Colonel The Hon. John Simcoe Macaulay (13 October 1791 – 20 December 1855) was a businessman 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 ...

. In 1845, before retiring to

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 ...

, he donated the land on which the Church of the Holy Trinity (Toronto) was built.

Early life

He was born in

in 1791, the son of James Macaulay and Elizabeth Tuck Hayter. His parents came to

in 1792, enjoying the patronage of Lieutenant-Governor Sir

John Graves Simcoe Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 u ...

, who was also his godfather and for whom he was named. Macaulay grew up in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

and attended John Strachan's school in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. In 1805, he went to

to study at the Royal Military Academy in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

. He became a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

and served with them during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, seeing action at the

Battle of Barrosa The Battle of Barrosa (Chiclana, 5 March 1811, also known as the Battle of Chiclana or Battle of Cerro del Puerco) was part of an unsuccessful manoeuvre by an Anglo-Iberian force to break the French siege of Cádiz during the Peninsular War ...

. He remained with his regiment until 1827, when he was appointed Professor of Fortification at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

Toronto

When he resigned in 1835, he returned to

York, Upper Canada York was a town and the second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the Old Toronto, old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location fo ...

, which had been renamed

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 ...

the previous year, to manage his inheritance. He made his home at Elmsley House, which had belonged (though he never lived there) to his father-in-law, and was afterwards lived in by

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, (20 July 181120 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served as Governor of Jamaica (1842–1846), Governor General of the Province of Canada (1847– ...

. Macauley became a director of the Bank of Upper Canada. In 1836, he was appointed Surveyor-General for Upper Canada by the new Lieutenant-Governor, Sir

Francis Bond Head Sir Francis Bond Head, 1st Baronet KCH PC (7 December 1793 – 20 July 1875) was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the rebellion of 1837. Biography Head was an officer in the corps of Royal Engineers of the British Army from 181 ...

. The appointment was disputed because the candidate favoured by the

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 ...

had been ignored and others did not consider Macaulay a genuine resident of the province. Head advised Macaulay to submit his resignation to the Colonial Secretary, expecting it to be refused, but it was accepted and John Macaulay, no relation, was appointed to the post instead. In 1839, he was elected to the

Legislative Council of Upper Canada The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the upper house governing the province of Upper Canada. Modelled after the British House of Lords, it was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was specified that the council should consist ...

. Two years later, he was elected to the Toronto city council but, again frustrated by the

, he resigned after Henry Sherwood was elected mayor instead of him.

Family

In 1825, at

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, he had married Anne Gee Elmsley, the eldest daughter of The Hon. John Elmsley, Chief Justice of Upper Canada, by his wife Mary, daughter of Captain Benjamin Hallowell (1723–1799) R.N., of Roxbury; the Commissioner of Customs for the Port of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

at the time of the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was a seminal American protest, political and Mercantilism, mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, during the American Revolution. Initiated by Sons of Liberty activists in Boston in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colo ...

. Mrs Macaulay's mother was from a distinguished

family, but as a

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

her grandfather had lost his estates at both Roxbury and

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, as well as all his possessions, and was sentenced to death if he ever set foot in Boston again. On that side, Mrs Macaulay was a niece of Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell-Carew, of

Beddington Beddington is a suburban settlement in the London Borough of Sutton on the boundary with the London Borough of Croydon. Beddington is formed from a village of the same name which until early the 20th century still included land which became ...

Park,

, and his brother Ward Hallowell (who was later known as

Ward Nicholas Boylston Ward Nicholas Boylston (1747–1828; born Ward Hallowell), a descendant of the physician Zabdiel Boylston, was an American merchant, a philanthropist, and benefactor of Harvard University. Biography Boylston was born in Boston, Province of ...

), a great benefactor of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

; they were two of the nephews of Governor Moses Gill. Mrs Macaulay's maternal grandmother, Mary (Boylston) Hallowell, was a first cousin of

Susanna Boylston Susanna Boylston Adams Hall (March 5, 1708 – April 21, 1797) was an early- American socialite, mother of the second U.S. president, John Adams and the paternal grandmother of the sixth president, John Quincy Adams. Early life Susanna was ...

, the mother of the 2nd

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

, and grandmother of the 6th President,

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

Retirement

In 1845, disgruntled by political life in

, Macaulay sold his property there for a profit of £21,000. He donated part of the gardens (known as Macaulay's Fields) of the home in which he had grown up in to the Anglican Church, where in 1847 the Church of the Holy Trinity, was built. Macaulay moved with his family to

. They took up residence at Rede Court, near Rochester, not far from Macaulay's first cousin, General George William Powlett Bingham C.B., J.P., o
The Vines, Rochester
He did travel back to North America in 1852, on the SS Great Britain, however he died in Rochester in 1855, and his wife survived him until 1862. They were the parents of eight surviving children. None of their daughters married, and they all lived together in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

. One son lived in

, another in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and another in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''John Elmsley and John Simcoe Macaulay collection
Archives of Ontario {{DEFAULTSORT:Macaulay, John 1791 births 1855 deaths Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Anglo-Scots Canadian people of Scottish descent English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Macaulay, John Simcoe Macaulay, John Simcoe Royal Engineers officers British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Immigrants to Upper Canada