Eliza Silverwood was born in Lindsay on 24 March 1858. She married Obadiah William Routley on 15 January 1879 in Woodville.

Her father, William A. Silverwood was the inspector of weights and measures for the county. He was also an auctioneer.

One of Eliza’s younger brothers was A.E. Silverwood, the man who started Silverwood’s Dairy. (The Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives in Lindsay currently has an exhibit about the history of Silverwood’s Dairy.)

Eliza and Obadiah lived on a farm in Eldon township until approximately 1901 when the family moved to Lindsay, where they rented a house on Lindsay Street South and Obadiah worked as a carpenter. Around 1904, Obadiah and Eliza moved to 149 Close Avenue in Toronto where Obadiah continued the carpenter trade and built houses. They had six children.

In 1913, Eliza’s book, New Year Blessings, was published by William Briggs in Toronto. The book contains an uplifting statement for each day of the year, organized by weeks, so the book can be reused every year.

Here’s the page for this week:

The book is available at the Internet Archive, courtesy of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.

On March 21, 1924, Eliza Silverwood Routley passed away at her home at 149 Close Avenue, Toronto. (The house is gone, replaced by a Catholic school.)

Books:

New Year Blessings (1913)

Sources:

Canada Census 1881, 1901, 1911

Lindsay Voters Lists 1901, 1903, 1904

Might’s Greater Toronto City Directory 1916

Woodville Advocate, digitally available courtesy of Kawartha Lakes Public Library