John Stoughton Dennis
John Stoughton Dennis , CMG (born October 19, 1820 in Kingston , Upper Canada , † July 7, 1885 in Kingsmere, Québec ) was a Canadian surveyor , officer and high-ranking official . An expedition led by him to re-measure the Red River Colony was the trigger for the Red River Rebellion in 1869 , which led to the founding of the province of Manitoba the following year .
biography
Dennis received his training at Victoria College in Cobourg and began working as a surveyor in 1842. He has been involved in the planning of numerous localities, mainly in Bruce County , Haliburton County , Muskoka District , Parry Sound District, and Nipissing District . He also planned Indian reservations on Lake Huron and Lake Superior . Dennis was active in the militia and rose to lieutenant colonel in the cavalry. In 1866 he had orders to defend Fort Erie against an attack by the Fenian Brotherhood , but his unit had to withdraw with heavy losses.
Public Works Secretary William McDougall sent Dennis and other surveyors to the Red River Colony in 1869 to survey plots for new settlers. A Métis group led by Louis Riel stopped the surveyors on October 11th and forced them to stop their work. In vain, Dennis asked Governor William Mactavish to punish the troublemakers. McDougall, however, gave him permission to recruit a contingent of armed men to put an end to the riot, but the call was largely ignored.
After the proclamation of the Provisional Government on December 8th, Dennis returned to Ontario and initially worked as the private secretary of Lieutenant Governor William Pearce Howland . In 1871 the federal government appointed him the highest surveyor-general of Canada, and in 1878 he was appointed vice minister of the interior. In 1880 he traveled to London with a delegation to raise funds to finance the Canadian Pacific Railway . He retired at the end of the same year.
Web links
- John Stoughton Dennis . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dennis, John Stoughton |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian officer and surveyor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 19, 1820 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kingston , Upper Canada |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 7, 1885 |
| Place of death | Kingsmere, Quebec |