George Kingsmill (1808–1852) was the

High Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

of Toronto in 1835 and from 1837 to 1846. Kingsmill was born in Queen's County,

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 joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and, after being decommissioned, settled in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

in 1829 and ran a provision store on Market Street where he supplied sailing vessels and steamers passing through the city's port. He was appointed High Constable in 1835, was succeeded by James Stitt in 1836 and was then re-appointed to the position in 1837. In 1835, he was appointed the second High Constable of Toronto, however, he was the first to not also be the city's only constable. During his tenure, in 1835, the

Toronto Police Department The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police ser ...

was first organized when the city retained five full-time constables, the first organized police force in Canada. Kingsmill was a member of the Orange Order and he recruited his constables from the Order's ranks, a practice later found by a provincial commission of inquiry to have led the police to take a highly sectarian character. This was a period of sectarian conflict in Toronto between the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

majority and the largely Irish

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

minority and the police often supported their fellow Orangemen during anti-Catholic rioting. During the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, Kingsmill aided the

Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confed ...

, Sir

Francis Bond Head Sir Francis Bond Head, 1st Baronet KCH PC (1 January 1793 – 20 July 1875), known as "Galloping Head", was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the rebellion of 1837. Biography Head was an officer in the corps of Royal Engineers of ...

, in putting down the uprising. and in the years following the 1837 Rebellion also were used by incumbent

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

politicians to break up meetings of Reformers. Kingsmill retired from business in 1842 and died in

Galt Galt or GALT may refer to: Biology and biochemistry * Galactose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase, an enzyme * Gut-associated lymphoid tissue, a subset of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue People and fictional characters * Galt (surname), a list o ...

in 1852. Kingsmill's nephew, Thomas Frazer Kingsmill, settled in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

and established Kingsmill's Department Store in 1865 which remained in operation until 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsmill, George People from County Laois Toronto police chiefs People of pre-Confederation Canada Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Irish Protestants Upper Canada Rebellion people 1808 births 1852 deaths 19th-century British Army personnel 19th-century Canadian businesspeople Immigrants to Upper Canada British Army officers