Benjamin Pawling ( 1749 – buried December 16, 1818) was a soldier, judge, political figure and publisher 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 th ...

Early life

He was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. His parents probably emigrated to North America from Wales. His family's property was confiscated at the beginning of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

and he joined the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces at

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

in 1777 with his occupation listed as farmer. He was assigned to

Butler's Rangers Butler's Rangers (1777–1784) was a Loyalist provincial military unit of the American Revolutionary War, raised by American loyalist John Butler. Most members of the regiment were Loyalists from upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. Th ...

in 1778 and he became a captain in 1784 and retired that same year. Pawling settled in

Grantham Township Grantham Township is a former incorporated and now geographic township on the Niagara Peninsula in Upper Canada, later Ontario. In 1961, part of it was amalgamated into the city of St. Catharines. In 1970, the remaining portion was amalgamated i ...

in the Niagara region in 1783. He served on the land board of the

Nassau District The Home District was one of four districts of the Province of Quebec created in 1788 in the western reaches of the Montreal District and detached in 1791 to create the new colony of Upper Canada. It was abolished with the adoption of the county ...

and Lincoln County. He was appointed to the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

in 1788 and became a justice of the peace the following year. He sparsely attended hearings with the land board or the court and requested his resignation to the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada in 1793. His position of judge ended upon the abolishment of the Court of Common Pleas in 1794. Pawling married a woman named Susan and had six children.

Later career

In 1792, he was elected to the

1st Parliament of Upper Canada The 1st Parliament of Upper Canada was opened 17 September 1792. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in August 1792. All sessions were held at Navy Hall in Newark, later Niagara-on-the-Lake. This parliament was dissolved 1 July 1796. T ...

representing the 2nd riding of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. He defeated prominent merchant

Samuel Street Samuel Street (January 2, 1753 – February 3, 1815) was a Canadian judge, merchant and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Wilton, Connecticut and traded with indigenous people during the American Revolution. He moved to Fort Niag ...

148 votes to 48. He remained the constituency's representative until 1796. In 1794 he became a major in the

Lincoln militia , colors = , identification_symbol_2 = , identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol_4 = , identification_symbol_4_label = Abbreviation , march = "The Lincolnshi ...

and resigned sometime before 1806. On December 3, 1818, a person named Pawling was listed as a publisher and printer for the '' Niagara Spectator''. Some identified this as Benjamin Pawling, although the publisher might have been his nephew. Later that month, Pawling was charged with libel over a letter published in the newspaper written by

Robert Fleming Gourlay Robert Fleming Gourlay (March 24, 1778 – August 1, 1863) was a Scottish-Canadian writer, political reform activist, and agriculturalist. Early life and education Gourlay was born in Craigrothie in the Parish of Ceres, Fife, Scotland on 22 M ...

. An assemblyman named

Isaac Swayze Isaac Swayze (1751 – February 11, 1828) was a soldier and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Morris County, New Jersey in 1751 into a family of German immigrants. During the American Revolution, according to legend, he served a ...

reported that Pawling was held on £400 () bail. Pawling died in Grantham Township on December 12, 1818, and buried on December 16.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pawling, Benjamin 1749 births 1816 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Upper Canada judges Politicians from Philadelphia People of colonial Pennsylvania