George Longley (April 1787 – 1842) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-born businessman, farmer and political figure 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 ...

. He represented Grenville in the

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lis ...

from 1829 to 1830 as a Reformer. His surname also appears as Langley. He was the son of William Langley and Sarah Scott and came to

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

around 1812. On his arrival, Longley entered the timber trade. In 1815, he was appointed by the province a master culler and measurer of timber. Around 1823, he formed his own company in partnership with Joseph Dyke. The partners exported timber and were also shipbuilders. He purchased farm land in Augusta Township in 1822. In 1824, Longley married Ruth Wells. He settled in

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

in 1826 and retired from his partnership with Dyke later that year. Longley also became the primary owner of a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

, producing flour for export. He opened a shop in Maitland and also served as postmaster. He raised livestock on his farm. He became the first president of the Grenville County Agricultural Society. Longley was unsuccessful when he ran for reelection in 1830. That same year, he was named a commissioner for the canals on the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

. Longley also served as a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. He died at sea while travelling from Quebec to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and was buried in the parish of

Milton-next-Gravesend Milton-next-Gravesend is an ecclesiastical parish in the north-west of Kent, England, which is now part of the Gravesend built-up area. History Feudal ownership of land in the parish was the subject of a legal action of 1076, ''Abbot Scotland ...

in August 1842.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Longley, George 1787 births 1842 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada