Biography:

Dr. John Miles Standish was born in Esquesing Township (Halton County), Ontario on the 17th of April, 1841.  Dr. Standish was the 5th of 10 children born to Captain John Standish and the former Margaret Bell.  His father was born in Laois County in Ireland.  Captain Standish served with the 5th Regiment of the Gore District Militia during the Upper Canada Rebellion.  When not in military service, Captain and Mrs. Standish were farmers.  Dr. Standish’s siblings were; Joseph (1835-1836), Elizabeth Standish, Mary Standish, Susannah Standish, Margaret Ann Standish, Charlotte Standish, Bell Standish, Nelson Standish and Sarah Ellen Standish.

Dr. Standish was educated at the Georgetown Academy and and the private school of Reverend Charles Dade.  Dr. Standish taught school at Hillsburgh (Erin Township), Ontario from 1863 until 1865.  He taught school at Stewarttown (west of Georgetown) from 1865 until 1867.  And for a short time he taught school in Glen Williams, Ontario prior to entering medical school.

Dr. Standish was married in Toronto, Ontario on the 10th of June, 1863 to the former Elizabeth Ann Turley.   Mrs. Standish was born in 1845, the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Turley.  Her father was a butcher who had a shop located at Queen and Elizabeth Streets in Toronto.  The Turley residence was located at 18 Elizabeth Street.

Dr. and Mrs. Standish had 2 sons; Edward Aitken Standish was born in Toronto on the 26th of July, 1865 and Charles Henry Standish was born on the 12 of July 1867.  Mrs. Elizabeth Standish died in 1867.

Dr. Standish graduated M.B. from The University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in 1870.  After completing medical school he practiced medicine at Hillsburgh in 1871.  He joined the College of Physicians and Surgeons on the 20th of December, 1872.  According to the 1871 census, Dr. Standish was a widower living with his married sister Susannah (Watson) and practicing medicine in Erin, (Wellington County), Ontario.  Also living with the Watson family was Dr. Standish’s sister Bell Standish, who was a “school mistress”.

Dr. Standish married Mary Curry on the 12th of September, 1871 in Norval (Esquesing Township), Ontario.  Mrs. Standish was born on the 9th of April,1850 in Chinguacousy Township (now part of Peel Region), Ontario.  She was the 5th of 9 children born to Samuel Curry and the former Ann Sterratt.  Her parents were farmers and her siblings were; Jane, Robert, Margaret, Eliza, James, Charles, David and John.

After their marriage, Dr. and Mrs. Standish lived in Georgetown, where Dr. Standish had a busy medical practice.  Two sons were born in Georgetown,  Frederick Miles Standish was born in 1873 and William Herbert Standish was born on February 1st, 1875.

Around 1880 the Standish family moved to Palmerston, Ontario.  According to “Numbering the Survivors – A History of The Standish Family of Ireland, Ontario and Alberta” written by Richard J. Houston, Dr. Standish served as the Mayor and Treasurer of Palmerston and he was also the Surgeon for The Grand Trunk Railway.  Dr. and Mrs. Standish had another son born to them, while they lived in Palmerston.   John Beverley “James” Standish was born on the 31st of October, 1893.

According to the 1901 census, Dr. and Mrs. Standish and their sons, William and Beverly were living in Wallaceburg.   His medical practice appears in business directories in Wallaceburg as early as 1900.  According to the 1911 census, Dr. and Mrs. Mary Standish resided on Nelson Street in Wallaceburg.

His son William Herbert Standish died in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on the 16th of September, 1903 of meningitis.  He was 28 years old and working as an accountant.  William H. Standish was buried in the Standish family plot at Greenwood Cemetery in Georgetown.  (His tombstone appears below).

Dr. Standish’s wife Mary died on the 5th of December 1915, in Guelph, Ontario at her sister’s residence.  She was buried at that Georgetown Cemetery.  At the time of her death, Dr. Standish was still practicing medicine in Wallaceburg.

Dr. Standish’s son, “James” Beverley Standish enlisted in the Canadian Army on the 15th of January, 1915 in Chatham.  He was killed in action at Vimy Ridge, during World War I on the 9th of April, 1917.  He was buried by his comrades, near Neuvill-Saint-Vaast in France.  His body was exhumed after the war and he was reburied at Nine Elms Military Cemetery, in Thelus, France.

By 1921 Dr. Standish was living with his son Charles Standish in Toronto.  Dr. Standish died in Toronto on the 11th of November, 1924  and he was buried at the Greenwood Cemetery in Georgetown.  There isn’t a tombstone with Dr. Standish’s name on it, but cemetery officials confirm he is buried in the family plot with his parents.  There is a tombstone for his parents and his son William.

*Dr. Standish’s son, John Beverley Standish appears on the Gathering Our Heroes website.

**The photo of Dr. Standish is courtesy of the Wallaceburg Museum.

***The webmaster is grateful for the assistance of an ancestor of Dr. Standish, Mr Jim Stevenson.