 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.
