John Langton (April 7, 1808 – March 19, 1894) was Canada's first Auditor General. He was born in

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

, Lancashire, England in 1808 and studied at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He emigrated 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 1833 and settled near

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

. He worked for a time in the timber trade. In 1841, he was elected to the council for the Colborne District, becoming warden in 1848. In 1851, Langton was elected to 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 ...

for

; he was reelected in 1854. In 1855, he was appointed the Auditor of the Province of Canada and was also appointed as a member of the newly formed Board of Audit; he resigned his seat in the assembly the following year. He served as Auditor for the remaining tenure of the Province of Canada and the first decade of the Dominion of Canada; it was Langton who led in the production of the first financial statements of the Dominion of Canada in spite of many challenges. He also served on the senate for the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Langton moved with the government to

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

in 1859 and was president of the

Literary and Historical Society of Quebec The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec (LHSQ) was the first historical society A historical society is non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, and promoting the history of a particular place, group of p ...

. After

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

in 1867, Langton was appointed the head of the federal Board of Audit. In 1870, he was named Deputy Minister of Finance and Secretary to the Treasury Board, while maintaining his role as Auditor General. The

Auditor General An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...

's function was later to be separated from the finance department. He retired in 1878. From 1880 to 1882, he served as president of the

Canadian Institute The Royal Canadian Institute for Science (RCIScience), known also as the Royal Canadian Institute, is a Canadian nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting the public with Canadian science. History The organization was formed in Toronto as t ...

. He died in

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 ...

in 1894.

References

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External links

Langton (John) Family archival papers
held at th
University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langton, John 1808 births 1894 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West 19th-century Canadian civil servants People from Ormskirk English emigrants to Canada Auditors general of Canada Canadian federal deputy ministers