John Hillyard Cameron, (April 14, 1817 – November 14, 1876) was an

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

lawyer, businessman and political figure. He was a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

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 o ...

representing Peel from 1867 to 1872 and Cardwell from 1872 until his death. He was born in

Blendecques Blendecques (; vls, Blendeke) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A town situated 3 miles (5 km) south of Saint-Omer, at the junction of the D77, D210 and D211 roads. ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 1817. His father was a soldier in the 79th Highlanders who served in France during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. In 1825, he came with his family to Kingston 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 th ...

. He studied at

Kilkenny College Kilkenny College is an independent Church of Ireland co-educational day and boarding secondary school located in Kilkenny, in the South-East of Ireland. It is the largest co-educational boarding school in Ireland. The school's students are mainly ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

. He then studied law with Henry John Boulton. During the Upper Canada Rebellion, he served with the

Queen's Rangers The Queen's Rangers, also known as the Queen's American Rangers, and later Simcoe's Rangers, were a Loyalist military unit of the American Revolutionary War. Formed in 1776, they were named for Queen Charlotte, consort of George III. The Queen ...

. In 1839, he was called to the bar in Upper Canada and entered a law practice in

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 anch ...

, Ontario. In 1846, he became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

. Cameron also served on Toronto city council from 1846 to 1847, from 1851 to 1852 and 1854 to 1855. In 1860, he served as treasurer for the

Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...

. In 1869, he was also called to the Quebec bar. In 1846, he was chosen as solicitor general for Upper Canada and was elected to the

2nd Parliament of the Province of Canada The 2nd Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in 1844, following the general elections for the Legislative Assembly in October 1844. It first met on November 28, 1844. It was dissolved in December 1847. All sessions were held at Mon ...

in a by-election for

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. In 1847, he was appointed to the Executive Council. He served in the Legislative Assembly until

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

, except for the 4th and 6th parliaments, when he did not run. He supported representation by population and opposed the introduction of an elected Legislative Council. In 1856, he helped stir up controversy in the wake of the death of Robert Corrigan in

Lotbinière, Quebec Lotbinière is a municipality in Lotbinière Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region and the population was 887 as of the Canada 2011 Census. It is named after the '' seigneurie'' of which ...

; this helped undermine the government of Allan MacNab which led to the rise of Sir

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

as leader of the Conservatives. He supported

but would have preferred a legislative union. He was elected to represent Peel in the House of Commons in 1867. In 1872, he ran in both Peel and Cardwell, being elected in the latter. He was a director of the Toronto and Guelph Railway, which was later absorbed by 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 rail ...

, helped found the

Canada Life Assurance Company The Canada Life Assurance Company, commonly known as Canada Life, is an insurance and financial services company with its headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The current company is the result of the 2020 amalgamation of The Great-West Life Assur ...

in 1847, was president of the Provincial Insurance Company and chairman of the board in Canada of the Edinburgh Life Insurance Company. He was also involved in the incorporation of a number of companies in the Toronto area including the Western Assurance Company in 1851 and the Toronto and Georgian Bay Canal Company in 1856. He suffered extensive financial losses near the end of 1857 as a result of a financial panic and economic depression; he promised to make good on his debts, which left him financially strained for the remainder of his life. He was a loyal follower of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

and tried to defend its interests, including the revenue from the

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

. He served on the council of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, an Anglican university at the time; he also was a professor of law at the college and served as chancellor from 1863 until his death. In 1856, he joined the Orange Order and served as grand master in Canada from 1859 to 1870. He suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

and died while in Toronto in 1876.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, John Hillyard 1817 births 1876 deaths People from Pas-de-Calais French emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Upper Canada College alumni Treasurers of the Law Society of Upper Canada Lawyers in Ontario Canadian King's Counsel Immigrants to Upper Canada