Lieutenant-Colonel John Corry Wilson Daly (24 March 1796 – 1 April 1878) was a Canadian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

businessperson A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

officer, and the first

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Stratford, Ontario Stratford is a city on the Avon River within Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a 2016 population of 31,465 in a land area of . Stratford is the seat of Perth County, which was settled by English, Irish, Scottish and German im ...

. Daly was born in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, and educated in

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 ...

. He served as a surgeon's assistant in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. He moved to Stratford in 1833, becoming post-master and opening the town's first store. He is often regarded as Stratford's founder, although he was not the first person to live there. Until 2017, Daly was mistakenly credited with watercolour work by

Caroline Louisa Daly Caroline Louisa Daly (1832–1893) was a Canadian artist born in Lower Canada, whose work is featured in one of eastern Canada's most prominent galleries, the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Her watercol ...

held in

Confederation Centre Art Gallery The Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG; french: Musée d’art du Centre de la Confédération) is an art museum that forms a part of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The art museum pavilion ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

, despite a lack of evidence that he ever painted.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1796 births 1878 deaths Mayors of Stratford, Ontario Pre-Confederation Ontario people Irish Anglicans Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Politicians from Liverpool Immigrants to Upper Canada Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent {{Ontario-mayor-stub