Archibald McKellar (3 February 1816 – 11 February 1894) was briefly leader of Canada's

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser (Ontario MPP), John Fraser since August 2022. The party esp ...

from 1867 to 1868 and, unofficially, the first

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in Ontario's new provincial legislature (though he was not officially recognised as such) and went on to serve as Commissioner of Public Works in Ontario

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Oliver Mowat Sir Oliver Mowat (July 22, 1820 – April 19, 1903) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Ontario Liberal Party leader. He served for nearly 24 years as the third premier of Ontario. He was the eighth lieutenant governor of Ontario and one of ...

's first government. He was born in

Inveraray Inveraray ( or ; gd, Inbhir Aora meaning "mouth of the Aray") is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, and on the A83 road. It is a former royal burgh, the traditional county town of Arg ...

, Scotland in 1816 and came to

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 ...

with his parents in 1817. He helped on the family farm in Kent County and was also part owner of a large

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

. He served in the militia during 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 ...

. McKellar later moved to Chatham where he served on the town council and was also reeve from 1856 to 1857. He married Lucy McNab in 1836 but widowed in 1857. In 1857, 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 legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper C ...

for Kent and he served until

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

. He was defeated by

Rufus Stephenson Rufus Stephenson (January 14, 1835 – February 15, 1901) was an Ontario newspaper editor and political figure. He represented Kent in the House of Commons of Canada as a Conservative member from 1867 to 1882. He was born in Springfield, ...

when he ran in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in the 1867 election, but he was elected to the 1st Parliament of Ontario for

Bothwell Bothwell is a conservation village in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, east-south-east of Glasgow city centre. Description and history An ancie ...

in 1867 and 1871. He married a second to Mary Catherine Powell in 1874. He was elected in the new district of Kent East in 1875. However, the opposition had accused him of taking advantage of his position to award contracts to his friends. Although he was cleared of any wrongdoing, he retired from politics in 1875 and was appointed sheriff in Wentworth County. He died in Hamilton in 1894. The township of McKellar in

Parry Sound District Parry Sound District is a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its boundaries are District of Muskoka to the south, the Sudbury District to the north-northwest, the French River and Lake Nipissing in the north, Nipissing Distri ...

was named in his honour.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1816 births 1894 deaths Canadian Presbyterians Leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Immigrants to Upper Canada {{Liberal-Ontario-MPP-stub