Did John Beikie, Sheriff of York (Toronto), have children?

Question

John Beikie (1766-1839) was the Sheriff of York (Toronto) during the war of 1812. Beikie and his possibly fictional son play major roles in an unpublished novel written by my father just before his death in 1967, and which I'm now - in self isolation - finding the time to type up so that I can share it with others. I know my father did a lot of research for this book, but I haven't been able to find any sources that indicate whether Beikie had children, or whether the son described in my father's book was based on historical fact. I would appreciate any help with this specific question, or additional details on Beikie that could be included in his profile.

Answer 1

I though I had a reference to Donald and just found it.  

John Beikie wrote that he had seen 13 American vessels off the light house.  Muskets had been issued the evening before, and he and Donald went to the garrison where they found 110 men of the grenadiers of the 8^th Regiment, a few of the Newfoundland Regiment, and some militia on parade.[i]

 

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[i] Edith G. Firth, editor, The Town of York 1793-1815:  A Collection of Documents of Early Toronto, Univ. of Toronto Press, 1962, pages not numbered.

Comments

Way to go, Fred!

Answer 2

So far, I have not found children based on a general search of family trees   Maybe some newspaper sources would reveal relatives or even announcement of a probate.

Answer 3

Hi Ken, What a wonderful self-isolation project and thanks Maggie for your help. I'll do a little digging as well. (I challenged my grandson to a FaceTime dance contest later this week, so am busy coming up with a costume and practising my "moves" LOL)

Comments

From Archives of Ontario description of John Beikie fonds. The names listed could also be father, brother or nephew, too, though. What's the name of the fictional son, Ken?

Fonds consists of a copy of the Holy Bible, containing the Old Testament and the New: translated out of the Greek, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesty's special command. This copy was printed by John Archdeacon, Printer to the University [of Cambridge], and sold by John, Francis, and Charles Rivington; Benjamin White; Charles Dilly; and John Fielding in London; and J. J. Merrill in Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1782. The copy is inscribed, Henry Crawford to John Beikie, and contains birth and baptism information for John Beikie; James Beikie, Senior; Thomas Beikie; and James Beikie, Junior.

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Laurie, thanks for that information.

The son's name in the novel is Donald.

Answer 4

I have also been searching. I have not had any luck yet, but I did find an interesting book that mentioned him. I added the link to his profile.

Answer 5

According to Penelope, they had at least one son.  She had gone out to look for them after the battle.  I do not have the original source for this but it was from 

Dianne Graves, In the Midst of Alarms:  The Untold Story of Women and the War of 1812 (RBS 2007)

This is the only source that I have found for his taking part in the Apr. 27, 1813 defence of York.  I suspect that as a sheriff, he had an exemption from service.  Apparently, he did hold the rank of captain in the 3rd York Militia but I have not seen his name in their surviving rolls.