A Scot In Canada
Dundee-born William Lyon Mackenzie challenged the establishment in his new land
Kenny MacAskill shares the story of radical Scots-Canadian William Lyon Mckenzie
YOU must be a radical hero if, long after your death, a contingent serving in the Spanish Civil War’s International Brigade is named after you. For along with the USA’S Abraham Lincoln Brigade, the Italian Garibaldi Battalion and the Irish Connolly Column, from Canada came the Mackenzie-papineau Battalion.
Named after leaders of the rebellions of 1837 in Upper and Lower Canada – it reflects the distinct histories of those regions. Louis Jean Papineau was a radical in Lower Canada, now Quebec, but his Upper Canada counterpart was William Lyon Mackenzie – an emigrant Scot.
Indeed, it was in his native land that Mackenzie’s radicalism was forged. Born in 1795 in Dundee, it is suggested that his grandfathers fought at Culloden.
His father, who died weeks after his birth, was a weaver and Mackenzie was brought up by his widowed mother who ran a store to make ends meet.
She was deeply religious and a member of a dissenting church. In those days, the archetypal Scottish radical was described as a “dissenting weaver”, as his English or Welsh counterpart was a Methodist one.
It was morality and the arguments of the Rights of Man that fired up the likes of Mackenzie. He and his colleagues should be seen in the context of their time however, as issues over the rights of indigenous people were largely ignored.
Mackenzie was also socially conservative on many issues – as were many radicals then and since. As
temperance ran deep in many, with him it was gambling and prostitution. Though this didn’t stop him having a child out of wedlock which saw him fined and shamed by the Presbytery.
His son, however, along with his widowed mother, later joined Mackenzie in Canada
Life wasn’t easy for young Mackenzie, but he gained an education in his home city, and at an early age began writing articles for local journals.
Initially he joined his mother managing the store, but as recession hit after the Napoleonic Wars the shop closed. Mackenzie then headed to London for work before crossing the ocean in 1820.
Landing in North America, he settled in Upper Canada, in what is now Ontario.
He had a variety of jobs from bookkeeper and storekeeper to journalism and in 1824 he moved to Queenston establishing the Colonial Advocate, which became the journal for the growing reform movement.
At that time, agitation was sweeping Canada, as it was in Britain, with people calling for their democratic rights and greater equality.
Mackenzie’s political interest was growing and in autumn 1824 he moved his paper to York, soon to be renamed Toronto, the site of the Provincial Parliament.
It was there that his political career took off and led the radical wing of the reform movement.
Repression was not as severe in his new homeland as it was in Britain, where Peterloo and the crushing of the 1820 Rising had occurred shortly before his departure. But it still wasn’t without risk.
Mackenzie became a marked man to conservative forces and the political establishment.
In 1826, his printing office was ransacked and he often faced verbal and even physical assault, as well as lawsuits.
A small but thrawn man, he persevered regardless. His popularity grew and in 1828 he was elected to the Upper Canada Legislative Assembly for the York constituency. Running as an independent, he forswore the bribery and corruption practised by many others, securing support in rural parts with his calls for increased rights and equality.
In the Assembly he was as radical as he had been in print and debate before his election. This saw him expelled, but such was his support that he was returned in by-elections that followed.
He also stood for the council, becoming Toronto’s first Mayor in 1834, when reformers swept to power.
“He faced verbal and physical assault, lawsuits” as well as
However, a backlash from conservative forces was coming and he lost his seat in the Legislative Assembly in 1836.
Angered at chicanery in that defeat, as well as wider ongoing social and political injustices he prepared to confront the authorities. The following year he led what became known as the Upper Canada Rebellion. A similar rising took place in Lower Canada led by Papineau.
What began as political agitation in his rural base led to armed insurrection as he and followers declared a provisional government and proclaimed democratic reform, before confronting the authorities.
As with the 1820 Rising in Scotland, the mismatch in power and lack of coordination, meant it was swiftly put down. Fleeing to the USA, he continued the struggle but the land he sought sanctuary in soon tired of his efforts to promote war with their neighbour and he found himself jailed in 1839.
Fortunately, he was pardoned the following year as elections neared and President Martin Van Buren was eager to retain radical support. Remaining in exile, Mackenzie held a variety of jobs but also wrote
“Political insurrection” agitation became armed
extensively – his works included a biography of President Martin Van Buren and another on Irish patriots.
In 1849, he was pardoned by Canada and returned to Ontario. Resuming both journalism and political activity, he was elected in 1851 to the newly established Canadian Parliament, serving there until 1858.
Dogged by ill health in his later years, he passed away in 1861. His funeral saw a rallying of reformers and a Celtic Cross adorns his Toronto grave.
Some argue over the extent of his radicalism and his contribution, but when your name is taken by the International Brigades 75 years after your death, you most certainly made a mark.
Next month your Scottish history expert Kenny Macaskill remembers Ballencrieff-born James Murray, the soldier-general who became the first British governor of Quebec in 1763.