John Alexander Macdonald, Canadian Boyhood

The Childhood of Canada's First Prime Minister

Jan 12, 2009 Susanna McLeod

Born in Scotland, John Alexander Macdonald grew up in Kingston. A quiet boy, John was passionate about books, language, and eventually, law, politics and Canada.

It seems Canadians have not given much mind to the lives the first leaders of the country. Their early years are often left to the imagination of the few who might care to think about them. Perhaps it's time to learn more about our great politicians and leaders, to get a better understanding of who they were and how they made their way to the top. January 11th is the birthdate of Sir John A. Macdonald, one of Canada's Fathers of Confederation and the country's first Prime Minister. Let's celebrate!

John Alexander Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland on January 11, 1815. He was the third of the five children born to Helen and Hugh Macdonald. The oldest son William died in infancy in Scotland. Margaret, John, James and Louisa made the emigration voyage across the ocean with their parents in 1820, joining relatives of their mother. Helen's half-sister Anna and her husband, retired British Army officer Lieutenant-Colonel Donald Macpherson family, were already long settled in Upper Canada, said Donald Creighton in John A. Macdonald: The Young Politician, The Old Chieftain. The Macphersons had lived in Kingston for more than 12 years and their home was adequately appointed. The rough pioneer existence had given way to urban comfort, and the Colonel was well-known and respected in the town.

A Quiet, Studious Boy

The Macdonald family settled in, John's father Hugh opening a shop, similar to one he owned in Glasgow, and hoped for the prosperity that had evaded him in Scotland. John was nearing five years old, getting ready to attend school. “A rather quiet, thoughtful boy – and yet, at times, full of exuberant fun and inventive mischief... he quickly became passionately interested in books,” noted author Donald Creighton. He was a tall and slender youngster with “his mother's prominent nose, her generous mouth, her wide-set dark eyes...,” and, “a copious crop of dark, curly, almost frizzy hair.”

An event marred the childhood of John when he was six years old. He witnessed the horriftying death of his brother James when the small boy was injured at the hands of an employee of his father. It was something that John kept secret until his elder years, said Collections Canada.

School in 1822

The shop not prospering, the Macdonalds moved to Hay Bay, near the Bay of Quinte, slightly west of Kingston but still well within its reach. John had begun school in Kingston in 1822 and switched briefly to the local school at Adolphustown. His parents decided to send him back to Kingston for the winter months, and so John boarded in several homes and also was a regular visitor with his relatives, the Macpherson family.

Languages of Latin and French were mastered by John at a young age; he was not an athletic sort, said Collections Canada. Instead, he devoured books and read for hours on end, deeply drawn into the passages. By age 15, the teenage John found he had no interest in shop-keeping, soldiering or trades. He was interested in law. The procedure at that time was not further schooling but direct training and work in a lawyer's office. John began articling with a prominent Scottish lawyer in Kingston in 1830, George Mackenzie.

A Lawyer at 21

John A. Macdonald was called to the Bar in 1836 and opened his own legal practice in Kingston. His future held posts in politics as alderman, Member of Parliament, Attorney General of Province of Canada, and eventually, one of the Fathers of Confederation and then first Prime Minister in 1867. The Queen knighted him for his dedicated work in nation-building.

The mark on Canada's history and vision by John Macdonald is enduring, never to be forgotten. The birthday of Sir John A. Macdonald is a good time each year to give him his long-belated due. Happy birthday, Sir!

Source:

John A. Macdonald: The Young Politician, The Old Chieftain, by Donald G. Creighton, published by University of Toronto Press, 1998.

Also see NNDB site for so much more on Sir John Alexander Macdonald.

The copyright of the article John Alexander Macdonald, Canadian Boyhood in Canadian History is owned by Susanna McLeod. Permission to republish John Alexander Macdonald, Canadian Boyhood in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

John Alexander Macdonald, ca 1861-1863