Adam Crooks, (December 11, 1827 – December 28, 1885) was an

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

for Toronto West from 1871 to 1874 and moved to the riding of Oxford South from 1875 to 1886.

Background

Crooks was born in West Flamboro, Ontario and the son of

James Crooks Jamie Crooks (April 15, 1778 – March 2, 1860) was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada and Canada West. He was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland in 1778 and came to Fort Niagara in 1791 where his half-brother, Francis, was operating a ...

& Jane Cummings. He studied at

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. During his time in Toronto, he studied law and was called to the bar in 1851. Crooks married Emily Ann C. Evans in 1857. Their child, Lawrence Ogden Crooks, was born in 1858. During the early 1860s, Adam Crooks successfully appealed a lower court decision against the Commercial Bank of Canada before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1863, he was named

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

. Near the end of his life, he suffered from problems with his physical and mental health and was forced to retire from public life. He died in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

Politics

He served as

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

from 1871 to 1872 and provincial treasurer from 1872 to 1877. Crooks played a major role in developing the 1876 liquor licence act, also known as the Crooks Act, which attempted to control the sale of alcohol within the province. He also served as the first Minister of Education in Ontario, appointed in 1876, after the retirement of Rev. Dr. Egerton Ryerson, who was

Chief Superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the United Kingdom, British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief Su ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crooks, Adam 1827 births 1885 deaths Attorneys General of Ontario Canadian King's Counsel Finance ministers of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Politicians from Hamilton, Ontario University of Toronto alumni Upper Canada College alumni