Elizabeth Moffat "Lizzie" Turnbull

Other Events:

• Name: Elizabeth Moffat "Lizzie" Roberts
• Name: Lizzie Moffat Turnbull
• Name: Lizzie Turnbull
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-69341
• Residence: 1871, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; C. Presbyterian
• Residence: 1891, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian

Elizabeth married Dr. Hugh Grant Roberts 20 Jun 1900, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Hugh (son of Hugh Roberts and Mary Grant, son of Hugh Roberts and Mary Grant) was born 18 Jun 1854, Elora, Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada; died 9 Jul 1922, Guelph City, Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried , Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Guelph City, Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

1. Grace Grant Roberts was born 5 Dec 1901, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 2 Sep 1958; was buried , Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Guelph City, Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada.

Other Events:

• Interesting: life story,
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-67966
• Occupation: 1861, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Manufacturer
• Residence: 1861, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; United Presbyterian Church
• Occupation: 1871, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Hosier
• Residence: 1871, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; C. Presbyterian
• Occupation: 1872, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; manufacturer

Notes:

ROBERT TURNBULL

1826-1879 Married: Elizabeth Graham

Robert Turnbull was born in Hawick, Scotland and came to Galt in 1852 at the age of 26 with his uncle Adam Ker. Mr. Turnbull had served an apprenticeship in Scotland in the textile trade with Messers. William Watson and Sons as a cloth finisher. Sometime after his arrival in Galt he learned the art of woollen manufacturing while in the employ of Robinson & Howell Co. in the Galt Woollen Mill building on Water Street South. In 1859 he started a business knitting woollen underwear. In the days before central heating, long woollen underwear was greatly appreciated and Mr. Turnbull found a ready market for his product. The business operated from the rear of the Turnbull home, a big rambling rough cast house located on West Main St., later Grand Ave., near the corner of St. Andrews St. Little is known about the very first years of the business and there is some confusion in the historical record. Some of it suggests that John Deans was Mr. Turnbull's partner from the start of the business in 1859. Other sources suggest that in the early years Mr. Turnbull was associated with Adam Oliver at least until 1861. It is also suggested that shortly thereafter Mr. Oliver sold his interest in the company to Mr. Turnbull and then John Deans became a partner in the business. In any case, the business operated as Turnbull and Deans until 1870 when Mr. Deans retired and sold his interest to Mr. Turnbull. In the early years all the garments were knitted on hand knitting frames and were hand finished by neighbourhood women in their homes. In 1861 Mr. Turnbull to send to Hawick for a type of knitting machine new to North America. With these machines, Turnbull and Deans became the first and only manufacturer of full-fashioned underwear on the continent. It was this product that made the name famous throughout the province and then throughout Canada. Until the business was sold to the Stauffer-Dobbie interests in 1946, Turnbull's was the only company in North America to have full-fashioned underwear knitting machines. What made this underwear special was it's comfortable fit, its durability and its softness. Other types of underwear on the market at the time were of the "knit and cut" variety. The underwear was first knit in long tubes and as the tubing came from the knitting machines it was cut into body lengths. To these were added sleeves, legs and whatever else was necessary to make the finished product. This method produced an acceptable but somewhat ill-fitting garment. Full-fashioned underwear was shaped on the machine to fit the human body. It was narrowed at the waist and made wider to accommodate the chest. This was a much slower method of production and as a consequence this type of underwear was more expensive than the "knit and cut" variety but it fit and wore better and proved popular throughout the country. It was marketed under the brand name "CEETEE". Mr. Turnbull died on December 11, 1879 at the age of fifty-two. He is buried in Mount View Cemetery.

Sources:
1. Obituary Dumfries Reformer Wednesday December 17, 1879.
2. Jim Quantrell, "Turnbull Knitting" A Part of Our Past, Essays on Cambridge's History City of Cambridge Archives, Cambridge Ontario 1992.
3. John P. Shewchuk "The Development of the Textile Trade at Galt, Preston and Hespeler 1832 - 1914", Unpublished manuscript, City of Cambridge Archives MG1 Vol. 35, A988.155.01


Cambridge Mosaic, Jim Quantrell, 1998, City of Cambridge [used with kind permission of Jim Quantrell]

Robert — Elizabeth Graham. Elizabeth was born 1827, Hawick, , Roxburgh, Scotland; died 9 Feb 1881, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried 11 Feb 1881, Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elizabeth Turnbull
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-96517
• Residence: 1861, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; United Presbyterian Church
• Residence: 1871, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; C. Presbyterian

Notes:

In Galt, on Wednesday morning, 9th inst., at 3 o'clock, Elizabeth Graham, relict of the late Robert Turnbull, aged 52 years and 6 months. Funeral, today (Friday), 11th inst., at 3 o'clock, pm, from her late residence, West Main St., to Galt Cemetery.

Galt Reporter Feb 11 1881 pg 8