John Leys (January 27, 1834 – February 17, 1900) 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 and political figure. He represented

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 ...

in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1886 to 1890 as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member. He was born in Pickering, Ontario County,

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 ...

in 1834, the son of Francis Leys, a Scottish immigrant. He was educated at the Toronto Academy. Leys studied law with Angus Morrison, was called to the bar in 1860 and set up practice in

. He served as solicitor for the

Toronto and Nipissing Railway The Toronto and Nipissing Railway (T&N) was the first public narrow-gauge railway in North America. It chartered in 1868 to build from Toronto to Lake Nipissing in Ontario, Canada, via York, Ontario, and Victoria counties. At Nipissing it would ...

and was involved in the development of the Narrow Gauge Railway. In 1865, he married Helen Emma Arthurs, the daughter of William H Arthurs, a Toronto merchant. He ran unsuccessfully in Toronto East in 1882 before his election to the provincial assembly in 1886. His brother Francis also served as a member of the provincial assembly.

External links

''The Canadian parliamentary companion, 1889'' JA GemmillMember's parliamentary history for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario''A Cyclopæedia of Canadian biography : being chiefly men of the time ...'', GM Rose (1886)
1834 births 1900 deaths Ontario Liberal Party MPPs {{Liberal-Ontario-MPP-stub