John McGill (March 1752 December 31, 1834) was a Scottish born military officer and public official in Upper Canada. McGill is not related to James McGill, namesake of McGill University, who also had a brother named John McGill (1746-1797) who was a merchant in Montreal.

Early life and military career

Born in Auckland, Scotland in 1752, McGill was deployed to Virginia in 1773 with the British Army as Lieutenant in the Queen’s Own Loyal Virginia Regiment (formed 1775 by Lord Dunmore in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

but disbanded in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1776) and later merged into the Queen’s Ranger. After the American Revolution

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

McGill settled with his wife Catherine in Parrytown, New Brunswick and finally York, Upper Canada in 1792. At York McGill was Commissary of stores and provisions at Fort York and owned a large park lot of land.

Political career

McGill became a member of the Executive Council of Upper Canada for York (1796–1818) and later served in the Legislative Council of Upper Canada (1797–1834). He was Inspector General of Upper Canada in 1801 and then appointed as Auditor General of Land Patents for Upper Canada (or also referred to as Receiver General) from 1813 to 1818.

Personal

McGill and his wife Catherine died without living heirs (their daughter died in 1819). He passed down his estate and name to nephew Peter McGill, who changed his name as per request from McGill from Peter McCutcheon.

Legacy

His estate home, McGill Cottage, was acquired by Peter McGill and later became McGill Square. His property (bounded by Bloor Street East, Mutual Street, Queen Street East and Bond Street) was sold in 1868. The site of his home is now the Metropolitan United Church (originally as Metropolitan Wesleyan Methodist Church) since 1872 and the rest of the land is of mix use and includes a number of key buildings and institutions: * Ryerson University's Ryerson Square and

Kerr Hall Kerr Hall is a series of four buildings in a square, surrounding Ryerson Community Park, on the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) in Toronto, Canada. Kerr Hall is on the site of the former Toronto Normal Sc ...

- former site of Toronto Normal School *

Mattamy Athletic Centre Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

- formerly Maple Leaf Gardens * St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica A short east-west street on his former estate, McGill Street, along with McGill Parkette are named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGill, John 1752 births 1834 deaths Members of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Canadian people of Scottish descent Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario