Peter Gow (November 20, 1818 – February 24, 1886) 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 ...

businessman and political figure. He was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1867 to 1876.

Background

He was born in

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1818, the son of a shoemaker, and came to

Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It i ...

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 1842. He later moved to

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, where he built mills on the

Speed River The Speed River is a river that flows through Wellington County and the Region of Waterloo in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It flows south from its source near Orton, through Guelph, where it is joined by the Eramosa River, then through the tow ...

, operated a

tannery Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

and produced shoes. He served on the school board and the town council in Guelph; he became reeve in 1857 and served as mayor in 1866 and 1867. He married Mary Maxwell Smith, in 1857 and they had six children. In 1874, he was elected as the first president of the Ontario Branch of the

Royal Caledonian Curling Club The Royal Caledonian Curling Club (RCCC), branded as Scottish Curling is a curling club in Edinburgh, Scotland. It developed the first official rules for the sport, and is the governing body of curling in Scotland. The RCCC was founded on 25 ...

Politics

In 1867, he was elected to represent

Wellington South Wellington South was a Canadian federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 as the "South Riding o ...

in the 1st Parliament of Ontario 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 reelected in 1871 and 1875. In both those elections, the Conservative Party chose not to run a candidate and Gow was acclaimed. He served as

Provincial Secretary and Registrar of Ontario The Provincial Secretary and Registrar of Ontario was a senior position in the provincial cabinet of Ontario from before Canadian Confederation until the 1960s. The Provincial Secretary and Registrar was originally the second highest position in ...

from December 1871 to October 1872. During that time, the Mowat government made the decision to locate the

Ontario Agricultural College The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) originated at the agricultural laboratories of the Toronto Normal School, and was officially founded in 1874 as an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto. Since 1964, it has become affili ...

in Guelph.
People in Politics

Cabinet positions

Later life

In 1876, he resigned due to health reasons and was appointed sheriff for Wellington County, Ontario, Wellington County, continuing to serve until his death in Guelph in 1886.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gow, Peter 1818 births 1886 deaths Immigrants to the Province of Canada Mayors of Guelph Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs People from Brockville People from Johnstone Provincial Secretaries of Ontario Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario