Sir John Alexander Macdonald

Sir John Alexander Macdonald

1st Prime Minister of Canada
In office 1 July 1867 – 5 November 1873
Monarch	Victoria
Succeeded by	Alexander Mackenzie
In office 17 October 1878 – 6 June 1891
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Alexander Mackenzie
Succeeded by	John Abbott
Born	11 January 1815(1815-01-11) Glasgow, Scotland
Died	6 June 1891(1891-06-06) (aged 76) Ottawa, Ontario
Political party	Liberal-Conservative
Spouse(s)	Isabella Clark (1st wife) Agnes Bernard (2nd wife)
Children	John Alexander (died in infancy) and Hugh John by Isabella; Mary by Agnes.
Alma mater	none (articled with a lawyer in Kingston)
Occupation	Politician, statesman
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Presbyterian; later Anglican
Signature

In office
1 July 1867 – 5 November 1873

Victoria

Alexander Mackenzie

In office
17 October 1878 – 6 June 1891

Victoria

Alexander Mackenzie

John Abbott

---

11 January 1815(1815-01-11)
Glasgow, Scotland

6 June 1891(1891-06-06) (aged 76)
Ottawa, Ontario

Liberal-Conservative

Isabella Clark (1st wife)
Agnes Bernard (2nd wife)

John Alexander (died in infancy) and Hugh John by Isabella;
Mary by Agnes.

none (articled with a lawyer in Kingston)

Politician, statesman

Lawyer

Presbyterian; later Anglican

John Alexander Macdonald, (11 January 1815 – 6 June 1891) was the first Prime Minister of Canada and the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation. Macdonald's tenure in office spanned 18 years, making him the second longest serving Prime Minister of Canada. He is the only Canadian Prime Minister to win six majority governments. He was the major proponent of a national railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway, completed in 1885, linking Canada from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. He won praise for having helped forge a nation of sprawling geographic size, with two diverse European colonial origins, numerous Aboriginal nations, and a multiplicity of cultural backgrounds and political views.

Early years (1815–1830) - That's all i care about... :)
John Alexander Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 11 January 1815. His father was Hugh Macdonald, an unsuccessful merchant, who had married Helen Shaw, on 21 October 1811. John Alexander Macdonald was the third of five children. After the failure of Hugh Macdonald's business ventures, the family emigrated to Kingston, the capital of Upper Canada (today the southern and eastern portions of Ontario) in 1820, where there were already a number of Macdonald relatives and connections.
The family initially lived with Donald Macpherson and his family, but then lived over a store which Hugh Macdonald ran. Soon after their arrival, John's younger brother James died from a blow to the head by a servant who was supposed to look after the boys. After Hugh's venture failed, the family moved to Hay Bay, west of Kingston, where Hugh unsuccessfully ran another store. John Macdonald's mother, Mary, became a lifelong influence on her son John, helping him in his difficult first marriage and remaining a force in his life until her 1862 death.

John initially attended local schools; at age ten, his family scraped together the money to send him to Midland District Grammar School in Kingston. Macdonald's formal schooling ended at 15, which was a common school-leaving age when only the most prosperous were able to attend university. Nevertheless, Macdonald later regretted leaving school when he did, remarking to his private secretary Joseph Pope that if he had attended university, he might have embarked on a literary career.

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Macdonald
Date: 23/02/2011