John Brown (1791 – January 28, 1842) was an

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-born merchant 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

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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 1830 to 1836 as a Conservative. A native of

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, Brown came to Port Hope from

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in 1818 to make a new home for his family in

. By 1823, he was so well-established that he had built the first brick building in the village as a home for his family, at the foot of Walton Street. As a businessman involved in many fields, he owned a cut nail factory, a distillery, a general store, and, one mile north, a complex he called 'Brown Stone Mills', comprising flouring mills, a saw mill, a blacksmith shop, a cooper shop, store houses, and a granary. In 1829, he was elected president of the Harbour Company of Port Hope, of which he was the principal owner. As a supporter of the

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, he was elected to the Upper Canada Legislature in 1830 and 1835 as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Durham County. On 7 April 1834, Brown became the first elected Head of the Board of Police for Port Hope, of which Marcus Whitehead was chosen president. He was also 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 ...

for the

Newcastle District The Newcastle District was a historic district in Upper Canada which existed until 1849. It was formed in 1802 from the Home District, consisting of the counties of Durham and Northumberland. History The legislature had enacted in 1798 that "as so ...

. It was said, "With his feuds and shenanigans, he (John Brown) made Port Hope an interesting place in which to live (and) with his enterprise he did much to lift the village from its primitive state". Brown and his wife were the parents of four daughters: Ann, married to Francis H. Burton.; Eliza, married to William Wallis; Rosanne, married to James Madison Andrews; Margaret, married to Henry Howard Meredith.

References

* 1791 births 1842 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada {{UpperCanada-politician-stub