Brave warrior politician died a penniless debtor
IT HAPPENED IN ONTARIO
Sir Allan Napier MacNab was at his best as a man of action.
He was born in 1798 at Newark, later known as Niagara-on-theLake, to Allan MacNab, a member of Sir John Graves Simcoe’s Queen’s Rangers of the American Revolution. His father immigrated to Canada after the war.
At the age of 14, he joined the local militia and fought in some of the major battles of the War of 1812, including defending York (Toronto) from the American assault, Sackets Harbour at Lake Ontario’s east end, Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain, and the Raid on Black Rock in New York. And at the attack on Fort Niagara, he led the Canadian forlorn hope charge that carried the day. MacNab and 20 fellow militia captured two American defensive positions of 20 men each, with bayonet charges.
It could be argued this was some of the best work he would ever do.
MacNab did not handle more passive chores very well. He was eventually called to the bar, but it took about twice as long as normal, because he would not sit and study — not when there was carpentry work to be had, or some other distraction.
His family was not well off, so his education was spotty which also slowed his progression. His father, while a brave solider, wasn’t great with money and was a known bankrupt.
MacNab married in his early 20s, but his first wife died giving birth to their second child, which seemed to have a focussing effect on him. He was called to the bar the next year, 1826. He moved to Hamilton, becoming sheriff of the Gore District, and soon had strong contacts in Oakville and Ancaster. He would use his contacts to amass thousands of acres of land in and around Hamilton and London, Ont.
In 1830 he started his political career, representing Hamilton in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada — a seat he held for 27 years.
He defended the government against moves by reformers. When the Upper Canada Rebellion broke out in 1837, he marched at the head of the militia that paraded up Yonge Street, against the rebels based at Montgomery’s Tavern, pretty much ending the insurrection before it started.
He also served in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1854 to 1856 as premier, and helped to build the Great Western Railway of Ontario.
MacNab also managed to build Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, a massive mansion built in 1835. But his personal finances were seldom stable.
MacNab served Ontario at a time of tumultuous change politically, culturally and economically. He started off as a hard Tory, willing to lead the march against reform but in the end he moderated, calling for leniency for the non-leaders of the rebellion and other changes at odds with that of a “good Tory.”
When MacNab died in 1862, while his estate was fought over by his creditors, the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches battled for his soul. MacNab’s second wife, Mary Stuart, was a Catholic as were his two daughters. Perhaps influenced by his daughter Sophie, MacNab had a deathbed conversion from his Anglican faith to Catholic.
He died penniless.