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James was born in 1818 at Island Lake to John Tod and his country wife, Catherine Birston. His father was transferred to New Caledonia (British Columbia) when he was a young boy, but James and his mother did not go with him. However, judging by the letters he wrote to his friend Edward, John Tod cared about his son and missed him a great deal. "I wish you would send that poor boy of mine at Red River a few things..." (Tod to Ermatinger, 27 Feb. 1826) and "I wish to God I had him with me, tho' not his mother" (Tod to Ermatinger, 14 Feb. 1829). |
James attended boarding school while growing up, an education that was paid for by John Tod. He was then employed by the Hudson's Bay Company as an apprentice carpenter, until his father requested that he go to St. Thomas to help his uncles on the farm that Tod had purchased. James eventually moved to Victoria and helped his father on his farm in Oak Bay. He got along well with his half siblings. In 1858, John Tod bought his son 187 acres in the isolated Mount Douglas area of Victoria for him to farm. James is described as tall (over 6 feet), strong as an ox, and able to do the work of three men.
He was married to 17-year-old Flora MacAulay in October 1857 by Rev. Edward Cridge, and they lived in a simple log cabin that James built. They worked hard at their farm and added more acreage to Spring Bank Farm, which prospered. They eventually built a larger house, and the area around them became more populated so they finally had neighbours.
Flora gave birth to their first child, Katherine, in 1858 and would give birth to a total of 17 children by 1887. Eleven of these children were still living at the time of James' death. Flora suffered mental instability and was being cared for in a sanitarium by 1898. James owned a steam threshing machine called "cock o' the north" which was much in demand by other local farmers. James lived at his farm with his sons James Jr., 44, and Thomas, 16, until his death on February 27, 1904, at the age of 86. Would you like to know more about James Tod's Children?
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