Macdonald, John A. (John Alexander), Sir

Person

Macdonald, John A. (John Alexander), Sir

1815-1891

John Alexander Macdonald (1815-1891) was born in Scotland, and moved to Upper Canada with his parents in 1820, settling in Kingston. He was educated at the Midland District Grammar School, a private co- educational school in Kingston, and at age fifteen began articling in law with George Mackenzie. He was called to the bar in 1836, and from 1843 to 1849 he practiced in partnership with Alexander Campbell. In the 1850s he practiced with Archibald John Macdonnell and Robert Mortimer Wilson. In 1839 he was appointed solicitor for the Commercial Bank of the Midland District. He was elected to the Kingston Town Council as an alderman in 1843 and in 1844 he was elected to the provincial government of Upper Canada for the riding of Kingston. He remained in that seat provincially until 1867, and then federally from 1867 to 1874. From 1847 to 1848 he acted as Receiver-General and Commissioner for Crown lands. In 1854, he served as Attorney-General of Upper Canada. From 1854 to 1862, he acted as co- premier of Upper Canada. He was closely involved in the formulation of the British North America Act, forming the union of Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick in 1867, and was also involved in the inclusion of other provinces into Confederation at later dates. He also served as the first Prime Minister of Canada. Macdonald also served as head of the Department of Justice from 1867 to 1873. His party lost the election in 1874, and Macdonald lost his own seat in Kingston, although he was later returned in a by-election. He returned as Prime Minister in 1878, and took on the portfolio of the Department of Interior Affairs. He and his government were re- elected in 1882 and 1887. Macdonald died in 1891.

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