George Brown (1818 - 1880)

Born 29 Nov 1818 in Saint Cuthberts, Edinburgh, Edinburghshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Ann (Nelson) Brown — married 27 Nov 1862 in Edinburgh, Edinburghshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 9 May 1880 at age 61 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Preceded by
John A. Macdonald

12th Premier of the Province of Canada
2 August 1858 - 6 August 1858

Succeeded by
Sir George-Étienne Cartier

Preceded by
John A. Macdonald

10th Premier of Canada West
2 August 1858 - 6 August 1858

Succeeded by
John A. Macdonald

Biography

George Brown was a Father of Confederation / était un Père de la Confédération.

George Brown is Notable.

George Brown, journalist and statesman, was born in the parish of St Cuthberts, Edinburgh, Scotland, on January 28, 1819, the eldest son of Peter Brown and Marianne Mackenzie.

George Brown, journaliste et homme politique, baptisé à Edinbourg, en Écosse, le 28 Janvier 1818, décédé à Toronto le 9 mai 1880.

After attending Edinburgh’s High School and Southern Academy, Brown joined his father’s wholesale business. In 1837 he and his father emigrated to New York, where they ran a dry goods store and founded the British Chronicle, a weekly for British emigrants in the state and nearby Upper Canada (Ontario). The overcrowded newspaper market in New York and the progressive political climate in Upper Canada prompted the Browns’ move to Toronto in 1843. There they founded the Banner, a weekly paper for Presbyterian readers, followed by the Globe in 1844. George Brown's stirring editorials, detailed news columns and modern printing press gave the Globe a decided edge over its competitors and by 1853 it had become a daily with the largest circulation in British North America.

Globe Building, King Street W., Toronto, 1856

In 1851 Brown was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Canada as an independent Reform member from Kent County. After his party’s defeat in 1854, he rebuilt the Reform Party and won the Upper Canada elections of 1857. He very briefly formed a government with Antoine-Aimé Dorion, head of the Lower Canada Parti Rouge. After its fall, he retreated from politics for a few years.

In 1862 he married Anne Nelson, the daughter of Scottish publisher Thomas Nelson. They had one son and two daughters.

He returned to politics in 1863 as the member for South Oxford. The following year he played an important role in Confederation, both at the Charlottetown Conference and the Québec Conference. As a teetotaler and leader of the intensely anti-Catholic Reformers of Upper Canada, Brown had been a fierce opponent of the hard drinking John A MacDonald and his Catholic allies for his entire political career. It was his decision to bury the hatchet and form a coalition with MacDonald that paved the way for Confederation. After he left Parliament in 1867, he became a senator in 1874. His main focus, though, was the Globe, his family and their estate near Brantford.

He died in Toronto, on May 9, 1880. A discharged Globe employee shot him in the leg during a scuffle. The minor wound became infected, leading to Brown's death.

Sources

• Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950" database, FamilySearch (16 September 2021), George Brown, 1819.

• The Canadian Encyclopedia

• J. M. S. Careless, “BROWN, GEORGE,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume 10, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003

• Wikipedia:George Brown (Canadian politician)

• W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. IV, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 400p., pp. 313-314.

• Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910, FamilySearch (22 December 2023), Geo. Brown, 1862.

• Meet the Browns: A Confederation Family, Archives of Ontario online exhibit

• Census of Canada, 1871

• "Attempted Assassination - Hon. George Brown's Sanctum Sacriligiously Entered", The Hamilton Spectator, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, (1880) 1 April 1880, Page 3, Newspapers Clip: 138335390

• "Hon. George Brown - His Death On Sunday Morning - Sad End Of A Useful Life", The Clinton New Era, Clinton, Ontario, Canada, (1880) 20 May 1880, Page 2, Newspapers Clip: 138336264

• Find A Grave: Memorial #3538, Toronto Necropolis Cemetery and Crematorium, Toronto, Toronto Municipality, Ontario, Canada