James Morris (November 1, 1798 – September 23, 1865) was a businessman, banker 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 a member of the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper C ...

, as a Reformer. He was later a member of the Legislative Council, serving as the Speaker of the Legislative Council. He was also a member of the Executive Council of the province.

Family and early life

Morris was born in

Paisley, Renfrewshire Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Wate ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1798. The family emigrated to

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...

, eventually settling with his family at Elizabethtown (later

Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It i ...

) 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 ...

in 1808. He was educated at Sorel in

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 ...

, at a school operated by the father of

Wolfred Nelson Wolfred Nelson (10 July 1791 – 17 June 1863) was the mayor of Montreal, Quebec, from 1854 to 1856. Biography Nelson was born in Montreal. His father, William Nelson, was an immigrant to Colonial America from Newsham, North Yorkshire, En ...

, who was later one of the leaders of the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southe ...

.Paul G. Cornell, "Morris, James", in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', Vol. IX (1861–1870).
/ref> Morris married Emily Rosamond Murney of Kingston, sister of Edmund Murney, who was later elected to the Legislative Assembly for

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

Business career

By 1820, Morris was involved in various business activities with his older brothers, including

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, who would also be involved in politics. He was active in banking throughout his career. By 1836, he was the cashier at the Commercial Bank of the Midland District in Brockville. He also formed working relationships with

William Hamilton Merritt William Hamilton Merritt (July 3, 1793July 5, 1862) was a businessman and politician in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada in the early 19th century. Although he was born in the United States, his family was Loyalist and eventually settled ...

and

Isaac Buchanan Isaac Buchanan (July 21, 1810 – October 1, 1883) was a businessman, political figure and writer in Upper Canada, then Canada West, Province of Canada (now Ontario). Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he emigrated to British North America in 1830 ...

, two successful businessmen who would also serve in the Legislative Assembly. At that time, communications were mainly by boats plying 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 ...

from

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

. However, there were stretches of the Saint Lawrence that had dangerous rapids. Morris became involved in projects to build canals and locks north of the Saint Lawrence, allowing shipping to bypass the dangerous stretches. In 1838, he was appointed to a commission which administered funds raised for

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

building. After he was elected to the Legislative Assembly, he was involved in measures to fund canals. The town of West Williamsburg, which benefited from the canals, changed its name to Morrisburg to recognise his role in the town's development. Morris was involved in the founding of Queen's College, later Queen's University, at Kingston. He was one of the four original trustees of the university funds.

Political career

Morris was appointed

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 ...

in 1825. He was elected in a by-election to represent

Leeds County Leeds County is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario. The county was first surveyed in 1792 as one of the nineteen counties created by Sir John Graves Simcoe in preparation for the United Empire Loyalists to settle here. The count ...

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 1837 to 1840. He stated that he was a conservative, wishing to maintain the British connection. Following the merger of Upper Canada and Lower Canada in 1841, he again represented

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in the first

from 1841 to 1844."Return of the names of the Members chosen to serve in the Legislative Assembly of Canada", Office of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, Kingston, 14th. June, 1841, ''Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 1st Parliament, 1st Session'', 1841, pp. ''xi–xii''.
/ref>Côté, ''Political Appointments and Elections'', pp. 43-45: "First Parliament. 8th April 1841 to 23rd September 1844".
/ref> Morris was a consistent vote for Reform. In the first session of the first Parliament, he joined most of the moderate Reformers in voting in support of the union of the Canadas, but also voted with the more radical Reformers under

Robert Baldwin Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canada, Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province ...

in opposing the government of the

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

, Lord Sydenham. In subsequent sessions of the first Parliament, he generally voted with Baldwin's group, opposing the positions of the Governors General. In 1844, he was appointed to the Legislative Council. He was speaker of the Legislative Council from 1853 to 1854 and in 1858. From 1851 to 1854, in 1858, and from 1862 to 1863, Morris was a member of the Executive Council of the Province. In 1851, he became the first

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official respons ...

for the Province of Canada,Côté, ''Political Appointments and Elections'', pp. 67: "Postmasters General".
/ref> serving ''ex officio'' on the Board of Railway Commissioners and representing the government on the board of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

. He served as receiver general from 1862 until 1863.

Death

Morris was forced to retire from political life in 1863, when he suffered a debilitating

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. He died at Brockville in 1865.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, James 1798 births 1865 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada Politicians from Paisley, Renfrewshire Canadian justices of the peace