John Denison (Upper Canada)
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John Denison was an early settler of
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 ...
. He was a militia officer and became a member of Upper Canada's notorious
family compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today's Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...
. Through the friendship between his family and Peter Russell (a senior administrator of the new province) and his sister Elizabeth Russell, Denison and his family became one of the province's richest. Denison's wife, the former Sophia Taylor, had been a childhood friend with Elizabeth. When Simcoe learned he would be appointed Lieutenant Governor, he lined up individuals to accompany him, who would be appointed to positions of influence. They would, in effect, fill a role similar to that of the landed gentry in English counties - this was the family compact. Simcoe had picked Russell, who, in turn, encouraged Denison to join them. Denison, his wife and three sons arrived in
Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...
in 1792. He advertized an invitation for farmers to cultivate
barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
the same year and used that barley to open a brewery the following year. At 57, he led a militia company during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
, with his three sons serving under him. A dozen years near the top of the provincial administration had made Russell the largest landowner in the province. He was also a slave owner. His sister Elizabeth became the province's largest landowner, when she inherited his property on his death in 1808. She gave Amy Pompadour to her friend Sophia. Pompadour has been described as the last slave in the province. Denison family tradition states they later freed her.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denison, John John Denison Businesspeople in brewing Denison, John 1824 deaths 1755 births