Donald Chisholm (1822 – April 5, 1890), also known as "Doc" Chisholm, was a Canadian

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, representing the riding of New Westminster. Chisholm was born in valley of the Lower South River near

Antigonish, Nova Scotia , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

, of parents who had migrated there from

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populatio ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He was educated there and became a teacher, but in 1849 he started out for the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

with 23 other prospectors. In California, he took part in the evolution of that state's mining laws, but had little success in the goldfields but also practiced medicine, and is credited with rescuing the lives of many miners (his medical skills were later of use during a cholera epidemic in British Columbia). Staying in California only a few years, he returned to Canada and became involved in the wheat trade in Ontario. Speculating on wheat prices during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

, Chisholm was left holding thousands of bushels at the time of the declaration of a peace, incurring the loss of a small fortune had the peace come only a few more weeks later. In the wake of this experience, he migrated to British Columbia in 1858 and became involved in many different businesses, settling in

Hope, British Columbia Hope is a district municipality at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end ...

. Possessed of "herculean strength" and standing tall, and reputedly the strongest man in the Colony, he was appointed a constable during the McGowan's War and in 1860 he was elected by the people of Hope to a convention in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

, the purpose of which was to frame and present an appeal to the Imperial Government to introduce proper government for the

Mainland Colony Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

, which was then still ruled near-entirely by Governor James Douglas (a Legislative Assembly for the Colony would not be created until 1864, after Douglas' retirement). Chisholm was among the first parties to travel to the

Big Bend Gold Rush The Big Bend Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Big Bend Country of the Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866), Colony of British Columbia (now a Canadian province) in the mid-1860s. History Discovery & early miners In 1861, the gold commissioner a ...

in 1860, nearly losing his life when a

snow bridge Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

gave way as he was crossing McCullough Creek and he was swept away, then rescued, unconscious, by a party of miners half a mile downstream. In 1862 he went to the

Cariboo Gold Rush The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Colony of British Columbia, which later joined the Canadian province of British Columbia. The first gold discovery was made at Hills Bar in 1858, followed by more strikes in 1859 on the Horsefly River, ...

and spent a few years there before moving to the

Kootenay Kootenay, Kootenai, and Kutenai may refer to: Ethnic groups *The Kutenai, also known as the Ktunaxa, Kootenai, or Kootenay, an indigenous people of the United States and Canada **Kutenai language, the traditional language of the Kutenai **Ktunaxa ...

district to engage in both lumbering and mining, serving for a time as foreman for the Cherry Creek silver mine. During this period Chisholm was engaged to lead the partyof Major-General Selby Smyth, militia commander of Canada, and his staff through the mountains from Alberta to Hope. In 1874 he moved to New Westminster and became wealthy through investing in the wholesale and retail liquor business and also a flour and feed business of a Mr. Fred Woodcock, and was President of the New Westminster Board of Trade for several years. He also launched a hotel and store at Ladner (then Ladner's Landing), later owned by Thomas NcNeely, and was also a partner in the Delta Canning Company, one of the large canneries then a mainstay of economic life in the province. Other property holdings included land in what is now the Grandview area of Vancouver, and at Hastings (New Brighton), as well as holdings in the centre of the City of New Westminster and also, in partnership with a Mr. Daniel Mills was co-owner of a large farm on

Saltspring Island Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island. The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settled by ...

. Chisholm was first elected to office in the 1887 general election, representing the New Westminster riding as a

Liberal-Conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

supporting

Sir John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

, and died in office on April 5, 1890.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chisholm, Donald 1822 births 1890 deaths Canadian people of Scottish descent Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Pre-Confederation British Columbia people