English-Canadians

Author: David Newman
Published on: Apr 24, 2001

April 23rd is Saint George's Day, and although very known, there's less partying than for Saint Patrick. Saint George was a guy who killed a dragon and now he's the Patron Saint of England. To celebrate this day, I present to you brief biographies of English-born Canadians who have made an impact on Canada.

James Wolfe James Wolfe was born in Westerham, Kent on January 2nd, 1727. James became a soldier early because of the influence of his father, Edward Wolfe who was an officer in the army. He joined his father's regiment at 13 and saw action at 16 years when he fought at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 after which he became a Lieutenant and the next became Captain of the King's Regiment of Foot. During the Seven Year war he was appointed Brigadier-General and was sent to capture Louisbourg. He then led the British army on Quebec where he planned the surprise attack on the plaines of Abraham to capture Quebec, but he died in the battle and became a national hero along with his enemy, Montcalm.

Sir Alexander Galt Alexander Galt was born in London, September 6, 1817 and emigrated with his father, John Galt to Canada in 1835. Galt became a clerk land company in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and slowly climbed the ranks to become commissioner of the company. He began his political career as an Independant for Sherbrooke. In 1858 he became finance minister in Province of Canada. Galt was present at the Quebec and London conference for Confederation and is one of the better known Fathers of Confederation. In 1880 he became the first High Commissioner for Canada. He died in Montreal in 1893.

Sir John Graves Simcoe Being Torontonian, I must include Simcoe, founder of Toronto. He was born in Cotterstock, England in 1752. He became Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada in 1791. In 1787 the Quebec government bought some land from the Mississauga Indians to build York. In 1793, York (Toronto) was founded and replaced Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) as the capital of the newly formed Upper Canada (1791). His view on an aristocratic country and church-state relations led him to have troubles with the Governor-in-Chief and he became Governor of San Domingo. He was appointed commander-in-chief in 1806 but died before he could get there.

The Right Honourable Sir Mackenzie Bowell Mackenzie Bowell was born in Suffolk, England on December 27, 1823 and arrived in Canada in 1832. He became an apprentice printer in Belleville and later owned the Intelligence. He served in the militia durring the Fenian raids on Upper Canada in 1866. Bowell was elected to the Commons in 1867 and re-elected numerous times, until 1891. He played an important part of getting Louis Riel out of parliament in 1874. He became member of the Senate in 1892 but after Prime Minister Thompson died he was appointed Prime Minister by the Governor General. He resigned after he his cabinet was a "nest of traitors" and died in 1917 in Belleville, Ontario.

The Right Honourable John Napier Turner John Turner was born in Surrey England on June 7, 1929. He attended the University of British Columbia and was called to the bar in Quebec in 1954. He was elected to the Commons in 1962 and was a cabinet member in the Pearson Liberals. He was candidate for the 1968 leadership but lost to Trudeau. He became Justice minister in 1968 and then Finance minister in 1972 until his resignation in 1975. He left politics and became a lawyer. When Trudeau retired in 1984, Turner ran for and won the leadership, and became Prime Minister, without a seat. He disolved parliament but the Liberals lost to the Porgressive Conservatives. Turner served as Official Opposition leader and due to a Liberal Senate, managed to block NAFTA until the Tories won in 1988. He stepped down in 1990 and was replaced by Jean Chrétien.