Alexander Rankin (December 31, 1788 – April 3, 1852) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born merchant and political figure in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

. He represented Northumberland County in the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick A legislature is an assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an ...

from 1827 to 1852. He was born and educated in Mearns parish, the brother of

Robert Rankin Robert Fleming Rankin (born 27 July 1949) is a prolific British author of comedic fantasy novels. Born in Parsons Green, London, he started writing in the late 1970s, and first entered the bestsellers lists with ''Snuff Fiction'' in 1999, by ...

, and son of James Rankin and Helen Ferguson. His uncles,

John Pollok John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and

Arthur Pollok Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

, were cofounders of

Pollok, Gilmour and Company Pollok, Gilmour, and Company was a Glasgow-based timber-importing firm established in 1804 by Allan Gilmour, Sr and the brothers John Pollok and Arthur Pollok. The company soon became the leading British firm in the North American timber trade. B ...

. At the age of 18, he was hired as a clerk by

, a

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

firm that dealt in timber, and was sent with James Gilmour to

to establish a branch of the firm (Gilmour, Rankin and Company) on the Miramichi River. They established a small community called Gretna Green (later

Douglastown Douglastown is a hamlet in Kinnettles in Angus, Scotland, three miles south-west of Forfar. It takes its name from the landowner who in about 1789 provided land for James Ivory & Co. (in which Mr Douglas was a partner) to build a flax mill to ...

) as well as stores, wharves and a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

. Besides exporting timber, they also sold goods supplied from Scotland. In 1825, the operation suffered extensive damage in the

Miramichi Fire The 1825 Dee, or Great Miramichi Fire, or Great Fire of Miramichi, as it came to be known, was a massive forest fire complex that devastated forests and communities throughout much of northern New Brunswick in October 1825. It ranks among the three ...

. However, they were able to rebuild quickly with the help of the parent company. Rankin also became involved in timber operations at Bathurst (Ferguson, Rankin and Company), Dalhousie and Campbellton (Arthur Ritchie and Company). In politics as well as in his timber operations, Rankin frequently found himself competing with Joseph Cunard. In elections in 1837 and 1843, Rankin supported John Ambrose Street against candidates supported by Cunard. Gilmour retired from the business in 1842, selling his interest to Rankin. Rankin was named to the province's Executive Council in 1847. With Cunard, he was a commissioner for lights in the

Gulf of Saint Lawrence , image = Baie de la Tour.jpg , alt = , caption = Gulf of St. Lawrence from Anticosti National Park, Quebec , image_bathymetry = Golfe Saint-Laurent Depths fr.svg , alt_bathymetry = Bathymetry ...

and served on the board of health for the region. For many years, he also served as justice of the peace. Rankin died unexpectedly in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

during a visit to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

at the age of 63.

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

Bibliography

*John Rankin,
A history of our firm: being some account of the firm of Pollok, Gilmour and Co. and its offshoots and connections, 1804-1920
', publ. 1921] 1788 births 1852 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick People from Miramichi, New Brunswick Colony of New Brunswick people Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation New Brunswick People from Renfrewshire Canadian businesspeople in timber Canadian justices of the peace {{NewBrunswick-MLA-stub