Researching James Small

He was born in York, Upper Canada in 1798, the son of John Small. He attended the Home District School with Robert Baldwin. During the War of 1812, he served on the ship St. Lawrence.

On July 12 1817, he was the second for John Ridout in a duel with Samuel Peters Jarvis. When Ridout fired his gun early at Jarvis, Small insisted that Ridout be allowed to re-load his gun. When Ridout was shot Small sought the assistance of George Playter. Small articled in law with William Warren Baldwin and was called to the bar in 1821.

In 1831 Small and his younger brother, Charles Coxwell Small, inherited their father's large house on the southwest corner of what is now Berkeley and King streets.

In 1834, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada in Toronto. He was elected in an 1839 by-election in the 3rd riding of York; he was reelected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1841. Small supported Robert Baldwin's call for responsible government; in 1842, he was named solicitor general for Canada West in the Baldwin-Lafontaine government. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1842. He resigned from his post as solicitor general in 1843. He was reelected in 1844 but was later disqualified and George Monro was declared elected. In 1849, he was appointed judge in Middlesex County.

He died in London, Ontario in 1869.

The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, while noting Small was born into a life of privilege, had nevertheless allied himself with relatively liberal figures, like his school chum, Robert Baldwin, Upper Canada's prime advocate for responsible government.

James Small was born on 28 May 1835 in Perthshire, Scotland, the son of Patrick Small and Amelia Rattray of Kirkhillock and Brewlands. Upon his father's death in 1859, Dirnanean passed to James, the ninth time the estate had passed from father to son since the 1588 charter by John, the 5th Stewart Earl of Atholl had granted the lands of Dirnanean to the Small family.

On 15 January 1867, at Chalton Church, Chalton, Hampshire, England, James married Janet Clarke-Jervoise, the second daughter of Sir Jervoise Clarke-Jervoise, 2nd Baronet (1804 – 1 April 1889). The couple had no children to inherit Dirnanean, so James' nephew, James Small Pender was designated his heir.

James served as the Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Perth, Scotland. Small served as the head of Kirkmichael’s school board, chieftain of the Strathardle Highland Gathering, president of the local horticultural society and chaired a host of other committees. He was also a member of the Atholl Highlanders.

For many years James was patron, with his neighbors the Keirs of Kindrogan House, of the Dow Bursaries at Saint Andrews University.

James died on 25 June 1900 and is buried in Kirkmichael Churchyard.

In honor of his service to the Perthshire area, the community erected the James Small (1835-1900) of Dirnanean monument at the junction of the A924/B950. The monument is a highly ornate Celtic cross. In December 2006, the memorial was toppled over by an errant motorist and fractured into a dozen pieces. In 2010 the memorial was repaired by the Perth and Kinross Council at a cost of £35,000. As part of the repairs, the memorial was relocated to the side of the road to provide additional protection.