John Prince, (March 12, 1796 – November 30, 1870) was a lawyer, militia officer, gentleman farmer and political figure in

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 ...

and

Canada West 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 ...

Early life

Prince was born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1796, likely in

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1821. He entered practice in

Westerham Westerham is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. I ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and then

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

. In 1823 he married Mary Ann Millington, with whom he had several children. In 1833, he moved with his family to

, to cut off contact with his ne'er-do-well father.

Legal and business career

The Princes settled in

Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

(now

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

) in Upper Canada. In 1835, he was named justice of the peace in the Western District. He was also appointed a commissioner in bankruptcy. He was called to the bar of Upper Canada in 1838. In 1844, he was appointed

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

. Prince was involved in the development of railways and mines in the southwest part of the province, being president or major stockholder in several companies, but his legal practice appeared to be the major source of his income through his career.

The 1838 Patriot War

The

Upper Canada rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the Oligarchy, oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the Lower Canada Rebe ...

broke out late in 1837. In early 1838, there were cross-border raids into Essex county from the American side of the boundary, by groups known as the Hunter Patriots, who wanted to establish American-style republicanism in Upper Canada. The raids into Essex County became known as the

Patriot War The Patriot War was a conflict along the Canada–United States border in which bands of raiders attacked the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British colony of Upper Canada more than a dozen times between December 1837 and Decemb ...

. Prince joined the local militia to aid in repelling the raiders. He was involved in the capture of the schooner ''Anne'' from the Patriots in January 1838, and in the battles of

Fighting Island Fighting Island is a island in the Detroit River, and is the largest Canadian island in the river. It is part of the town of LaSalle, Ontario, Canada, opposite Wyandotte, Michigan, and downriver from Detroit and Windsor. History Originally p ...

(February) and

Pelee Island Pelee may refer to: *Pelee, Ontario, an island in Lake Erie, Canada *Point Pelee National Park, a park in Ontario, Canada *Mount Pelée, a volcano in Martinique *Peleus In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was ...

(March). He and some companions captured one of the leaders of the Patriots, Jefferson Thomas Sutherland. The Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Sir George Arthur, considered that Prince acquitted himself well in leading the militia forces under his command. He was appointed the colonel of the 3rd Essex militia. In late November, 1838, when there were rumours of another invasion, Prince was given command of the militia post in Sandwich and was directed to summon all of the local militia. On December 4, 1838, a raiding group of more than 150 men crossed from Detroit to Sandwich. Prince led the militia in dispersing the attack, but also gave the order for execution of anyone who was captured. Five of the captured raiders were summarily shot without trial. Prince was heavily criticised for his conduct, but enjoyed strong support locally. A year later, a military court exonerated him.

Political career

Upper Canada

In 1836, Prince was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Li ...

for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. He was very active in his term in the Assembly. Sitting as an independent Reformer, he was successful in getting legislation enacted which was of general benefit to his constituents, including the creation of the Western District bank, land titles regulation, and close season game laws.

Province of Canada

Following the rebellion in Upper Canada, and the similar rebellion in 1837–1838 in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

(now

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, ...

), the British government decided to merge the two provinces into a single province, as recommended by

Lord Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Refo ...

in the

Durham Report The ''Report on the Affairs of British North America'', (, 1839) commonly known as the ''Durham Report'' or ''Lord Durham's Report'', is an important document in the history of Quebec, Ontario, Canada and the British Empire. The notable Briti ...

. The ''Union Act, 1840'', passed by the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

, abolished the two provinces and their separate parliaments, and created 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 ...

, with a single parliament for the entire province, composed of an elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed

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 ...

. Despite facing public criticism for the executions of the Hunter Patriots, a duel, a court martial and a debate in Parliament over his actions, Prince was reelected from Essex in 1841, 1844, 1847 and 1851. He did not participate in the vote on the proposal for the merger of Upper Canada with Lower Canada, as recommended in Lord Durham's Report, but he gave it general support, although he later expressed reservations about some of the provisions of the Union Act, 1840. In the first session of the new Legislative Assembly, Prince supported

Austin Cuvillier Austin Cuvillier (August 20, 1779 – July 11, 1849) was a businessman and political figure in Lower Canada and Canada East. He was a successful ''Canadien'' businessmen, unusual when most businessmen in Lower Canada were British. He also w ...

as Speaker, because Prince considered him a moderate Reformer, like himself, but also because he thought it important to support a bilingual Speaker, especially since a majority of Prince's constituents were French-Canadians. Prince was an Independent throughout his time as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the new Province of Canada. In the first few sessions of the first Parliament, Prince was a qualified supporter of the union, and also a supporter of the government of Lord Sydenham, the

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, ...

. In later sessions of the first Parliament and into the second Parliament, he generally supported the

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

members, who were pressing for

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

However, towards the end of the second Parliament, in 1847, Prince shifted his support to the

Tories A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The T ...

and Conservatives, eventually voting against the

Rebellion Losses Bill The Rebellion Losses Bill (full name: ''An Act to provide for the Indemnification of Parties in Lower Canada whose Property was destroyed during the Rebellion in the years 1837 and 1838'') was a controversial law enacted by the legislature of ...

. In 1857, he was elected to the

Legislative Council of the Province of Canada The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada () was the upper house for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known ...

in the Western division. He was active in promoting legislation for the benefit of the Sandwich and Essex area. Although he had supported the suppression of the rebellion in 1837, Prince was consistent to the theme of independence during his time in the Assembly. In 1850, he argued for the independence of Canada from Britain, while retaining the British connection.

Algoma District

In 1860, he resigned from the Legislative Council to accept an appointment as the first judge in the

Algoma District Algoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The name was created by an American ethnologist, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793–1864), who was appointed Indian agent to the Ojibwe ...

. He moved to

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

, but his wife and family did not accompany him. He died there in 1870 and was buried in a solitary grave on an island in the river across from his residence.

Legacy

Towards the end of his life, Prince's thoughts on independence had evolved to the point where he questioned whether he should have defended Canada and the monarchy. Canadian historian

Fred Landon Fred Landon (November 5, 1880 – August 1, 1969) was a Canadian journalist, historian, librarian, teacher, administrator and specialist in Ontario history. Biography He was born in London, Ontario in 1880 and died there in 1969. He marri ...

refers to Prince in the 1850s as being a duplicitous politician.

In the 1850s...there was more prejudice
gainst the African Diaspora Against may refer to: * ''Against'' (album), 1998 album by Brazilian metal band Sepultura ** "Against" (song) the title track song from the Sepultura album *Against (American band) Against (styled as AgainST) were an American crossover thras ...
in Chatham, due in part to the attitude of a member for parliament for Essex County, who did not hesitate to declare himself the refugees' friend when an election impended, but blackguarded (disparaged) the race at other times, even on the floor of the Canadian Parliament.

Prince Township on

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

near Sault Ste. Marie was named after John Prince. One of Prince's sons,

William Stratton Prince Captain William Stratton Prince (18 April 1824 – 15 November 1881) was a British Army officer, Chief Constable of Toronto (1859–1873) and the first warden of the Toronto Central Prison (1873-1881). As chief, Prince oversaw the militarizati ...

, became Chief Constable of the

Toronto Police Department The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police se ...

and the first warden of

Toronto Central Prison The Toronto Central Prison, also known as the Central Prison, Central Prison for Men, and more colloquially as The Toronto Jail (the third of four Toronto area jails to be given that nickname) was a prison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was a 33 ...