Alexander Sproat (June 19, 1834 – August 20, 1890) was an

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land surveyor, businessman and political figure. He represented Bruce North in the

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as a

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member.

Biography

He was born near

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, in 1834, son of Adam Sproat and Eleanor Brown. He studied at Knox College and Queen's College. He came to

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around 1856 as a provincial surveyor and ended up the agent of the

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(his future father-in-law, as well as Crown lands agent, was the agent of the

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, so in effect Alexander's direct competition). He married Alexander McNabb's daughter Eliza in 1861 in Southampton. They were the parents of Marion, Adam, Eleanor. Two other children, Margaret and Mary died in infancy and are buried in Southampton. In 1864, he was appointed treasurer for

Bruce County Bruce County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada comprising eight lower-tier municipalities and with a 2016 population of 66,491. It is named for James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, sixth Governor General of the P ...

, a position he held until 1873. He served as colonel with the Southampton Rifles during the Fenian Raids. In 1866, the volunteer companies of the County Bruce were formed into the 32nd Battalion of Infantry and Alex was made lieutenant colonel in command. In 1867, Alex was elected Conservative MP for North Bruce and sat in the first House of Commons after Confederation (which sat between September 24, 1867, and July 8, 1872). In 1872 he lost his bid for re-election by a handful of votes. He also served as the mayor of Walkerton in 1876 and also served a term as reeve. By 1880, Alexander and his family had moved west to Prince Albert. In that year, he was named registrar for the District of Prince Albert in the

District of Saskatchewan The District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's North-West Territories. It was formed in 1882 was later enlarged then abolished with the creation of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905. Much of the a ...

. He helped found the Curling Club of Saskatchewan and served as its first president. He organized and served as the first lodge master of L.O.L. No. 1506, the first Orange Lodge in the

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in 1882. When the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of S ...

broke out in 1885 the

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, who were sent to Duck Lake, were sworn in by Colonel Sproat, his son Adam (Bruce) among them. His brother-in-law Alexander McNabb was wounded in the battle and his friend John Morton was killed. Alexander Sproat died at Prince Albert on August 17, 1890.

References

* *
''Saskatchewan curling : heartland tradition'', WP Argan (1991)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sproat, Alexander 1834 births 1890 deaths Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Canadian Militia officers Prince Albert Volunteers Mayors of places in Ontario