John Collins was an influential Deputy
Surveyor General in the
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...
shortly after it was captured by the British.
[
]
Personal life
According to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography
The ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' (''DCB''; ) is a dictionary of biographical entries for individuals who have contributed to the history of Canada. The ''DCB'', which was initiated in 1959, is a collaboration between the University of Toro ...
little is known of Collins's early life.[ Samuel Johannes Holland, Surveyor General when Collins was appointed his deputy, on September 8, 1764, wrote that he had been ''“imployed for many years as a deputy Surveyor in the Southern Colonys”''.
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography notes he was a prominent ]Freemason
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
.[ His wife, Margaret, died in 1770, and he had at least one child, a daughter, Mary, who married John Rankin, also a surveyor.
]
Work as a surveyor, in Canada
Collins was appointed Deputy Surveyor General on September 8, 1764.[
His first major assignment, in 1765 was to survey the border between Canada and the ]Province of New York
The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...
.[
On September 23, 1787, Collins represented ]Governor General
Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
Lord Dorchester
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 176 ...
in the negotiation of the Toronto Purchase
The Toronto Purchase was the sale of lands in the Toronto area from the Mississaugas of New Credit to the British crown. An initial, disputed, agreement was made in 1787, in exchange for various items. The agreement was revisited in 1805, int ...
.[
]
Provincial legislator and administrator
In the Province of Canada the Legislative Council
A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
's laws were not fully binding on the Governor, and the Governor appointed many of its members. Collins was first appointed to the Legislative Council in 1773.[ And was entrusted with positions on multiple administrative committees.
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, John
Surveyors
1795 deaths