John White (June 8, 1811 – May 3, 1897) 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 Ca ...

lumber merchant and political figure. He represented Halton in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

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 from 1867 to 1874.

Biography

Born in

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. North ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

, Ireland, in 1811, White came to Canada with his family in 1823, first settling in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

, and was educated in

York, Upper Canada York was a town and second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the Old Toronto, old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location for th ...

. He served on the council of Gore District for nine years, and then, after moving to

Halton County Halton County is a former county in the Canadian province of Ontario, with an area of . It is also one of the oldest counties in Canada. History Halton County is named after Major William Mathew Halton (1746-1823), a British Army officer, who ...

, was subsequently elected to that council. White was elected to 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 ...

for Halton in 1851, defeated in 1854, and returned once more in 1858, serving 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 ...

. In 1867, he was elected as the first MP for Halton in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the new

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

, where he served until his narrow defeat in the 1874 election. When the newly elected MP,

Daniel Black Chisholm Daniel Black Chisholm (November 30, 1832 – September 22, 1898) was a farmer, lawyer and mayor of Hamilton, Ontario from 1871–1872. In the 1872 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada representing Hamilton ...

, was later unseated because of bribery undertaken by his agents, White decided not to stand for re-election, and retired in favour of

William McCraney William McCraney (December 15, 1831 – June 21, 1911) was a businessman and political figure in Ontario, Canada. He represented Halton in the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal member from 1875 to 1878 and from 1882 to 1887. Biograp ...

who won the 1875 byelection. White was known as a horse breeder, and several horses owned by White and his brother James won the

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

, including the first running of this event. At the time of his death, his horses had won the Plate more than any other owner's to that date. He also served as Captain and Adjutant in the 3rd Battalion, and was later, upon the creation of the active militia in 1867, Lieutenant in the 20th Halton Battalion of the Canadian militia (one of the predecessors of the

Lorne Scots The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of the 4th Canadian Division's 32 Canadian Brigade Group. Organization The sub-units of the Lorne Scots are situated ...

). White was married twice: to Mehitabel Post in 1836 and to Louisa Knight in 1849. He died in Milton at the age of 85.

Electoral record

References

External links

* 1811 births 1897 deaths People from Omagh Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Canadian racehorse owners and breeders Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Immigrants to Upper Canada {{Liberal-Ontario-MP-stub