Sir John Alexander Macdonald

Copyright/Source

Born 1815, Died 1891

Born

• January 10 or 11, 1815, Glasgow, Scotland
• Emigrated to Canada in 1820

Education

• Midland District Grammar School and John Cruickshank School, Kingston (Ontario)

Personal Life

• Married 1843, Isabella Clark (1811 - 1856)
• Two sons (one died in infancy)
• Re-married 1867, Susan Agnes Bernard (1836 - 1920)
• One daughter

Occupations

• Lawyer (called to the Bar of Upper Canada in 1836)
• Businessman
• 1837 Private, the Commercial Bank Guard
• 1843 - 1846 Alderman for Kingston, Ontario

Political Party

• Liberal-Conservative (forerunner of Progressive Conservative Party)
• 1867 - 1891 Party Leader

Constituencies

• 1867 - 1878, 1887 - 1891 Kingston Ontario
• 1878 - 1882 Victoria British Columbia
• 1882 - 1887 Carleton Ontario

Other Ministries

• 1847 - 1848 Receiver General (Province of Canada)
• 1854 - 1858, 1858 - 1862, 1864 - 1867 Attorney General (Canada West)
• 1861 - 1862, 1865 - 1867 Militia Affairs
• 1867 - 1873 Justice and Attorney General
• 1878 - 1883 Interior
• 1878 - 1887 Superintendant General of Indian Affairs
• 1889 - 1891 Railways and Canals

Political Record

• Joint Premier, Province of Canada, with Étienne-Paschal Taché 1856 - 1857, and with George-Étienne Cartier 1857 - 1858, 1858 - 1862
• Co-leader, Great Coalition, with George-Étienne Cartier and George Brown, 1864 - 1865
• Father of Confederation 1867
• Creation of provinces of Manitoba 1870, British Columbia 1871, and Prince Edward Island 1873
• Red River Rebellion 1870
• Building of Canadian Pacific Railway 1871 - 1885
• North West Mounted Police 1873
• Pacific Scandal 1873
• Leader of the Opposition 1873 - 1878
• National Policy 1879
• Northwest Rebellion 1885
• Creation of the first national park at Banff, Alberta 1885

Died

• June 6, 1891, Ottawa, Ontario, while still in office
• Grave site: Cataraqui Cemetery, near Kingston, Ontario

Source: Canada's Prime Ministers, 1867-1994. [Ottawa]: National Archives of Canada, c1994. 20 p.