John Dougall (21 September 1810 – 5 April 1888) was a merchant and the founder of the Montreal Witness.

Biography

Dougall was born in

Paisley, Scotland Paisley ( ; ; ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Water, a tributary of the River ...

and was raised in the cloth trade there. He emigrated to Canada in 1826 and was followed by his brother. He and his brother James Dougall began with the selling of dry goods, first in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, and later moving the business to

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 ...

and York, in the

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 ...

region. They were later joined by their father in 1828.Halpenny, Francess G (1982). Dictionary of Canadian Biography; Volume XI, 1881 to 1890. University of Toronto Press, Les Presses de l'université Laval. In 1845, he founded the Montreal Witness (1845–1938), hostile to Catholics. For example, he persisted in accusing the

mayor of Montreal The mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council. The current mayor is Valérie Plante, who was elected into office on November 5, 2017, and sworn in on November 16. The office of the mayor administers all ci ...

, Charles Wilson, for the Gavazzi Riots. In 1871, Dougall also founded the ''New York Daily Witness'', which had failed by 1878, but his companion ''New York Weekly Witness'' survived, and was later run by Dougall's son James, publishing until 1920.McLean, Scott A. & Michael E. Vance (eds.
William Wye Smith: Recollections of a Nineteenth Century Scottish Canadian
p. 372 (2008) His daughter Lily Dougall was a writer.

Notes

External links

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dougall, John 19th-century births 1886 deaths 19th-century Canadian merchants People from Paisley, Renfrewshire Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Quebec Immigrants to Lower Canada Anglophone Quebec people