History
John Hugh Gillis was the son of cabinet maker Angus Hugh Gillis and his wife, Margaret Ann MacFarlane, who had moved from the Margaree Valley to North Sydney. After she died in 1904 Angus married again and moved to Glace Bay. John Hugh attended St. Francis Xavier College but dropped out after a year or two, probably for financial reasons because his father had a large family. Jack was well known through the Maritimes as an athlete and champion long distance runner. His Gillis family had come from the mainland opposite the Scottish Isle of Skye and their first language was Gaelic, which was the third most spoken European language in Canada at that time.
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