Hugh Christopher Thomson (1791 – April 23, 1834) was a businessman, newspaper publisher 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 was born in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

in Upper Canada in 1791, the son of a

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immigrant who served with

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk people, Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York (state), New York, who was closely associated with Kingdom of Great Britain, Great B ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. The family moved from Kingston to Newark (

Niagara-on-the-Lake Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the Niagara Region of On ...

) and then York (

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 ...

), where Thomson began work as a clerk in a general store. In 1810, he was transferred to Kingston. Although a member of the local militia, he did not serve in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

due to poor health. In 1815, his employer returned to

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and Thomson purchased the Kingston store. In 1819, he became editor and owner of the ''Upper Canada Herald'', a weekly newspaper, which soon had the largest circulation of any newspaper in Upper Canada. He also printed pamphlets, books and reports, including ''The statutes of the province of Upper Canada'' in 1831. In 1824, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada as a moderate reformer; he was reelected in 1828 and 1830. He supported the freedom of the press, opposed the control of the

clergy reserves Clergy reserves were tracts of land in Upper Canada and Lower Canada reserved for the support of "Protestantism, Protestant clergy" by the Constitutional Act of 1791. One-seventh of all surveyed Crown lands were set aside, totaling and respectivel ...

by the

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and supported granting the same rights as British subjects to

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born settlers in Upper Canada. With the replacement of Sir Peregrine Maitland by Sir John Colborne as lieutenant governor, Thomson began to support the government's positions in the legislative assembly. He also withdrew his support from William Lyon Mackenzie as Mackenzie adopted more radical views. In 1831, he seconded James Hunter Samson's motion to expel Mackenzie from the house. He helped establish the provincial penitentiary at Kingston, later the

Kingston Penitentiary Kingston Penitentiary (known locally as KP and Kingston Pen) is a former maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario. History Constructed from 1833 to 1834, and opened on June 1, 1 ...

. He died in Kingston in 1834, after suffering several occurrences of bleeding in his lungs. His second wife, Elizabeth Ruttan, who had taken over the operation of the newspaper in 1824 while Samson was in York, continue to run it until 1837, thus becoming the first woman to publish a newspaper in the province. His brother Edward William Thomson was also a member of the legislative assembly of the province.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Hugh Christopher 1791 births 1834 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada