Luther Hamilton Holton (January 22, 1817 – March 14, 1880) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

businessman and political figure. He represented

Châteauguay Châteauguay ( , , ) is an off-island suburbs, off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, located on both the Châteauguay River and Lake Saint-Louis, Lac St-Louis, which is a section of the St. Lawrence River. The population of the ...

as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

member 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 ...

from 1867 to 1880. He became Minister of Finance, Governor of

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, board member of the

Montreal Board of Trade The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (until 2016: Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal) () is an association of businesses and businesspeople in Greater Montreal. In its own words it serves to "act as the voice of Montréal's busin ...

, and an early developer of the railroads in Canada.

Early life and education

He was born at Sheffield's Corners in

Leeds County Leeds County is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario. The county was first surveyed in 1792 as one of the nineteen counties created by Sir John Graves Simcoe in preparation for the United Empire Loyalists to settle here. The count ...

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 1817 and went 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 ...

to live with his uncle after his father's death in 1826. At the age of 12, after completing his schooling, he became a clerk in his uncle's business. Seven years later, he joined the firm of Henderson and Hooker, who were involved in transporting goods and passengers along the St. Lawrence and lower

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

; in 1845, he became a senior partner in the firm, now Hooker and Holton, on Henderson's death. In 1842, he helped found the Unitarian Society of Montreal. In 1846, he was elected to the

. He supported reciprocity in trade with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and, for a time, he supported annexation. During the 1850s, he became involved in railway development and played an important role in the development of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

in Canada. For a time, he was a director for the Grand Trunk and, in 1853, formed a firm with

Alexander Tilloch Galt Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, (September 6, 1817 – September 19, 1893) was a politician and Fathers of Confederation, Father of Confederation, the Canadian Confederation, union of British North American colonies into Canada. Early life He w ...

and others which was contracted to extend their tracks from

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 ...

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes, ...

. Both Holton and Galt were heavily criticized for taking advantage of their government connections to win the contract and gain government subsidies. He was a member of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

for Montreal from 1850 to 1851. In 1854, he 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 ...

and represented the city of Montreal. He supported an elected

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 ...

, secularization of the clergy reserves and putting an end to seigneurial tenure. In 1857, he retired from his association with the Grand Trunk with the intention of devoting his attention to politics but was defeated in the next general election. In 1862, he was elected to the Legislative Council for Victoria District. In 1863, he resigned to become minister of finance in the government of

John Sandfield Macdonald John Sandfield Macdonald, (December 12, 1812 – June 1, 1872) was the joint premier of the Province of Canada from 1862 to 1864. He was also the first premier of Ontario from 1867 to 1871, one of the four founding provinces created at Can ...

and

Antoine-Aimé Dorion Sir Antoine-Aimé Dorion (January 17, 1818May 31, 1891) was a French Canadian politician and jurist. Early years Dorion was born in Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade into a family with liberal values that had been sympathetic to the Patriotes in 1837 ...

; when he ran for a seat in the Legislative Assembly, he was defeated in Montreal Centre but elected in Châteauguay. In 1864, Holton transferred the public accounts from the

Bank of Upper Canada The Bank of Upper Canada was established in 1821 under a charter granted by the legislature of Upper Canada in 1819 to a group of Kingston merchants. The charter was appropriated by the more influential Executive Councillors to the Lt. Governor, t ...

to the

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (, ), abbreviated as BMO (pronounced ), is a Canadian multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank, making it Canada ...

, which led to the failure of the Upper Canada bank a few years later. He opposed

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 ...

because of his concerns about its effect on Lower Canada, but, after 1867, helped promote its acceptance in Quebec. He represented Montréal-Centre in the Quebec Legislative Assembly from 1871 until 1874, when the

dual mandate A dual mandate occurs when an official serves in or holds multiple public positions simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain, double-dipping in the United States, and ''cumul des mandats'' in France. Thus, if ...

became illegal (holding seats both federally and provincially). He supported amnesty for

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis in Canada, Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of ...

. He also served as a Governor of

from 1876 to 1880. He died in office at

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

in 1880. His son

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

succeeded him as representative for Châteauguay in the House of Commons.

Electoral history

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holton, Lurther Hamilton 1817 births 1880 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Montreal Annexation Manifesto signers Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Anglophone Quebec people Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) 19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec