Sir John Carling, (January 23, 1828 – November 6, 1911) was a Canadian politician and prominent businessman who was associated with the Carling Brewery in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

. The Carling family and its descendants later resided in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Halifax, Brockville,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and Windsor in Canada, as well as

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

Life and career

John Carling was the son of farmer Thomas Carling, who emigrated from Etton in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, England. Arriving to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

in 1818, the family moved to London in 1839, where Thomas founded the Carling Brewery in 1843 using a recipe from his native Yorkshire. In 1849, the brewery was turned over to John and his brother William. His political career began at the municipal level of government, in London, Ontario; then in 1858, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada consisted of the former province of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East (now Quebec), and Upper Canada ...

, representing London. Re-elected to the same constituency in 1862, he briefly served in John A. Macdonald's Cabinet as Receiver General, before the government fell. After

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

in 1867, Carling represented London in both provincial and federal legislatures until such practice was made illegal in 1872. In the 1871 provincial election, he defeated former London mayor Francis Evans Cornish. From 1878 to 1891, he served in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament (MP), holding the position of 7th Postmaster General from 1882 to 1885, and Minister of Agriculture from 1885 to 1891. In this position, he established the Ontario Agricultural College and the Central Experimental Farm near

. In 1888, he simultaneously held the position of Postmaster General for a second time, briefly. After losing the 1891 election to Charles S. Hyman, he was appointed to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

John A. Macdonald. However, the election was disputed and declared void, thus Carling resigned from the Senate in order to run in a by-election in 1892, which he won. He served in the House of Commons until just before the 1896 election, when he resigned and was re-appointed to the Senate. Meanwhile, Carling remained active in London affairs, using his position in the federal government to influence politics and business. In 1875, Carling and his brother William built a new Carling Brewery, and an even larger one was built after the first burned down in 1879. The brewery was one of the largest in Canada, and it rivaled the production of fellow London brewery

Labatt Labatt Brewing Company Limited () is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. In 2004, Interb ...

. Carling also ensured that the Great Western Railway, the London and Port Stanley Railway, and the London, Huron and Bruce Railway passed through London. Due to his influence, the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

began to manufacture their cars in London. In 1878, he established a water commission to provide a water supply to the city. Carling also established the Ontario Hospital for the Insane in London. In 1885, he provided the land on which Wolseley Barracks was established, now the Home Station of The Royal Canadian Regiment and the garrison of the regiment's 4th Battalion. He also facilitated the establishment of Victoria Park. Carling was knighted in 1893 and served in the Senate until his death in 1911. He was buried in London's Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Legacy

In 1927, the Carling Brewery sponsored a trans-Atlantic flight from London (Canada) to

( UK). The plane was named the ''Sir John Carling,'' but both it and its pilots, Terence Tully and James Medcalf, disappeared over the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. Today, there is an arena in London named for him. The town of Port Carling, Ontario, is named in his honour, as are the agricultural buildings in Ottawa. Carling Avenue in Ottawa is named for him as well, as are the neighbourhoods of Carlington and Carlingwood.

Electoral record

Provincial

Federal

References

External links

* *
Thomas Carling commemorative plaque
– recorded on openplaques.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Carling, John 1828 births 1911 deaths Businesspeople from London, Ontario Canadian people of English descent Canadian Methodists Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) senators Canadian senators from Ontario Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George London, Ontario city councillors Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) 19th-century Canadian businesspeople Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Postmasters general of Canada 19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 19th-century members of the Senate of Canada 20th-century members of the Senate of Canada