A lightly edited partial transcription of the Port Rowan column on page 5 of the 10 Jul 1919 issue of the Simcoe Reformer newspaper.

Peter Backhouse died at his home last Saturday at the age of 81 years. His passing away terminated a period during which he had been ailing for some months.

He was born on the farm on which he died and where his whole long life was spent.

He married Miss Ruth [sic] Hutchinson, a daughter of the late Butler Hutchinson of Rowan Mills, by whom he is survived.

He is also survived by two daughters, 
Mrs. [..] Bowlby of Simcoe and 
Mrs. C. F. W. Aitkinson [sic] of Port Rowan. 
He is also survived by one sister, 
Mrs. Ruth Barrett of Port Dover.

The funeral was conducted by the Rev. J. W. Bloodsworth, rector of St. John's Church, interment being made in Bayview Cemetery on Sunday.

A lightly edited transcription of a page 1 article in the 17 Jul 1919 issue of the Simcoe Reformer.

The Late Peter Backhouse

Port Rowan News -- After a long illness, Mr. Peter E. Backhouse died Saturday morning, 5 Jul 1919, at the age of 82. He was buried on Sunday afternoon in Bayview Cemetery, and the funeral was largely attended.

Mr. Peter Backhouse was a son of the late Thomas Backhouse, Esq., and a grandson of the late Major John Backhouse, who was the original settler on Lots 16 and 17, on the First Concession of South Walsingham, and built the mill which escaped the notice of the marauding Yankees in 1812.

He has distinguished ancestors and was a worthy son of an honored house. He was born on the homestead on which he died, and for three-quarters of a century the people of the west end of Norfolk have known and respected the name of Peter Backhouse.

He was the owner of a fine 200 acre farm, one of the nicest farms in Canada. He prized it highly and spent his entire life there. 

To that farm he brought his fair bride, Miss Rebecca Hutchinson, a daughter of the late Butler Hutchinson, Esq., of Rowan Mills. On it his children were born. There the great joys and sorrows of life found him.

He loved it, and while he lived he could not give it up. But when the time came to part he was brave and courageous and true, just as he had always been all his life.

Besides Mr. [sic] Backhouse, he leaves two daughters, Mr. J. H. Bowlby and Mrs. C. F. W. Atkinson, to whom he was very dear; one sister, Mrs. H. M. Barrett, also survives. They will miss him; the whole community will miss him.

For 80 years, ever since his sturdy babyhood, Peter Backhouse had been a personage in this community, and it will be a generation at least before the name Peter Backhouse will drop out of the life and thought of the people.

For his whole life Mr. Backhouse was connected with the Church of England, and the funeral service was conducted by the Rev. J. A. Bloodsworth, rector of St. John's Church, Port Rowan.

 
Copyright 2016 John Cardiff