Marshall Spring Bidwell (February 16, 1799 – October 24, 1872) was a lawyer and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of 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 t ...

. He was born in

Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is ...

in 1799, the son of politician

Barnabas Bidwell Barnabas Bidwell (August 23, 1763 – July 27, 1833) was an author, teacher and politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, active in Massachusetts and Upper Canada (now Ontario). Educated at Yale, he practised law in western Massachus ...

. His family settled in Bath in Upper Canada before the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

. He studied with a law firm in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

and was called to the

Ontario Bar The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; fren ...

in 1821. When his father was unseated in 1821 based on allegations of misappropriation of funds in Massachusetts, Bidwell presented himself as a candidate but was declared ineligible. In the April 1823 Lennox and Addington by-election, Bidwell ran against George Ham of Bath where Ham won by 13 votes.

Canadian political career

Bidwell ran in the byelection for Lennox & Addington to replace his father, who had been barred from taking his seat by the legislature. Bidwell was disqualified by the election returning officer under the assumption that if his father was ineligible to run for office Bidwell was unqualified, too. After the byelection, the legislature voided the results because of Bidwell's disqualification. In the second byelection, the returning officer again disqualified Bidwell under similar pretences but the legislature voided the second results. The 1824 general election was called before another byelection could be held and Bidwell was able to run and become elected to the

9th Parliament of Upper Canada The 9th Parliament of Upper Canada was opened 11 January 1825. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in July 1824. All sessions were held at York, Upper Canada. This parliament was dissolved 24 June 1828. The House of Assembly of the 9th ...

. He held the seat until 1836. In 1826 Bidwell represented

William Lyon Mackenzie William Lyon Mackenzie (March12, 1795 August28, 1861) was a Scottish Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify elite members of Upper Canada. He represented Yo ...

in his civil lawsuit against rioters in the Types Riot. In 1828, he helped introduce a bill which made it easier for American-born residents to become citizens. He also lobbied 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 bra ...

within the province. In 1828, he was elected speaker for the assembly. Although he did not take part in the

Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the 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 rebellion in Lower Canada (p ...

, his name appeared on a banner carried by the rebels and he was forced to leave the province in December 1837. Some sources believe that Lieutenant Governor Sir

Francis Bond Head Sir Francis Bond Head, 1st Baronet KCH PC (1 January 1793 – 20 July 1875), known as "Galloping Head", was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the rebellion of 1837. Biography Head was an officer in the corps of Royal Engineers of ...

forced Bidwell out of the province because Head's refusal to appoint Bidwell as a judge in the province was a factor in his dismissal by the British

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

Return to the United States

Bidwell returned to the United States, settling in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. He was admitted to the New York bar and in 1838 became a partner in the law firm of George Washington Strong, which would later become Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft. He died in

in 1872.

Footnotes

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''Marshall Spring Bidwell family fonds
Archives of Ontario {{DEFAULTSORT:Bidwell, Marshall Spring 1799 births 1872 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada American emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Lawyers in Ontario New York (state) lawyers People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts People from Lennox and Addington County Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Immigrants to Upper Canada People associated with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft 19th-century American lawyers