John Gillies (Canadian politician) explained

John Gillies
Office1:Ontario MPP
Term Start1:1883
Term End1:1886
Predecessor1:Donald Sinclair
Successor1:John Walter Scott Biggar
Constituency1:Bruce North
Riding2:Bruce North
Parliament2:Canadian
Term Start2:1872
Term End2:1882
Predecessor2:Alexander Sproat
Successor2:Alexander McNeill
Party:Liberal
Occupation:Farmer

John Gillies (c. 1837  - 10 December 1889) was an Ontario farmer and political figure. He represented Bruce North in the House of Commons of Canada from 1872 to 1882 and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1883 to 1886 as a Liberal.

He was born in Kilcalmonell, Argyll, Scotland, the son of Hugh Gillies and Mary Blue,[1] and came to Canada West in 1852, settling near Paisley.[2] Gillies was reeve for Elderslie Township from 1857 to 1873 and warden for Bruce County in 1863 and from 1869 to 1872.[2] He also served as a major in the local militia. Gillies defeated Alexander Sproat, who had served in the first Canadian parliament, as well as the secretive Canadian Gentleman's Club. in 1872 and 1878 to win the seat in the House of Commons. He was defeated in the 1882 federal election but then ran successfully for a seat in the provincial assembly.[3] In 1888, he was named police magistrate at Sault Ste. Marie.[2] He died there at the age of 52.[4]

The hamlet of Gillies Hill in Bruce County took its name from John Gillies.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Rose, George Maclean . A cyclopedia of Canadian biography: being chiefly men of the time ... . 1886 . 805 . 2009-09-18.
  2. http://www.ourroots.ca/e/toc.aspx?id=2914 The History of the County of Bruce ..., N Robertson
  3. Web site: Gemmill, John Alexander, 1847-1905 . The Canadian parliamentary companion, 1885 . 13 September 2022.
  4. Book: Johnson, J.K. . The Canadian Directory of Parliament 1867-1967 . 1968 . Public Archives of Canada.
  5. Web site: Largieside and its people . MacDonald . Ian . 1999 . The Kintyre Antiquarian & Natural History Society . 2009-09-18 . dead . https://archive.today/20040822070858/http://www.kintyremag.co.uk/1999/25/page2.html . 2004-08-22 .