Anthony Manahan (ca 1794 – January 21, 1849) was a businessman 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 the ...

. He was born in

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

around 1794 and went to

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

around 1808. In 1820, he moved to

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, ...

in Upper Canada and began business as a merchant. In 1824, he became manager of the iron works at Marmora which were then owned by Peter McGill; he returned to Kingston in 1831. He became a major in the Hastings militia in 1826 and was made a colonel in 1830. In 1829, he was appointed

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in the

Midland District Midland District was one of four districts of the Province of Quebec created in 1788 in the western reaches of the Montreal District and partitioned in 1791 to create the new colony of Upper Canada. Historical evolution The District, originally ...

. In 1836, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada. During his time in office, Manahan promoted the development of a canal along the Trent River. He also brought forward allegations of discrimination of Irish

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

s in the province. Manahan was crown lands agent in the Midland and

Prince Edward District A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

s from 1837 to 1844. He was elected to the

1st Parliament of the Province of Canada The First Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in 1841, following the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada as the Province of Canada on February 10, 1841. The Parliament continued until dissolution in late 1844. The Parliament ...

in 1841 but resigned to allow

Samuel Bealey Harrison Samuel Bealey Harrison (March 4, 1802 – July 23, 1867) was Joint Premier of the Province of Canada for Canada East from 1841 to 1842 with William Henry Draper PM for Canada West. Draper was a member of the Family Compact and Harrison was ...

, appointed secretary for Canada West, to be elected to the assembly. Manahan was then appointed customs collector in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He resigned in 1843. An audit found that he had made unauthorized expenditures while in the post and he was forced to sell his property to cover these costs. He died in Kingston in 1849.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manahan, Anthony 1790s births 1849 deaths 19th-century Irish people Irish expatriates in Canada Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Politicians from County Galway Immigrants to Upper Canada Canadian justices of the peace