death.  One of her children, William Robinson Clark (1829 – 1912) became a renowned clergyman in Great Britain.  In 1882, he emigrated to Canada and served as Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy at the University of Toronto from 1883 until 1908.  He died in Toronto in 1912.  Catherine’s descendant, Paul Clark of Essex in England completed the website Lyon/Hogg providing detail on that family and including much of the James McTavish research.

8. Janet Lyon: (1808 – ? ) married John Park in 1832.

9. Robinson Lyon: (1810 –1885) married Mary Ann Banks in 1830.  They emigrated to Canada and Richmond in about 1836.  Here, he ran a hotel or inn.  The first year was tragic with the death of his son, Robert, at 5 years of age followed by the death of their eldest son, George Balfour Lyon, who was accidentally shot in a hunting accident.  His son, Robinson Jr. was born in Richmond in 1838 followed by the birth of another son, William, in 1841.  His wife died about 1845 and he moved to Bytown where he opened The Exchange Hotel.  This was located approximately where Bank or Lyon and Sparks Streets meet.  Robinson remarried in 1848 at Packenham to a Flora McMillan.  The Exchange Hotel burned down in 1854 and the family relocated to Arnprior where Robinson re-established himself in the hotel management trade.  He died in Arnprior in 1885 and is buried in Albert Street Cemetery there.

10. Robert Lyon: (1812 – 1833)  emigrated to Canada in 1829.  Robert had been a student for three sessions in the class of 1826 – 1830 at King’s College in Aberdeen, Scotland.  With this background, he was qualified to secure a law apprenticeship with Thomas M. Radenhurst in Perth, Ontario.  Robert was killed in 1833 in the famous Wilson-Lyon duel fought in Perth.  He is buried in the Radenhurst plot at the Craig Street Cemetery in Perth.  The pistols are displayed in the Perth Museum.   (See Link to Wilson-Lyon Duel)