Talk:John A. Macdonald/Archive 1

The Right Honourable
Sir John A. Macdonald
GCB KCMG PC PC (Can) QC
The Right Honourable Sir John A. Macdonald GCB KCMG PC PC (Can) QC
1st Prime Minister of Canada
	In office; July 1, 1867 – November 5, 1873
Monarch	Victoria
Governors‑General	The Viscount Monck; The Lord Lisgar; The Earl of Dufferin
Preceded by	Office established; (see Canadian Confederation)
Succeeded by	Alexander Mackenzie
	In office; October 17, 1878 – June 6, 1891
Monarch	Victoria
Governors‑General	The Earl of Dufferin; Marquess of Lorne; The Marquess of Lansdowne; The Lord Stanley of Preston
Preceded by	Alexander Mackenzie
Succeeded by	John Abbott
Leader of the Opposition
	In office; November 6, 1873 – October 16, 1878
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Alexander Mackenzie
Preceded by	Alexander Mackenzie
Succeeded by	Alexander Mackenzie
Leader of the Conservative Party; Leader of the Upper Canada Tories (1856-1867); Leader of the Liberal-Conservative Party (1867-1873)
	In office; May 24, 1856 – June 6, 1891
Preceded by	Allan MacNab
Succeeded by	John Abbott
Premier of Canada West
	In office; May 24, 1856 – August 2, 1858
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Allan MacNab
Succeeded by	George Brown
	In office; August 6, 1858 – May 24, 1862
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	George Brown
Succeeded by	John Sandfield Macdonald
	In office; May 30, 1864 – June 30, 1867
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	John Sandfield Macdonald
Succeeded by	Office disestablished; (see Canadian Confederation)
Minister of Justice; Attorney General of Canada
	In office; July 1, 1867 – November 5, 1873
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	Antoine-Aimé Dorion
Minister of Colonial Militia and Defence
	In office; 1860–1867
Preceded by	Étienne-Paschal Taché
Succeeded by	George-Étienne Cartier
Attorney General of Canada West
	In office; 1854–1862
Preceded by	William Buell Richards
Succeeded by	John Sandfield Macdonald
	In office; 1864–1867
Preceded by	John Sandfield Macdonald
Succeeded by	John Sandfield Macdonald (Attorney General of Ontario)
Member of the Canadian Parliament; for Kingston
	In office; November 6, 1867 – September 17, 1878
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Alexander Gunn
	In office; February 22, 1887 – June 6, 1891
Preceded by	Alexander Gunn
Succeeded by	James Henry Metcalfe
Member of the Canadian Parliament; for Victoria
	In office; September 17, 1878 – June 20, 1882
Preceded by	Francis James Roscoe
Succeeded by	Noah Shakespeare
Member of the Canadian Parliament; for Carleton
	In office; June 20, 1882 – February 1, 1888
Preceded by	John Rochester
Succeeded by	George Lemuel Dickinson
Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Kingston
	In office; October, 1844 – June, 1866
Preceded by	Anthony Manahan
Succeeded by	Office disestablished
Personal details
Born	John Alexander Macdonald; January 11, 1815; Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Died	6 June 1891 (aged 76); Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Resting place	Cataraqui Cemetery, Kingston, Ontario
Political party	Conservative
Other political; affiliations	Upper Canada Tories (1843-1867); Liberal-Conservative (1867-1873)
Spouse(s)	Isabella Clark (m. 1843; "her death" is deprecated; use "died" instead. 1857); Agnes Bernard (m. 1867; "his death" is deprecated; use "died" instead. 1891)
Children	3
Profession	Lawyer
Signature
Delegate to the Charlottetown Conference
	In office; September 1, 1864 – September 9, 1864
Constituency	Province of Canada
Delegate to the Quebec Conference
	In office; October 12, 1864 – October 27, 1864
Constituency	Province of Canada
Chairman of the London Conference
	In office; December 4, 1866 – July 1, 1867
Monarch	Victoria
Military career
Nickname(s)	"Old Tomorrow"; "Old Chieftain"
Allegiance	Upper Canada
Service / branch	Loyalist militia
Years of service	1837–1838
Rank	Private
Unit	Kingston militia
Battles / wars	Rebellions of 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion;

This is an archive of past discussions about John A. Macdonald, for the period 2004–2010.
Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Archive 1

Birthplace

sir john a. macdonald was born near glassglow at the brunswick place nt "in" glasglow — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.185.84.80 (talk) 21:59, 18 January 2004‎

Do you have any evidence of this? If so, why not edit the article? HistoryBA 23:13, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Sir John Alexander Macdonald was born in the part of Glasgow now called the "Gorbals" in the eastern part of that section of the city on the south side of the River Clyde that was formerly called "Laurieston" near the tramway constructed for the Govan Colliery.

He was born on January 10 and not on the 11th as commemorated by legislation by the Liberal Government in 2002, "The Sir John A. Macdonald Act and the Sir Wilfred Laurier Act". His father, Hugh, recorded meticulous notes in a notebook that is the archives at Queen's University.

He was not born on Brunwick Place or Lane, a little sidestreet off the Trongate in the Merchant City part of Glasgow. That is where his father had a failing bandana business during the 1810-1820 period on occasion. (I have the detailed information from the Glasgow Post Office Directory of Businesses, if needed.)

Here is an article that I wrote for the Scottish Genealogical Society which was run in the Kingston Whig-Standard in January.

The Sir John A. birth mystery (Headline)

As any family historian or genealogist knows, accurate identification of a person rests on accessing his or her "BMD" -- birth, marriage and death records -- before attempting to create or verify a family tree. An error in judgment based on wrongly transcribed information or on a misinterpretation of written information can alter a person's link to what could be a long strand of ancestors. Finding information after 1855 in Scotland is much more simple than prior to the inauguration of statutory records. While old parish records are fairly reliable, there are omissions and incomplete records one has to contend with. That, and the variance in information stored, more often than not results in hours and hours of research to find and verify one minor piece of information.

That is what happened in a four-year pursuit of information to reveal and verify the precise birthplace of one of Canada's most famous politicians: Sir John A. Macdonald.

Sir John Alexander Macdonald was the first and third prime minister of Canada. He was in office from 1867 to 1873 and 1878 until his death on June 6, 1891 at his home, Earnscliffe, in Ottawa. His death is recorded in detail and at great length in the national newspaper, The Globe(now The Globe and Mail).

Sir John's two marriages are well recorded: firstly to Scottish-born Isabella Clark (a cousin through his mother's half-sister, Margaret Shaw, who married Alexander Clark of Dalnavert) on Sept. 1, 1843; and secondly, on Feb. 16, 1867, to Huguenot descendant and Jamaica-born Susan Agnes Bernard, a sister to Lt.-Col. Hewitt Bernard, a senior official in the office of the attorney general of Canada West when Sir John was its premier or first minister. Bernard sometimes shared the bachelor's quarters with Macdonald at the Quadrilateral in Ottawa. Bernard was executive secretary to the Quebec Conference in 1864 during the early days of attempts to confederate Canada.

But it is Sir John's actual birth-date and birthplace that have eluded discovery and verification. While many Scots have never heard of this Glaswegian-born lawyer and statesman, fewer still know that he was born in 1815 in their world-renowned city -- or so we have been led to believe by historians and others who have written about Canada's most famous politician. Populist writers -- including the writers of most Internet sources and encyclopedias -- cite Sir John's birthplace merely as Glasgow.

Among the most noted and esteemed biographers is Sir Joseph Pope, principal secretary to Sir John from 1882-1891, whose “Memoirs of the Right Honourable Sir John A. Macdonald, G.C.B.” only mentions Sir John's birth in a footnote on page three of Chapter 1, "Early Days", when he cites Macdonald's birth along with the births of three other siblings: Margaret, born July 7, 1813; John Alexander, born Jan. 11, 1815; James, born Oct. 17, 1816; and Louisa, born March 29, 1818.

These dates are taken from a memorandum book of Hugh Macdonald, who, not satisfied with recording the year and the day, marked down, in every case, the minute of his children's birth. Readers of the stars may be interested to know that Sir John Macdonald was born at a quarter-past four o'clock --whether a.m. or p.m. is not stated.

Hugh Macdonald (1782-1841), Sir John's father, was born near Pittentrail, Rogart Parish, Sutherland, and died in Kingston 21 years after taking his family to Canada. Another of Sir John A.'s siblings, William, was Hugh and his wife Helen's first-born in 1812 and died in 1813.

More contemporary biographers, including Donald Creighton, author of the twin set “John A. Macdonald: The Young Politician, The Old Chieftain” cite his birthdate and birthplace as Jan. 11, 1815 in Glasgow. Even some recognized historical writers, such as Donald Swainson in “John A. MacDonald -- The Man and the Politician”, only refer to his birthplace as Glasgow.

A contemporary of Swainson's was Lena Newman, compiler of the interesting “The John A. Macdonald Album”, who erroneously cites his birthplace as Brunswick Place, "across the Clyde River from Glasgow, in January 1815."

She notes that the General Registry Office in Edinburgh gives Jan. 10 as his birth-date. Macdonald's father entered his birth in a memo book as the 10th, but registered it the next day -- the day Canada honours his birth-date - Jan. 11. Again, the wrong birthplace is given, and Brunswick Place, or Brunswick Lane, is on the north side of the Clyde River in the area now called "Merchant City."

Even the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, with what might seem to be deep pockets that can finance esoteric drama productions that much of the Canadian population fails to watch, could afford to send researchers to Glasgow in the 1960s armed with the technology of the day -- a Super 8-millimetre movie camera -- and produce a short feature on Brunswick Lane, which was purported to be Sir John's birthplace.

The archived footage, which is accessible via the Internet, reinforces the popularly held notion that Sir John was born at 22 Brunswick Lane, which was originally part of a three-storey structure jutting out into Brunswick Street between Trongate and Wilson streets.

Surviving in part from 1807 or earlier until the post-Second World War period, this nondescript, architecturally insignificant building housed merchants of various kinds during its 200-year-long life -- including Sir John's father's businesses between 1810 and 1816. Today, it stands derelict. It used to house a pub called the Fox and Hound and is reputed to have been, in its time, a massage parlour and a house of ill-repute.

Yet when a photograph of it is compared to a sketch of what is reputed to be the Macdonalds' home during that period, there are obvious differences that lend support to a select few authors' contention that Sir John was born on the south side of the River Clyde.

Anecdotal information to that effect has been recorded by a number of highly credible authors. However, it seems that the only writers who are more specific are those who knew him, as well as a few contemporary writers with academic or serious lay backgrounds.

On page 12 of Edgar B. Biggar's “Anecdotal Life of Sir John Macdonald(1891)”, one can read: "It was while they lived in one of a row of stone tenement houses near the (Laing) ferry landing, just across from Glasgow, on the Clyde, that John Alexander Macdonald was born." Biggar's book is based on information collected during Sir John's lifetime and from his relatives, mainly his sister-in-law, Maria Clark (Isabella's younger sister), who married John Alexander Macpherson. They were the parents of James Pennington Macpherson, Sir John's nephew and the author of the second most credible book on the eminent politician, “Life of the Right Honourable Sir John A. Macdonald” (1891).

In that book, Macpherson recounts, from talking with his mother, Maria: "During the time the Macdonalds were at Glasgow, five children were born -- William, Margaret, John, James, and Louisa, the first four on the opposite side of the Clyde from the city, the last in a house situated at Duke Street, a continuation of George Street."

Retired University of Edinburgh history professor Ged Martin, a specialist in Canadian studies, reveals in a lecture delivered at the University of Edinburgh in October 2004, and entitled "John A. Macdonald: Scotsman or Canadian?" that: "The Macdonalds lived in a residential area called Lauriestown, just across the narrow river, and it was here, in one of a row of stone tenement houses, that the future prime minister Macdonald was born. Unfortunately, the refined atmosphere of Lauriestown was disrupted by the construction of a colliery tramway. The middle classes began to leave for the comfortable districts on the west side of the city and eventually Macdonald's birthplace was engulfed in the terrible slums of the Gorbals. His own family had gone by 1818, but in their case, business was evidently not prospering, for they moved to Duke Street, in Glasgow's smoky east end."

Martin details young John A. Macdonald's life in Glasgow with additional anecdotes and has revealed, in other writings, two highly reputed sources that back his claim that the wily politician was born south of the Clyde River and not in Merchant City, above the shop operated by his father, Hugh, as part of the partnership Macdonald and Halket, dealers of bandanas in the cotton industry.

In his research, Martin cites two sources: Edgar B. Biggar and James Pennington Macpherson. Among the more current Canadian writers is Patricia Phenix, who wrote “Private Demons: The Tragic Personal Life of John A. Macdonald.” On page six of that book, she writes: "Soon after (Hugh and Helen Macdonald's marriage on Oct. 21, 1811), they moved into a tenement house near the ferry landing linking Laing to Glasgow ... Despite her age and the austerity of her living conditions, Helen gave birth to five children in rapid succession."

Although Phenix does not footnote her claim, undoubtedly it has been extracted from Biggar's 1891 account of Sir John's birth. Note, though, that she refers to a ferry landing linking Laing to Glasgow, which could put it on the north side, near the Glasgow Green.

The latest to join this group of "John A. Macdonald trackers" is the eminent Canadian author and journalist Richard Gwyn, who is better known for his writing on military matters. In his book “John A.: The Man Who Made Us” (2007), Gwyn notes in Chapter One that "where John A. Macdonald was born and when he was born are unknown. Or rather, not known exactly."

Gwyn places the birth in Glasgow and notes that the commemoration of Sir John's birth may be on the wrong day -- Jan. 11 -- rather than the day that is cited in the General Registry Office in Edinburgh (extracted from the Glasgow official parish record, which states he was born on Jan. 10, 1815.) Gwyn acknowledges that Hugh Macdonald, John's father, made the entry in his memorandum book, as Hugh was known to be a meticulous note-taker.

But then Gwyn speculates on the location of Sir John's birth, and in conducting his research from secondary sources he made an error: "The delivery may have taken place at 29 Ingram Street in Glasgow or, not far away, at 18 Brunswick Street, both on the south side of the Clyde River, because the family moved between these locations around the time of his birth."

Gwyn has both properties mislocated. They are both on the north side of the Clyde. Gwyn is, perhaps, identifying Hugh's places of employment or where he carried out his trade (selling bandanas) as the place of young John's birth. He cites one possibility as 29 Ingram St., a tenement building on the east side of the city core near High Street that included a fire station on the ground floor. It now houses a restaurant, bar and grill.

And he does consider 18 Brunswick St. as an alternative birthplace -- though again placing it on the south side of the Clyde River; it is not there. It is located in what is now called Merchant City and runs perpendicularly into Trongate -- the easterly extension of Argyll Street, a main east-west thoroughfare and shopping area in the heart of Glasgow.

Brunswick Street runs south from Ingram Street in the north one block past Hutcheson Hall to Wilson Street. It narrows a half-block later, becoming Brunswick Lane, and opens onto Argyll Street. Both of these locations were places where Hugh Macdonald ran businesses.

While many authors cite Sir John's birth-date as Jan. 11, 1815, the official parish records show otherwise. Sir John A. Macdonald's birth is noted in the official parish records for the City of Glasgow in the month of January, 1815 on Roll 644/21, Page 198, Entry No. 7. It cites his birth-date as Jan. 10, 1815. He is reputed to have been born late in the day. (Sir Joseph Pope noted that it was a quarter past four o'clock, a fact Gwyn recorded correctly; however, it is not known whether it was in the wee hours of the morning or in the afternoon.)

As Pope's account implies, Sir John's father, Hugh, despite lacking qualities that he could have inherited from his own father -- John Macdonald, the Merchant Macdonald of Rogart and Dornoch -- had one redeeming quality: He maintained fastidious records. He is reputed to have noted the birth of each of his five children and many other significant events in his and their lives.

Did Hugh record his son John's birth the following day at a church near his place of employment in 1815? From 1813 to 1815, he was working with his partner at 22 Brunswick Place, and moved at some point to 4 Virginia St. -- the current site of the Marks and Spencer store on Argyll Street. The Glasgow Post Office Directory of the day notes a Hugh Macdonald, agent, at 29 Ingram St., next to a fire station that is now a pub and restaurant.

While we know where Hugh worked, we are still trying to verify his places of residence and the birthplaces of his children, especially John Alexander.

Was Sir John A. Macdonald born in Laurieston -- as Biggar, Macpherson and Phenix imply -- or was Canada's foremost politician born in a flat above his father's business at 22 Brunswick Place? The Post Office directory of the day shows that Hugh was working at either 29 Ingram St. or 4 Virginia St. between 1814 and 1816, but also at 22 Brunswick Place between 1813 and 1815. When did he move from one to the other?

Retired United Nations consultant William Machin has extracted official parish records for all five of the Macdonald children in his quest to tie his ancestry to Sir John's uncle (and Hugh's brother) Alexander. All five children were registered in Tradeston, which is part of the Gorbals on the south side of the River Clyde. Official parish record entries, anecdotal information, research by noted authors, post office directory listings -- how do we really determine where Sir John Alexander Macdonald was born? And, when we do, what significance will that fact be, and to whom? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kekenoumahgawaninni (talk • contribs) 21:06, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Spelling of Name

Is there some reason that JAD's name is rendered here as Macdonald rather than as MacDonald?

No reason other than that's how he and his family spelled the name. Some Macdonalds are Macdonalds and some MacDonalds are MacDonalds. There is no rule except family tradition, and it should be respected. Indefatigable 01:29, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I'm doing a project why did he want confederation thanks

The spelling of a Scottish name is - if English is used - the Anglocisation of an oral language - Gaelic.

MacDonald in Scots Gaelic is "Mac Dhom nuill" meaning world ruler.

If you are trying to pronounce it, the "Dh" is "kuh" sound; so Mac Dhom nuill is Mac Con nuel.

It doesn't matter how you spell it in English, other than family preference and for legal purposes.

What is more important is how you say it.

The name Macdonald as oppossed to MacDonald denotes descent from the clan chief.

broken code?

There seems to be some buggy code in the article; look at the bottom. Can anybody look at it or fix it?--Sonjaaa 07:48, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Macdonald was not the longest serving Prime Minister. William Lyon Mackenzie King was. RIGHT - KEKENOUMAHGAHWANINNI

What colour was his hair? BLACK - KEKENOUMAHGAHWANINNI

Real Birthday

Should we not have his birthday listed as his real birthday January 10 and not the day he celebrated it? SFrank85 02:23, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I HAVE A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL PARISH RECORD CITING HIS BIRTH....IT IS JANUARY 10, 1815.

I CAN SEND ANYONE A COPY OF IT.

YES, BUT WE NOW HAVE AN ACT PASSED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHEN THE LIBERALS WERE IN POWER AND THAT WON'T BE CHANGED. PLUS ALL THE SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS THAT CELEBRATE HIS BIRTHDAY ON JANUARY 11 WON'T WANT TO CHANGE THEIR CEREMONIES, DINNERS, ETC. - KEKENOUMAHGAHWANINNI —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kekenoumahgawaninni (talk • contribs) 21:15, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Poster

terrific poster! Rjensen 03:37, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you...I saw it in a history book a while back, and recently found it...plus it also answers another question above. :)Habsfannova 03:41, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

What was John A. Macdonald's first language and religion?

Creighton John A. Macdonald: The Young Politician. p 11: "his accent and mode of speech were formed in a family and among relatives where broad Scots was continually spoken. But he was only five and a half years old when he was brought to Canada; and he grew up a typical Midland District boy, with the expressions and turns of phrase which were characteristic of the region p 17 "the sober Presbyterians were to show themselves ready to criticize and reject the leadership of the Anglican Loyalists who up to that time had run the province and the town. pp 74-76 he makes an early mark as champion of Presbyterian cause locally Rjensen 03:55, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

This is hardly unequivocal. Reverting. TrulyTory 14:30, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

As far as anyone knows, he spoke Scots Gaelic, but I don't know if it was his first or second language.

AS A TRAINED BROADCASTER AND SPEECH TEACHER IN THE EARLY STAGES OF MY CAREER, AND AS AN EMIGRANT FROM THE UK, I KNOW FROM PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THAT A CHILD SIR JOHN'S AGE WHEN HE CAME TO CANADA WOULD HAVE LOST ANY GLASWEGIAN ACCENT AND GAINED A MIDLAND DISTRICT ONE.

HIS FATHER SPOKE SCOTS GAELIC BUT I'M NOT SURE OF HIS MOTHER AS IF SHE DID IT WOULD BE THE LOCHABER DIALECT WHEREASE HUGH, JOHN'S FATHER, WOULD HAVE SPOKEN HEBRIDEAN GAELIC WHICH IS MUCH MORE WIDE-SPREAD. - KEKENOUHMAHGAHWANINNI —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kekenoumahgawaninni (talk • contribs) 21:18, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Hell can scorch a feather

A common saying in those days. Source is: "At sixty-three he leaped from the government benches at the opposition, shouting, "I can lick you quicker than hell can scorch a feather!" and was with difficulty restrained from doing it." in The Struggle for the Border by Bruce Hutchison - 1955 pp 328-9 Rjensen 18:21, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, Rjensen. HistoryBA 23:11, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

O'Connor stuff from Oct 10

Macdonald's younger half-brother, Angus O'Connor, was a respected sports promoter/trainer of amateur athletes during the late 1800s. O'Connor's son "Jumpin" Joe O'Connor was a heavy-weight boxing champion in the British Commonwealth. (see Kangaroos and Humans). While young O'Connor was in Australia, as Commonwealth champion, he challenged all-comers; and the challenge was accepted by French-Canadian Strong-man Louis Cyr.

It has to be a hoax because whoever wrote it in goofed by saying the "British Commonwealth" instead of the "British Empire". "Commonwealth" was not used until the 1940s/1950s. GBC 22:38, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

I see there is a similar paragraph in the Louis Cyr article. Even if it's true, I think it's too trivial to include even in a "Trivia" section. I'll wait 24 h, and if there are no objections I'll delete the item. Indefatigable 18:20, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

ANGUS WAS IN NO WAY RELATED TO SIR JOHN. WHERE DID YOU GET THAT RUMOUR OR FALSE PIECE OF INFORMATION? - KEEKNOUMAHGAHWANINNI —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kekenoumahgawaninni (talk • contribs) 21:20, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Goals and Beliefs

What were John. A. Macdonald's goals and beliefs? They are not actually included in this article.456 20:02, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

I believe Mr. Macdonald's goals were for a Canada dominated by the Protestant English. According to a number of books on the period, including Maggie Siggin's vibrant biography of Louis Riel, Macdonald can only be described as a manipulative political animal with a deep undercurrent of racism (for e.g., he scorned the "impulsive half-breeds" [Macdonald's word] in putting together policy that would render Metis in the Red River valley disenfranchised and impoverished).

John?

Was his name actually John or was it Johnathan?

JOHN - WHICH IS THE ANGLOCISED VERSION OF THE SCOTS GAELIC "IAN" OR "IAIN" - KEKENOUMAHGAHWAHNINNI —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kekenoumahgawaninni (talk • contribs) 21:22, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Family Confusion

It says within the article that John's father married his mother. This really should be reworded; to me it sounds as if John's father married his own mother. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.68.23.230 (talk) 00:34, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Education?

From where did he receive his LL.D. to practice law? NorthernThunder 02:26, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

That's an honourary degree. MacDonald's was from Cambridge in the UK. MacDonald actually didn't have an LL.B which is what you'd need to practice in Ontario today. Back then one could practice law from an [[|Articled clerk|apprenticeship]] alone. --JGGardiner 07:49, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

A-class or not

I've quick-failed this article for A-class, as it contains no in-line citations at all. Once this is fixed, please feel free to submit this article for an A-class review. Er rab ee 13:51, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, I've spotted one Harvard-style (not my favourite, but allowed). Plus the trivia section must be incorporated in the prose. Er rab ee 13:53, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

The Jamaica

There is a single sentence article about Macdonald's private rail car. I've nominated it for deletion if anyone is interested. It is currently mentioned in the trivia section here. --JGGardiner 21:09, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Copyright violation

From the article:

Macdonald was well known for his wit and also for his alcoholism. He is known to have been drunk for many of his debates in parliament. Two apocryphal stories are commonly repeated; the first describing an election debate in which Macdonald was so drunk he began vomiting while on stage. ...

From http://www.malaspina.org/home.asp?topic=./search/details&lastpage=./search/results&ID=461:

Macdonald was well known for his wit and also for his alcoholism. He is known to have been drunk for many of his debates in parliament. One famous story is that during an election debate Macdonald was so drunk he began vomiting violently on stage while his opponent was speaking. Picking himself up Macdonald told the crowd, "see how my opponent's ideas disgust me." In another version of the story, he responded to his opponent's query of his drunkenness with "It goes to show that I would rather have a drunk Conservative than a sober Liberal."

Obvious copyright violation. This text was not GFDL'd. --206.191.28.13 03:57, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

The section in question contains the following disclaimer:

[This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License and uses material adapted in whole or in part from the Wikipedia article on Sir John A. Macdonald .]
— malaspina.com, on the section in question

I think, therefor, that there's no problem. Wily D 04:06, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

Bath

Should mention knighting in order. --Daniel C. Boyer 18:01, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Birthdate

Interesting to see the continuing war over Macdonald's date of birth. The footnote which cites historian Waite, explains the controversy. Seems to me --- and I'm only guessing --- that the January 11 date is probably the correct one. Macdonald's father recorded January 11 in his memorandum book. It's also the date that Macdonald himself celebrated and according to biographer Richard Gywn, January 11 is the day of "the joyous celebratory dinner staged each year in Kingston, Ontario." Gwyn also notes that January 11 appears on all the plaques and statues that honour Sir John. Bwark (talk) 17:34, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

SEE THE PREVIOUS PAGE THAT I HAVE POSTED BUT, TO SUMMARISE...SIR JOHN WAS BORN ON JANUARY 10, 1815 AT 4:15 P.M. IN A HOUSE IN LAURIESTON, WHICH IS THE EASTERN PART OF THE GORBALS, WHICH IS PART OF GLASGOW BUT IS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE RIVER CLYDE. HIS FATHER, HUGH, REGISTERED THE BIRTH THE NEXT DAY - JANUARY 11. I HAVE A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL PARISH RECORD THAT SHOWS HE WAS BORN ON JANUARY 10.

I DOUBT IF ANY CHANGES WILL BE MADE TO THE CURRENT RECOGNITION OF JANUARY 11!

GWYN HAS SEVERAL ERRORS IN HIS FIRST VOLUME - JOHN A. - THE MAN WHO MADE US.

I HAVE EVERY BOOK PUBLISHED ON SIR JOHN AND THEN SOME....

I DON'T HAVE HUGH'S NOTEBOOK AS THAT IS IN THE ARCHIVES AT QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY. - KEKENOUMAHGAHWANINNI

JOHN A MACDONALD WAS GAY!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bren9182 (talk • contribs) 13:58, 17 April 2008 (UTC) Also he had a duaghter name kadeesha from his wife arangi in the year of , 1846-->

SIR JOHN WAS KNOWN AS A WOMANIZER AND HAS BEEN RECORDED AS EXPRESSING VERY WARM FEELINGS FOR ONE OF HIS FELLOW MPs - A MALE. I CAN PROVIDE MORE DETAILS ON THIS IF YOU NEED IT. - KEKENOUMAHGAHWANINNI

Major revisions make this a much weaker article

For some reason, someone has eliminated the sections on Macdonald's early life and early career, the effect of the rebellions of 1837 and the section on his personal life. Even the bibliography section has been tampered with, eliminating significant books on Macdonald. I spent hours editing this article, but all my contributions are gone. Too bad. Canada's first prime minister deserves a better entry than this mishmash. Bwark (talk) 21:05, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

I reverted here but noticed that there was more vandalism remaining, notice the links to Peru? With my next edit instead of cleaning out the vandalism I ended up cutting the article in half but I have no idea why. I've reverted to 14 May as that looks like the last good version. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 20:46, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Interesting, look at this from the 21 May 2007. Somehow that's the version I reverted to. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 20:51, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

THAT'S LIFE WHEN YOU HAVE A PAGE LIKE THIS THAT ALLOWS ANYONE TO ACCESS IT AN EDIT. YOU NEED TO GO TO SCHOLARLY SOURCES OR CONTACT SOMEONE WHO IS AN EXPERT SUCH AS THE CHAP WHO RUNS THE GREAT GLEN GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH CENTRE IN SCOTLAND. - KEKENOUMAHGAHWANINNI —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kekenoumahgawaninni (talk • contribs) 21:31, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Rebellions of 1837

I suggest omitting this paragraph:

"It was surely wisdom to have nothing to do with the whole affair. And yet, he took the case. Even he might have found it difficult to say why. A curious interest in people, a relish for cases which were odd and difficult, a jaunty recognition of the fact that professional prestige involved publicity, and, perhaps, a certain stubborn, independent conviction that these helpless and deluded men deserved at least the bare minimum of assistance – all these may have helped to move him to his decision."

It seems to me to be unencyclopedic speculation. 24.36.74.15 (talk) 00:01, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Too Much Creighton

Biographer Donald Creighton's name appears a dozen times in the body text. Is there any chance of cutting this down, and if possible referring to a broader array of sources? 24.36.74.15 (talk) 03:38, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

So far, Creighton's two-volume biography is the definitive work on John A. Macdonald. However, many other historians are cited along with Richard Gwyn's recent biography. If you can cut down the Creighton citations, be my guest. Bwark (talk) 18:01, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

BWARK, CREIGHTON'S IS NOT THE MOST DEFINITIVE WORK ON SIR JOHN. SIR JOSEPH POPE'S WRITINGS ARE! GO BORROW A COPY FROM A UNIVERSITY LIBRARY NEAR YOU. I WON'T LEND YOU MINE. - KEKENOUHMAHGAHWANINNI

GWYN IS NOT BAD BUT NOT THE MOST ACCURATE EITHER.

IF YOU WANT ACCURACY - I AM YOUR MAN. - KEKENOUHMAHGAHWANINNI —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kekenoumahgawaninni (talk • contribs) 21:34, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Sections on early life and personal life

I can't understand why these sections were deleted. Obviously Macdonald is a major figure in Canadian history and information on his early life and personal life is needed in any biography. I have restored these sections. Bwark (talk) 18:01, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

BWARK, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT HIS EARLY LIFE OR HIS PERSONAL LIFE. - KEKENOUHMAHGAHWANINNI —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kekenoumahgawaninni (talk • contribs) 21:45, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Semi-protection urgently needed for Macdonald entry

I have just restored sections on Macdonald's law career and his political rise that someone deleted. Such vandalism is a chronic problem with this entry. It deserves indefinite semi-protection under Wikipedia guidelines which state: "Semi-protection prevents edits from anonymous users (IP addresses), as well as edits from accounts that are not autoconfirmed. Administrators may apply indefinite semi-protection to pages that are: Subject to heavy and persistent vandalism." The Macdonald entry is persistently vandalized. Bwark (talk) 23:16, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Once again, I have restored sections on early life, professional law career and political rise that were deleted without any discussion. Bwark (talk) 14:16, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

Reference in Early years, 1815–1830

I am not familiar with this article, however could someone look at the references in "Early years, 1815–1830". Seth Whales (talk) 19:22, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Hey all, I don't know how to edit Wikipedia but I hope someone sees this and reverts some of the right column of the page, which states some obviously incorrect facts concerning his association with PETA and Ronald McDonald. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.243.253.103 (talk) 03:27, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

"Much of present-day Canada remained outside Confederation—in addition to the two remaining Maritime colonies and British Columbia, vast areas in the north and west belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company." This is incorrect, as the Maritime's is composed of three provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were two of the first four provinces in Canada leaving only one Maritime Province outside of Confederation. The correct term is the Atlantic Provinces which also include Newfoundland which did not join Canada until 1949. See article on Canadian Maritimes for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Maritimes or check out their source: http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/federal/maritime.pdf which could put it on the north side, near the Glasgow Green.