George Gurnett ( 1792 – November 17, 1861) was a Canadian journalist and city of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

politician. He was also a member of the

Orange Order in Canada The Grand Orange Lodge of British America, more commonly known as the Grand Orange Lodge of Canada or simply Orange Order in Canada, is the Canadian branch of the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organization that began in County Armagh in Ire ...

. Born in Sussex, England, he emigrated in the 1820s to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He later moved to Ancaster 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 the ...

, where he founded his first local paper, ''The Gore Gazette'', and finally to York in 1829, where he founded the

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

paper ''The Courier of Upper Canada''. He sold ''The Courier'' in 1837. When York was incorporated in May 1834 as the city of

, Gurnett was elected to the city council as the representative for St. George's Ward. During his 17 years on the city council he served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

four times, in 1837, 1848, 1849, and 1850. Due to his long service on council and his years as mayor he is often considered to be one of the founders of the city of Toronto. Gurnett held many positions while on Council. In 1837 he was appointed as the city's first

mayor, as magistrate of the Home District, and district clerk of the peace. He held positions on committees that dealt with the harbour and wharves, gas and waterworks, and education. He was chairman of the board of health during the 1847 typhus epidemic Gurnett resigned from the city council at the end of 1850, after having been appointed the first police magistrate of Toronto. He served in this post until his death in 1861. Gurnett's first wife died in 1835. In 1841 he married Catherine Darby of Trafalgar. He had eight children, six of whom died in infancy. When he died in 1861 he was survived by his second wife and two daughters.

References

Bibliography

Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurnett, George 1792 births 1861 deaths English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Journalists from Ontario Mayors of Toronto Immigrants to Upper Canada