Richard Scott
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Richard William Scott (1825 - 1913)

Sir Richard William Scott
Born in Prescott, Upper Canadamap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 8 Nov 1853 in St Paul's Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USAmap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 88 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canadamap
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Profile last modified | Created 9 May 2015
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Contents

Biography

Preceded by
Charles Sparrow
5th Mayor of Bytown
1852-1853
Succeeded by
J. B. Turgeon
Preceded by
Agar Yielding
Member of Parliament for Ottawa (previously Bytown) in the Province of Canada
1858-1863
Succeeded by
Joseph Merrill Currier
Notables Project
Richard Scott is Notable.
Richard Scott is/was a significant Ontarian .
A lawyer and six-decade career politician who served at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. He was mayor of Bytown (later Ottawa), Secretary of State for two different governments, and Speaker in the Senate. He played an active role in having Ottawa be chosen as the capital of Canada, and was responsible for legislation allowing Catholics in Ontario to have their own school boards (An Act to Restore to Roman Catholics in Upper Canada certain Rights in Respect to Separate Schools, aka the Separate School Act, passed 1863) and allowing municipalities to ban saloons if they wished (the Canada Temperance Act, aka the Scott Act, 1875).

He was known both for his idealism and for being a bit strange. He married a singer. He preferred fresh air, sunshine, exercise and healthy foods to traditional medicine at a time when this was not normal. He also participated in the Orange Day parade (a parade celebrating a Protestant victory over Catholics in Ireland) in Bytown the year he was mayor to prevent riots, leading the parade through the part of town populated by working class Catholics. He himself was a wealthy Catholic.

He and his wife had 3 sons and 5 daughters, with a son and daughter dying in infancy. The surviving children were William Lewis, D'Arcy, Frances (Fanny), Mary (Minnie), Lillian, and Sarah (Saney). Both sons married, as did Lillian and Saney.

He was knighted in 1909.

Obituary notice of Sir Richard Scott refers to his mother as "daughter of the late Captain Allan Macdonell, formerly an officer of the King's Royal Yorkers".


Sir Richard Scott was educated at Prescott under private tutor. Studied law in office of Crooks, Smith (Toronto). Called to the bar in 1848. Appointed Q.C. in 1867. Practiced in Ottawa where he was elected Mayor in 1852. In 1857 he was elected to the Legislature for Ottawa. Defeated 1863. Returned to First Ontario Legislature for Ottawa in 1867. In 1871 elected Speaker of the Assembly. Became member of the MacKenzie Government in 1873. January 1874 appointed Secretary of State. Registrar General of Canada. Called to the Senate March 1874 (retired 1878) for Ottawa 1896 again appointed Secretary of State in the Administration of Sir Wilfred Laurier. 1902 became leader of the Senate. Author of Canadian Temperance Act 1875 (known as "the Scott Act"] & in 1863 the Separate School Law in Ontario. Largely responsible for Ottawa being chosen as the Capital.


{The following entry is from: Roberts, C.G.D. & Turnell, A.L. (eds.) A Standard Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Canadian Who was Who 1875-1937. Toronto: Trans-Canada Press, 1938, pages 388-390.}

" SCOTT, Sir RICHARD WILLIAM (1825-1913) statesman, was born at Prescott, Upper Canada, on 24 February 1825, the eldest son of Dr. William James Scott by his wife, Sarah Macdonell, daughter of a Scottish United Empire Loyalist officer. His father was an Irishman, member of a once prominent family of County Clare, who served as an army surgeon under Wellesley in the Peninsular War and on being temporarily transferred with his regiment to Canada resigned his commission and settled down in Prescott and studied law there and in Toronto. He was called to the bar of Upper Canada in 1848 and was created Q.C. in 1867. He settled in Bytown (Ottawa) and entered practice there. He immediately plunged into the current of public life and in 1851 was elected a town councillor and in 1852 mayor. During the first year of his mayoralty an incident occurred which tested his cool decisiveness. The Orangemen of Carleton County announced a parade through the whole length of town as part of their 12 July demonstration. This was the equivalent to a direct challenge since the Lower Town was the stronghold of the Irish and French Catholic element. As the day approached Orangemen and Roman Catholics armed themselves in preparation, and the government, expecting trouble,proposed to supplement the garrison at Bytown. Scott quashed this proposal and himself explained the situation patiently but firmly to both sides: there must be no bloodshed. When the day arrived, he met the parade at the outskirts of Lower Town and preceded it in his carriage through the hostile ranks of the "shiners" without mishap. This was probably a unique instance of an Orange parade headed by a Roman Catholic. Scott was nominated as Liberal candidate in the general election of 1854 but retired before the polling as there were two other Liberals already in the field.

In 1867 he returned for Ottawa to the Ontario legislature where he gave an independent and not very cordial support to the government of John Sandfield Macdonald. In 1871 he was returned by acclamation and was elected speaker of the house without opposition, On 19 December the government was defeated and resigned and Scott accepted the position of commissioner of Crown lands in the government of Hon. Edward Blake and his successor, (Sir) Oliver Mowat His assumption of the office was marked by the adoption of an enlightened timber policy. For some time he had been drawing attention to the useless squandering of timber lands for settlement and their careless destruction by fire, only to be reminded that "the homesteader was of more value than pine trees". Finally his arguments found reflection in the "Toronto Globe" and the public was slowly awakened to the necessity for conservation. Hitherto licences for timber limits had been restricted to the year of issue and were resold at the end of the year. As Scott pointed out the fallacy in the system was that the holder for the year was only interested in getting out the most and best timber during the time of his holding and was utterly indifferent to the damage he might cause in doing so. To check this, he adopted the policy of renewing all licences not in default - this extension of licence was later adopted in Quebec with some modifications.

In 1874, after the fall of the Macdonald administration, Scott was offered and accepted the portfolio of secretary of state in the government of the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie with a seat in the Senate. The following year he introduced and carried through the Canada Temperance Act better known as the "Scott Act", a local option measure providing for prohibition in entire counties. It was at the time considered an advance over the Dunkin Act, previously in force, providing for local option in townships and smaller municipalities. The same year he introduced a bill regulating cable construction, which was actually a precaution against monopoly. Despite determined opposition he carried the bill. In 1879 a repeal bill was introduced to kill this piece of anti-monopoly legislation and, supported by the Conservatives, passed the Commons. In the Senate it passed the third reading, but at the usual perfunctory enquiry of the speaker. "Shall this bill now pass?" Scott stood up and challenged it. He spoke eloquently for about twenty minutes and at the vote the bill was rejected by a majority of two. This action of Scott's is practically unprecedented in parliamentary history.

Scott resigned his portfolio as secretary of state with the defeat of his government in 1878 but reassumed it in the Laurier administration in 1896 and retained it until his retirement in 1908. Lnthe early days of the Boer war it devolved upon him to represent to General Hutton his position as (British) General Officer Commanding the Canadian Militia. Hutton was under the impression that he was in no way responsible to the Canadian government. Scott pointed out, in language which was a "model of polite but emphatic plain-speaking", that he was at the disposal of the Canadian government and that if he did not act on its advice he would have to return to England. Hutton was sceptical of this power, and at the suggestion of Ottawa was recalled. The same experience was repeated in the case of Lord Dundonald and in 1904 the office of (British) General Officer Commanding in Canada was abolished. Like difficulties were often encountered in the case of governors-general, but they could not be so summarily dismissed. Consequently it is to the credit of Scott's tact and suavity that he was invariably delegated to advise them of the limits of their positions and yet maintained throughout their warm friendship.

In 1905 a ministerial crisis arose over the educational clause, safeguarding the rights of Roman Catholic minorities, in the bills to establish the new provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. The Hon. Clifford Sifton, minister of the interior, resigned his portfolio and led the revolt of the Liberals from the western constituencies threatening to defeat the government unless the clauses were dropped. Scott together with some members of government were equally determined to resign if the clauses were dropped. Eventually a compromise was reached.

In 1908 at the age of eighty-three, Scott resigned his portfolio and with it the leadership of the Liberal party in the Senate, a position which he had held for thirty-three years. Despite his retirement, however, he maintained an active interest in the affairs of the Senate and on 26 February 1913 he addressed the House for the last time for the abolition of appeals to the judicial committee of the Privy Council. He received the degree of LL.D from Ottawa University in 1889 and in 1909 was knighted.

For many years before his retirement Scott had made a practice of taking no holiday and never leaving Ottawa except on urgent business. Work was his greatest pleasure and chief recreation. He was a man of great mental and physical vigor, though as a child he had been in poor health. His physical disability led him to make a careful study of hygiene. As a result, he gave up both drugs and doctors, adopting instead hydropathic treatment of disease, a carefully selected diet and plenty of fresh air and sunshine. His ideas, since almost universally endorsed by the medical profession, were at the time considered sheer heresy. However, he had the courage of his convictions and not only lived by them himself but brought up his children in the same way. In character he was shrewd and kindly. A man of personal charm, he was always accessible to those who had business with him. He had in addition the gift of treating people as such without reference to race or religion.

Scott married in November 1853, Mary (died 1905), daughter of John Heron of Philadelphia, Pa, {There is another comment (in Taylor, JH_ 'Ottawa; an illustrated history'. Toronto: James Lorimer, 1986): "... he wooed and married the daughter of touring entertainers in a celebrated romance. "} They had issue of three sons and five daughters of whom one son and one daughter died in infancy.

Scott died at Ottawa, on 23 April 1913 and was buried in Notre Dame Cemetery there. He was survived by one son, William Louis, K.C., of Ottawa; and three daughters: Mary, Frances & Lillian, wife of George J. Desbarats, C.E., all of Ottawa. A portrait of Scott which the name of the artist has unfortunately been obliterated hangs in the dining room of the Speakers' Chambers of the Province of Ontario. "

Records

Record of death:

  • Name Richard William Scott
  • Event Type Death
  • Event Date 23 Apr 1913
  • Event Place Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario
  • Gender Male
  • Age 88
  • Birthplace Prescott, Ontario, Canada
  • Birth Year (Estimated) 1825
  • Father's Name William James Scott
  • Mother's Name Sarah Mcdowell

Homes

'Fairview' was a country estate built for R. W. Scott, and stands on a wooded hilltop above Gatineau's boulevard Gamelin.

Census

Canada Census 1881 (living in St-George Ward, Ottawa (City), Ontario, Canada

  • R.W. Scott M 56y 1825 Ontario BARRISTER
  • Mary Scott F 47y 1834 Ireland
  • Franciss Scott F 1856 24y Ontario
  • Sarah Scott F 24y 1857 Ontario
  • William Scott M 18y 1863 Ontario Student
  • Mary Scott F 14y 1867 Ontario
  • Lillian Scott F 10y 1871 1872 Ontario
  • Deorcy Scott M 9y Ontario
  • George Gaund M 22y Servant England

Canada Census 1901 (living in E, Ottawa (city/cité), Ontario, Canada):

  • Hon R W Scott Head M 76 1825 Ontario
  • Mary H Scott Wife F 63 1838 Ireland
  • Frances Scott Daughter F 45 1856 Ontario
  • Mary Scott Daught F 30 1871 Ontario
  • Agnes Scott Neice F 33 1868 Qc
  • Louise Lantz Nurse F 31 Ontario
  • Margaret Milford Cook F 34 Qc
  • Lida Brady Pailor Maid F 29 Ontario
  • Clara Heron Lodger F 32 USA

Sources

  • "Canada Census, 1881," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVXZ-SCR : accessed 14 February 2016), R.W. Scott, St-George Ward, Ottawa (City), Ontario, Canada; citing p. 37; Library and Archives Canada film number C-13230, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 1,375,866.
  • Richard William Scott from Wikipedia
  • Sir Richard Scott, K.C. (1825 - 1913) by W.L. Scott, K.C., Reprinted from the Report of the Canadian Catholic Historical Association for 1936-1937. Available online.
  • The Scotts of Tredinnock: Some notes for the eleven grandchildren - some of whom remember their loving grandparents, the house and the gardens. By Eileen Morley, London, November 1989. (Typewritten manuscript with copies distributed among the family.) pdf available from Anemone Cerridwen
  • "Canada Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KHLB-PHF : accessed 14 February 2016), Hon R W Scott, E, Ottawa (city/cité), Ontario, Canada; citing p. 23, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa.
  • "Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDV1-158 : accessed 15 April 2016), Richard William Scott, 23 Apr 1913; citing Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario, yr 1913 cn 10844, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,854,932.
  • FindAGrave Memorial from www.findagrave.com
  • Sir Richard William Scott from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography
  • Richard William Scott from www.rootsweb.ancestry.com
  • Anglin Family from www.genealogy.com




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It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Richard by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Richard:

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