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John Cascaden

Canadian politician and physician (1840-1904)

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 29, 2026
Entity authorityQ6225420
Source-derived summary

Dr. John Harold Cascaden (December 3, 1840 – August 31, 1904) was an Ontario physician and political figure. He represented Elgin West in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1879 to 1886 as a Liberal member.

He was born in Ballintra, County Donegal, Ireland on December 3, 1840, and emigrated to Bruce County, Canada West with his family in 1850. He studied at the University of Toronto, receiving an M.D. in 1863, and at the Royal College of Physicians in London, England. After his first wife, Catherine Cascaden nee Ferguson, died in 1871, John Cascaden married Hannah Katherine Decou in 1872. John and Hannah had five children: David Arthur (b: 1874), Annie May (b:1875), John Harold (b:1879), Douglas Jerald (b:1881), and Gordon L. (b:1884). He served as coroner for Elgin County. John died August 31, 1904, and is buried in the cemetery of St. Stephen's Anglican Church in Dunwich, Elgin County, Ontario.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “John Cascaden” as canadian politician and physician (1840-1904). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around John, Cascaden and Canadian.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1840, 1904, 1879, 1886—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1840-12-03. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with John, Cascaden and Canadian providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “John Cascaden”, the useful work is to connect “canadian politician and physician (1840-1904)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6225420. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1840, 1904, 1879 and 1886.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “John Cascaden”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow John Cascaden primary sources, John Cascaden archive and John research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from John Cascaden” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.