Identity area
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Authorized form of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
James Ironside Davidson (1818-1902) was a farmer, politician, and livestock breeder and importer in Pickering Township, Ontario. Originally from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Davidson came to Upper Canada in 1842. By 1861 he was importing Shorthorn cattle to help with the fertility of his soil. In the 1870s, Davidson joined other local farmers, including John Dryden (1840-1909) and John Miller (1817-1904) to buy and bred Shorthorn cattle and Clydesdale horses. The Miller, Davidson, and Dryden families were also connected by marriage, with Davidson’s daughter Mary marrying William (d. 1886), son of John Miller, and William and Mary’s daughter Margaret marrying Dryden’s son, William Arthur Dryden.
Davidson was also involved in politics, serving as a federal Liberal Member of Parliament for Ontario South in 1891-1892.