The marriage of "Tillie" (Matilda) and James was happy and loving, as is shown by the letters he wrote to her daily when politics took him to Ottawa.

[4] They were followed by William Wilkie, born on 26 October 1874, Beatrice on 25 August 1877, David Keithock on 29 November 1879 and Herbert Wedderlie on 20 June 1883.

[7] During his time out of office he became the unofficial organizer for Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie in Ontario, and negotiated a new railway clause for the entry of British Columbia into the Confederation of Canada.

[8] James David Edgar was appointed Speaker of the House of Commons on 19 August 1896, holding this position until his death.

[7] As his wife, Matilda Edgar was invited to become patron of enterprises such as the Toronto Infants' Home, the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire, and the Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC)[9] In 1898 Matilda Edgar and Mary Dignam, president of the WAAC, arranged for members of the House and Senate to subscribe $1,000 to purchase the Cabot Commemorative State Dinner Service.

This was a hand-painted eight-course, 24-place dinner set representing Canadian subjects that had been made by WAAC members to commemorate the 400th anniversary of John Cabot's discovery of Canada.

The set was formally presented to Lady Aberdeen on the occasion of her husband finishing his assignment as Governor General of Canada.

She briefly turned to spiritualism, and thought she received a message from her husband telling her to continue to work and to give her support to the children.

[11] In 1890 Matilda Edgar published an edited collection of letters between her grandfather and his sons George and Thomas.

She was given permission to conduct research at Windsor Castle, where his correspondence was preserved, and spent the winter of 1909–10 working in the library.

[3] James Frederic Edgar served in the Second Riel Rebellion, then completed his legal studies and was called to the bar of Ontario.