David Lewis Macpherson

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David Lewis Macpherson

Sir David Lewis Macpherson , KCMG , PC (born September 12, 1818 in Inverness , Scotland , † August 16, 1896 at sea) was a Canadian politician and businessman . He played a leading role in building the Canadian rail network. From 1867 until his death he was a member of the Senate , from 1883 to 1885 he was Minister of the Interior.

biography

At the age of 16, Macpherson followed the example of his siblings and immigrated to Canada. He first worked as an office clerk in his brother's shipping company in Montreal and became a senior partner in 1842. In 1844 he married the daughter of a respected trader. Together with Alexander Tilloch Galt and Luther Hamilton Holton , he took over the majority of the Montreal and Kingston Railway , which was part of a planned connection between Montreal and Hamilton . He participated in a construction company that had been awarded the contract to extend the Grand Trunk Railway to Upper Canada .

In 1853 Macpherson settled in Toronto . He helped found the Toronto Rolling Mills Company , which supplied rails to the Grand Trunk Railway. He was also a director of the Bank of Upper Canada . His interest in acquiring the building rights for the Intercolonial Railway led him into politics. In 1864 he was elected to the Canadian Parliament. In 1867 he was appointed senator . Macpherson was a member of the arbitration tribunal that regulated the financial settlement of the separation of the Province of Canada into the Provinces of Ontario and Québec . He successfully fought against Treasury Secretary John Rose's bill to reorganize banking; some of his own suggestions were incorporated into the Banking Act of 1871.

From 1880 to 1883 Macpherson was chairman ( speaker ) of the Senate and Minister without portfolio . In 1883 Prime Minister John Macdonald appointed him Secretary of the Interior. He sought to encourage immigration to western Canada to areas along the proposed Canadian Pacific Railway , but in the absence of a railroad, settlers preferred parcels in the western United States . Problems with land rights, the delay in making decisions, and a general lack of understanding of the Métis' concerns led to the Northwest Rebellion in what is now the province of Saskatchewan in 1885 . In August of the same year he resigned as minister.

Macpherson suffered from diabetes in the last few years of his life . Every year he spent the summer and autumn in Europe, mainly in his villa in Sanremo on the Italian Riviera. He died in August 1896 while crossing from England to Canada and was buried in Toronto.

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personal data
SURNAME Macpherson, David Lewis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH Inverness , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH August 16, 1896
Place of death at sea