Acheson Gosford Irvine,

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

(December 7, 1837 – January 8, 1916) served as Commissioner of the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

(NWMP) from November 1, 1880, to March 31, 1886. Irvine was born in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

in 1837, the son of John George Irvine, a captain in the Royal Quebec volunteers. Acheson became Assistant Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police in 1876, and was promoted to commissioner in 1880. Irvine was involved with the events of the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (), was an armed rebellion of Métis under Louis Riel and an associated uprising of Cree and Assiniboine mostly in the District of Saskatchewan, against the Government of Canada, Canadian government. Important events i ...

of 1885. On March 17, 1885, Irvine received a telegraph from Superintendent Leif Crozier that there was trouble near

Fort Carlton Fort Carlton was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post from 1795 until 1885. It was located along the North Saskatchewan River not far from Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, Duck Lake, in what is now the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The fort wa ...

and reinforcements were required. On March 18, Irvine left Regina, Assiniboia, with 100 men, arriving in

Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada, after Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina. It is situated near the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway ...

, on March 25. On March 26, Irvine set out for Fort Carlton with 83 police and 25 civilian volunteers. Shortly before his arrival there, a skirmish took place at Duck Lake, outside

Batoche Batoche, which lies between Prince Albert and Saskatoon in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, was the site of the historic Battle of Batoche during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. The battle resulted in the defeat of Louis Riel and his M ...

, between the existing NWMP forces, led by Crozier, and a group of Métis and Indians led by Gabriel Dumont, with the NWMP coming off worst. On March 27, the day after his arrival, Irvine concluded that Fort Carlton was indefensible and pulled the troops out, returning to Prince Albert. The troops returned to Prince Albert unharmed, but Fort Carlton burnt to the ground during the evacuation. Irvine was publicly censured by General Middleton for not attacking Batoche. Acheson Irvine also served as a member of the executive council of the North-West Territories from 1882 to 1886. Following his retirement in 1886, he became warden of the Stony Mountain Penitentiary in Manitoba. He was awarded the

Imperial Service Order The Imperial Service Order was established by King Edward VII in August 1902. It was awarded on retirement to the administration and clerical staff of the Civil Service throughout the British Empire for long and meritorious service. Normally a pe ...

in 1902. In 1945, an RCMP Commissioner-Class ship was named after him. The patrol vessel ''Irvine'' (originally named HMCS ''Noranda'') had started off life as a Bangor-class

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

in the Royal Canadian Navy. In 1962 the RCMP sold the ship, which was converted to a yacht, the ''Miriana''; she sank at

Montego Bay Montego Bay () is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore ...

, Jamaica in May 1971.

References

''Manitoba Historical Society - Acheson Gosford Irvine''

''The Canadian Encyclopedia - Acheson Gosford Irvine''Archived
at the Wayback Machine. {{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, Acheson Gosford 1837 births 1916 deaths Canadian Companions of the Imperial Service Order 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioners People of the North-West Rebellion Pre-Confederation Quebec people