John White (June 8, 1811 – May 3, 1897) was an

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

lumber merchant and political figure. He represented Halton in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

as a Liberal member from 1867 to 1874.

Biography

Born in

Omagh Omagh (; from , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. Northern Ireland's c ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

, Ireland, in 1811, White came 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 ...

with his family in 1823, first settling in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

, and was educated in

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 ...

. He served on the council of Gore District for nine years, and then, after moving to Halton County, was subsequently elected to that council. White was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada consisted of the former province of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East (now Quebec), and Upper Canada ...

for Halton in 1851, defeated in 1854, and returned once more in 1858, serving until

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. In 1867, he was elected as the first MP for Halton in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the new

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

, where he served until his narrow defeat in the 1874 election. When the newly elected MP,

Daniel Black Chisholm Daniel Black Chisholm (November 30, 1832 – September 22, 1898) was a farmer, lawyer and mayor of Hamilton, Ontario from 1871–1872. In the 1872 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada representing Hamilton a ...

, was later unseated because of bribery undertaken by his agents, White decided not to stand for re-election, and retired in favour of

William McCraney William McCraney (15 December 1831 – 21 June 1911) was a businessman and political figure in Ontario, Canada. He represented Halton in the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal member from 1875 to 1878 and from 1882 to 1887. Biography ...

who won the 1875 byelection. White was known as a horse breeder, and several horses owned by White and his brother James won the

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate from 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race and the oldest continuously run race in North America, having been founded in 1860. It is run at a distance of for a ma ...

, including the first running of this event. At the time of his death, his horses had won the Plate more than any other owner's to that date. He also served as Captain and Adjutant in the 3rd Battalion, and was later, upon the creation of the active militia in 1867, Lieutenant in the 20th Halton Battalion of the Canadian militia (one of the predecessors of the

Lorne Scots The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of the 4th Canadian Division's 32 Canadian Brigade Group. Organization The sub-units of the Lorne Scots are in the follo ...

). White was married twice: to Mehitabel Post in 1836 and to Louisa Knight in 1849. He died in Milton at the age of 85.

Electoral record

References

External links

* 1811 births 1897 deaths People from Omagh Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Canadian racehorse owners and breeders Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Immigrants to Upper Canada 19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada {{Liberal-Ontario-MP-stub