 James Llewellyn Frise was born 16 October 1891 near Fingerboard in Scugog Island , Ontario , the only son of John Frise ( d . 1922 ) , who was a farmer , and Hannah née Barker ( d . 1933 ) , who had immigrated with her family from England to Port Perry when she was two . He grew up in Seagrave and Myrtle and went to school in Port Perry . There he struggled with spelling — even with his own middle name — and developed an obsession with drawing . 
