George Macbeth (November 4, 1825 – June 3, 1870) was a businessman and political figure in

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

. He was born in the

Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assiniboia, Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hud ...

in what is now

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

in 1825, the son of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

immigrants. In 1838, his family settled in western

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 ...

. Macbeth was employed by Colonel Thomas Talbot as an assistant and helped to manage his properties. In 1849, after a dispute with his family, Talbot made Macbeth an heir to a large part of the estate. In 1852, he moved 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 ...

. In 1854, he was elected to the

6th Parliament of the Province of Canada The 6th Parliament of the Province of Canada was in session from 1858 to June 1861. Elections for the Legislative Assembly were held in the Province of Canada in December 1857. Sessions were held in Toronto in 1858 and then in Quebec City from 1859 ...

representing East Elgin; he was elected in 1858 and 1861, but was unseated for election corruption in 1863. In 1867, he was elected as an alderman on the city council for London. He was a lieutenant colonel in the local militia which he helped establish. He was connected with railway development and several businesses based in the area. He married Anne Gilbert Sanders, daughter of John Sanders and Anne Gilbert, in 1852 in Dunwich Township in

Elgin County, Ontario Elgin County is a county of the Canadian province of Ontario with a 2016 population of 50,069. Its population centres are St. Thomas, Aylmer, Port Stanley, Belmont, Dutton and West Lorne. The county seat is St. Thomas, which is separated from t ...

. They had six children, Talbot in 1853, Mary in 1855, George Morrison in 1856, John in 1859, Annie Isobel in 1860 and Constance in 1862. George Morrison's daughter Meta was the first woman in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

to receive her driver's license and Talbot was a judge. George died at London in 1870.

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macbeth, George 1825 births 1870 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West