Francis James Roscoe (December 28, 1830 – December 20, 1878) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

entrepreneur and

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 ...

. Francis Roscoe was born in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, the son of W.S. Roscoe, was educated at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and came to British Columbia in 1862, settling in the Ross Bay area of

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

. He was the younger brother of poet William Caldwell Roscoe and the grandson of English historian and writer

William Roscoe William Roscoe (8 March 175330 June 1831) was an English banker, lawyer, and briefly a Member of Parliament. He is best known as one of England's first abolitionists, and as the author of the poem for children '' The Butterfly's Ball, and the ...

. In 1864, he married Anna Letitia Le Breton, daughter of

Anna Letitia Le Breton Anna Letitia Le Breton ( Aikin; 30 June 1808 – 29 September 1885) was an English author. Early years and education She was born into a distinguished literary and medical family of prominent Unitarians. Her mother was Anne, daughter of the R ...

. Roscoe was a partner in several hardware and ironware ventures. In 1870, he became the Commissioner of Savings Banks for the

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, ...

colony. Roscoe stood for election as an

Independent Liberal Independent Liberal is a description allowed in politics to denote party affiliation. It is used to designate a politician as a liberal, yet independent of the official Liberal Party of a country. Those parties were the Liberal Party of Canada, ...

candidate in the Canadian federal election in 1874 in the two-member Victoria riding. He placed second in a close three-way race and was elected along with Liberal incumbent

Amor De Cosmos Amor De Cosmos (born William Alexander Smith; August 20, 1825 – July 4, 1897) was a Canadian journalist, publisher and politician. He served as the second premier of British Columbia. Early life Amor De Cosmos was born William Alexander Smith ...

. Roscoe did not stand for re-election in 1878 and died later in the year in Victoria at the age of 47. He was replaced in the seat by incoming Prime Minister

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 ...

who had lost his

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 ...

seat earlier as the BC portion of the election was delayed, and because he was deemed unelectable in eastern Canada due to ongoing politics surrounding his role in the

Pacific Scandal The Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving bribes being accepted by 150 members of the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract. As part of British Colum ...

. Roscoe's Victoria home is today preserved by The Ross Bay Villa Society as a rare example of a pre-Confederation colonial house.Roscoe's Victoria home
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roscoe, Francis 1831 births 1878 deaths Independent Liberal MPs in Canada Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia English emigrants to pre-Confederation British Columbia Politicians from Liverpool