John Rose Holden (sometimes called Rose-Holden) (27 September 1821 – 25 February 1879) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician and lawyer. He was mayor of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

in 1851. Born in

Daventry Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

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, John Rose Holden was the son of a wealthy

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 Britain ...

clergyman. Little is known of his early life, but he is believed to have come to Canada at an early age. He was well educated in both English and French, and studied law with Judge Campbell at Niagara,

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 the ...

. After being called to the bar, he entered a partnership with Richard Oliver Duggan (for whom

Whitehern Whitehern Historic House and Garden in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, built shortly before 1850, is a Late Classical house that is now a historic house museum. At one time, Whitehern was the home of the McQuesten family, including Mary Baker McQu ...

was built) in Hamilton, enjoying a lucrative practice. He was married to Mary Emily Roach and had two sons and three daughters. Holden served on the city council for many years. He was elected mayor in 1851, the year in which a new system of elections was introduced; two aldermen, two councillors, one inspector of houses of public entertainment, and one school trustee were elected for each ward. As mayor, Holden represented Hamilton at the Boston Jubilee. A

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, Holden became affiliated with Barton

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on 27 November 1844. He was active, along with his wife, in the Wentworth Historical Society. He was also a member of St. Mark's Church (

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

), donating its first communion vessels. The church contains a plaque to him and his wife. He died in Hamilton, Ontario in 1879.

References

*Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol I, 1791–1875); Thomas Melville Bailey; W.L. Griffin Ltd, (1981); Pg 105

External links

"Mayors of Hamilton and Dundas" at Hamilton Public Library
1821 births 1879 deaths Mayors of Hamilton, Ontario People educated at Bromsgrove School People from Daventry {{Ontario-mayor-stub