Canada

• Canadian Immigrants: the George liffiton Family (See below)
• Meet Muriel W. Liffiton and M. Wylie Blanchet (See Features > Capi and Archives > Downloads)
• Charlie Liffiton (See Features > Hockey)
• Artie Liffiton (See Features > Hockey)
• Ernie Liffiton (See Features > Hockey)
• Pete Liffiton (See Features > Hockey)
• David Liffiton (See Features > Hockey)
• Ashlee Liffiton (See Features > Hockey)

Canadian Immigrants: the George Liffiton Family

In 1849 George Liffiton, his second wife Jane Ann (Down) Liffiton, and their four year-old son, George John, emigrated from London, England to Montreal, Canada. In London George had been a tailor with John Jones, the well-known military clothier located at 6 Regent Street. George had been born in 1803 in the west country of Devonshire. He undoubtedly had learned something of the tailoring trade from his uncle John Liffiton, who maintained a shop in Exmouth, Devonshire, but advertised his knowledge of the latest London fashions.

In Montreal, in what is now called Old Town Montreal, George opened a tailor shop. City directories identify him at various addresses: 23 Chenneville Street (1850), 2 Henry Street (1856-57), 602 Lagauchetiere (1867-1869), 616 Lagauchetiere (1869-1871), 26 Lorne Avenue (1875-76).

George and Jane Liffiton raised four children in Montreal, George John (1845-1890), Charles Albert (1849-1927), William Thomas (1852-1916), and Henry Arthur (1856-1939). A daughter, Maria E., was born in 1855, but lived less than two months.

The Liffiton family was an interesting combination of religious beliefs. George was a Congregational Presbyterian and William Thomas was a Wesleyan Methodist. Jane, George John, and Henry, were Church of England.

George John became a tailor like his father. Charles Albert became an import and real estate broker. William Thomas owned a jewelry store. After working in the business world, Henry Arthur became a minister.

The four sons became the heads of four additional Canadian families. Descendants of three families reside today in Canada and the United States.

George Liffiton died at Kemptville, Ontario, in 1881 at the age of 78, probably while visiting his watchmaker son Henry and daughter-in-law, Florence. George Liffiton is buried in the Old Methodist Cemetery on Clothier Street in Kemptville. His wife, Jane Ann Down, died in 1909. Her gravestone in Mont Royal Cemetery, Montreal, reads "wife of George Liffiton of Devonshire."