William+Lyon+Mackenzie

__William Lyon Mackenzie__

William Lyon Mackenzie was born on March 12, 1795 in Dundee Scotland.1 After achieving a business education, he moved to Upper Canada in 1820.2 He worked as a clerk for Lord Lonsdale, all the while working on his writing.3 His first article was published in his paper, called The Colonial Advocate in 1824.4 This was also the same year he moved to Toronto to be closer to political parliament.5 The article was poorly written, but the politicians it targeted felt very uneasy about the overall effect.6 Said politicians (The Family Compact) did everything in their power to shut the paper down, but it was too late. William Lyon Mackenzie had entered the world of political drama, which would fuel his lifestyle, and place in Canadian history, from here on out. In 1828, William was elected into the Canadian Parliament.7 His prior troubles with The Colonial Advocate came to haunt him, as the Family Compact had him expelled multiple times.8 Although the Family Compact tried their hardest, society would re-elect him immediately after his expulsion.9 Although this happened five times, the people’s love for William seemed to be undying as they supported him with the same enthusiasm again and again.10 Needless to say, he was quite the rebellious candidate. He was chosen to be Mayor of Toronto in 1834 by his reform colleagues, making him the first mayor in what is today the Province of Ontario.11 When he became mayor, the population of Toronto was about 10,000 people.12 He was only mayor for a short while, as during the summer of 1834 a cholera epidemic hit the city.13 He assisted those affected until he became ill himself, and it was this reason that he decided not to serve a second term as mayor.14 Instead, he decided to deal with provincial reform, and in the fall of 1834 he was elected to the provincial parliament.15 In 1836 William was defeated in the provincial polls.16 In the fall of 1837 armed revolt was on his mind, which would soon be followed through.17 On December 6th, William lead an erratic armed revolt down Yonge Street, on his way to Toronto.18 He was convinced that he would gain spontaneous support that would help him to gain some form of victory.19 William seemed more intent on damaging property of Tory supporters than taking control of the political system.20 As the group neared Toronto, they were broken up by loyalist guards.21 Trying to regroup and lead a stronger uprising, the rebels fled to Montgomery’s Tavern.22 On December 7th the loyalists marched in and the rebels were easily defeated.23 William escaped into the United States and tried to plan a new revolt from Navy Island in the Niagara River.24 The Canadian loyalists once again defeated him by bombarding the island and sinking their supply ship, effectively ending his rebellion.25 William was exiled from Canada, so he moved to New York where he founded Mackenzie’s Gazette, a new controversial newspaper.26 Soon after the founding, he was convicted of being in violation of the United States neutrality laws.27 He was imprisoned for a year, causing him to take ill, and fall in even deeper debt.28 He spent ten years in the United States, working for the New York Daily Tribune and writing several books.29 In 1849 he received a pardon from the Canadian government and returned.30 He resumed his journalistic and political careers, serving as MLA for Haldimand until he retired in 1857.31 William passed away in August of 1861 in his home at Toronto.32 He left seven children with Isabel Baxter, whom he married in 1822. 33

1 “William Lyon Mackenzie,” Canadian History, www.electricscotland.com/escgi 2 “Mackenzie, William Lyon,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com 3 “William Lyon Mackenzie,” Canadian History, [|__www.electricscotland.com/escgi__] 4 “Mackenzie, William Lyon,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com 5 “William Lyon Mackenzie,” Canadian History, [|__www.electicscotland.com/escgi__] 6 Ibid 7 Ibid 8 Ibid 9 Ibid 10 Ibid 11 “Biography- William Lyon Mackenzie,” City of Toronto, [|__www.toronto.ca/toronto_history/mayors_reeves/bio_mackenzie.htm__] 12 Ibid 13 Ibid 14 Ibid 15 Ibid 16 “Mackenzie, William Lyon,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, [|__www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com__] 17 Ibid 18 Ibid 19 Ibid 20 Ibid 21 Ibid 22 Ibid 23 Ibid 24 Ibid 25 Ibid 26 Ibid 27 Ibid 28 Ibid 29 Ibid 30 Ibid 31 Ibid 32“William Lyon Mackenzie,” Canadian History, www.electricscotland.com/escgi 33 Ibid