Our Genealogy - Person Sheet
Our Genealogy - Person Sheet
NameJames Tresawna Burt-Gerrans I 
, 1C3R, M
, 1C3R, MDeath6 Jan 1965, Woodstock, Ontario, Canada96
OccupationProfessor and Head of the Dept. of Chemistry, University of Toronto136
EducationPh.D. in Chemistry from Univ. of Toronto in 1924
ReligionPresbyterian
FatherGeorge Tresawna Gerrans , M (1848-ca1910)
MotherAnnie Eliza Barrow Burt , F (1854-1931)
Spouses
Marriage5 Jun 1912, Toronto, Ontario, Canada8
ChildrenGeorge Tresawna , M (1913-1989)
Harold Francis , M (1916-1942)
Annie Elizabeth (Betty) , F (1919-2003)
Notes for James Tresawna Burt-Gerrans I
As a boy he was known as Tresawna. According to his son’s account, James thought he was born in Wales but found church records of his birth in Kent Bridge, Ontario which he had photographed and notarized to establish Canadian citizenship later in life.136
Listed in the 1881 census as Tresawna Garim (last name mistranscribed), age 3.9 Listed in the 1891 Ontario census in Ashburnham Village, East Peterborough as Tresawna Gerrans, born in in Ontario, age 14, Church of England.132 This suggests a year of birth of 1877 but the whole family’s ages are off by one year on that census and all other sources confirm the birth year as 1878.96,9
J Tresawna Gerrans was the first to arrive in Toronto in 1898 at age 20 when he worked as a clerk.135 His older brother never lived in Toronto. It looks like his parents and his sister arrived in 1900 and they all lived at 339 Dovercourt Road. The Burt-Gerrans hyphenated name first appears in 1901 (which is the same year George Gerrans seems to have taken off). Also in 1901, J Tresawna Gerrans changes his name listing on the directory to James T. Burt-Gerrans. He was a student in 1902 and then pharmacy clerk at Tuthill Pharmacy Ltd. for 3 years. From 1906 onwards he’s listed as a pharmacist and he and his mother lived at 105 Harrison. In 1912 he’s listed as a demonstrator in electrochemistry at University of Toronto so obviously he went back to school to become a chemistry professor. His mother is first listed as a widow in 1913. He moved to 46 Dewson St. by 1914 while his mother stayed at 105 Harrison (although later in life she moved back in with him and his family as Norm Burt-Gerrans remembers). His Ph.D. supervisor in 1924 at the Univ. of Toronto was Professor William Lash Miller.
from the Toronto Star, Aug 23, 1937:
“PROMOTE 4 ON U. OF T. STAFF
Dr. H. J. Cody, president of the University of Toronto, has announced promotions of four members of the staff. Dr. H. A. Innis succeeds E.J. Urwick as head of the department of political economics; Dr. J. T. Burt-Gerrans becomes professor of electro-chemistry and L. J. Rogers professor of chemistry. Dr. E. S. Moore will head the department of geology, succeeding the late Dr. W. A. Parks.”
He was often mentioned in the social columns with regards to the “English Speaking Union” of which he was vice-president. The English-Speaking Union was founded in 1918 in Britain for the promotion of mutual understanding and friendship among countries whose mother tongue was English. Two years later it was also established in the United States. The first Branch of ESU Canada was formed in Toronto in 1923, just a few years after the inauguration of the ESU between the U.K. and the United States. There are 6 Branches in Canada which are quasi-autonomous and have their own social/cultural programs. All Branches have programs of scholarships or awards of various kinds available for young people in their communities, from school age to post-graduate, depending on the interests of the Branch.
He died at Woodstock General Hospital where his son Dr. Norman Burt-Gerrans worked. Cause of death was complications of cirrhosis which was attributed to chemical exposures in the lab since he was a lifelong non-drinker. He was an Elder of Parkdale Presbyterian Church in Toronto and his funeral there was before a packed congregation.136
Listed in the 1881 census as Tresawna Garim (last name mistranscribed), age 3.9 Listed in the 1891 Ontario census in Ashburnham Village, East Peterborough as Tresawna Gerrans, born in in Ontario, age 14, Church of England.132 This suggests a year of birth of 1877 but the whole family’s ages are off by one year on that census and all other sources confirm the birth year as 1878.96,9
J Tresawna Gerrans was the first to arrive in Toronto in 1898 at age 20 when he worked as a clerk.135 His older brother never lived in Toronto. It looks like his parents and his sister arrived in 1900 and they all lived at 339 Dovercourt Road. The Burt-Gerrans hyphenated name first appears in 1901 (which is the same year George Gerrans seems to have taken off). Also in 1901, J Tresawna Gerrans changes his name listing on the directory to James T. Burt-Gerrans. He was a student in 1902 and then pharmacy clerk at Tuthill Pharmacy Ltd. for 3 years. From 1906 onwards he’s listed as a pharmacist and he and his mother lived at 105 Harrison. In 1912 he’s listed as a demonstrator in electrochemistry at University of Toronto so obviously he went back to school to become a chemistry professor. His mother is first listed as a widow in 1913. He moved to 46 Dewson St. by 1914 while his mother stayed at 105 Harrison (although later in life she moved back in with him and his family as Norm Burt-Gerrans remembers). His Ph.D. supervisor in 1924 at the Univ. of Toronto was Professor William Lash Miller.
from the Toronto Star, Aug 23, 1937:
“PROMOTE 4 ON U. OF T. STAFF
Dr. H. J. Cody, president of the University of Toronto, has announced promotions of four members of the staff. Dr. H. A. Innis succeeds E.J. Urwick as head of the department of political economics; Dr. J. T. Burt-Gerrans becomes professor of electro-chemistry and L. J. Rogers professor of chemistry. Dr. E. S. Moore will head the department of geology, succeeding the late Dr. W. A. Parks.”
He was often mentioned in the social columns with regards to the “English Speaking Union” of which he was vice-president. The English-Speaking Union was founded in 1918 in Britain for the promotion of mutual understanding and friendship among countries whose mother tongue was English. Two years later it was also established in the United States. The first Branch of ESU Canada was formed in Toronto in 1923, just a few years after the inauguration of the ESU between the U.K. and the United States. There are 6 Branches in Canada which are quasi-autonomous and have their own social/cultural programs. All Branches have programs of scholarships or awards of various kinds available for young people in their communities, from school age to post-graduate, depending on the interests of the Branch.
He died at Woodstock General Hospital where his son Dr. Norman Burt-Gerrans worked. Cause of death was complications of cirrhosis which was attributed to chemical exposures in the lab since he was a lifelong non-drinker. He was an Elder of Parkdale Presbyterian Church in Toronto and his funeral there was before a packed congregation.136