John William Dunscomb

John William Dunscomb (February 23, 1804 – December 16, 1891)[lower-alpha 1] was a merchant and political figure in Canada East, Province of Canada (now Quebec). He represented Beauharnois in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1842 as a Government supporter and supporter of the union of the two Canadas.

John William Dunscomb
Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Beauharnois
In office
1841–1842
Preceded byNew position
Succeeded byEdward Gibbon Wakefield
Alderman, Montreal municipal council
In office
1840–1841
Personal details
Born(1804-02-23)February 23, 1804
St. John's, Newfoundland
DiedDecember 16, 1891(1891-12-16) (aged 87)
Quebec City, Quebec
Political partyUnionist; Government supporter
SpouseCaroline Birch Dumford
Children1 daughter
Parent
ResidenceMontreal
OccupationMerchant

Dunscomb was born in 1804 in St. John's, Newfoundland, the son of John Dunscombe, but his business was based in Montreal, Lower Canada. He married Caroline Birch Dumford, with whom he had one daughter.[1]

Dunscomb served on the municipal council for Montreal from 1840 to 1841, when he resigned from the council.

Following the rebellion in Lower Canada, and the similar rebellion in 1837 in Upper Canada (now Ontario), the British government decided to merge the two provinces into a single province, as recommended by Lord Durham in the Durham Report. The Union Act, 1840, passed by the British Parliament, abolished the two provinces and their separate parliaments, and created the Province of Canada, with a single parliament for the entire province, composed of an elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed Legislative Council. The Governor General retained a strong position in the government.[2][3][4]

Dunscombe stood for election in first general election in 1841, for the riding of Beauharnois, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the new Parliament. He was a Government supporter, who favoured the union of Lower Canada and Upper Canada into a single province. He generally supported the British Governor-General, Lord Sydenham.[5]

In the second session of the Parliament, held in 1842, there was a major re-organisation of the ministry, when the new Governor-General, Sir Charles Bagot, appointed two strong reformers to the Executive Council, Robert Baldwin from Canada West, and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine from Canada East. Dunscombe was a co-mover of a resolution, along with John Simpson, expressing satisfaction with the new Council. The resolution stated that: "it was absolutely necessary to invite that large portion of our fellow subjects who are of French origin to share in the government of this country." The motion passed, although heavily amended.[5]

On July 15, 1842, Dunscombe was appointed Warden of Trinity House in Montreal. He resigned his seat in the Assembly on October 8, 1842.[6][7]

He later served as customs collector at Quebec City and as Customs Commissioner for the Province of Canada. He was the author of Provincial Laws of the Customs and Canadian Custom House Guide, both published in 1844.[6]

Dunscomb died in Quebec City at the age of 87.[1]

Notes
  1. There is some uncertainty about the dates of his birth and death. The biography given by the National Assembly of Quebec states he was born before 1821, and died around 1875. The published family history gives precise dates of February 23, 1804 and December 16, 1891. Those dates are used here.

See also

1st Parliament of the Province of Canada

References
  1. Ziebarth (1997). Direct connections: Ziebarth-Magill ancestry. p. 191. ISBN 9780966167504. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
  2. J.M.S. Careless, The Union of the Canadas — The Growth of Canadian Institutions, 1841–1857 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1967), pp. 1–5.
  3. Paul G. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841–67 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015), pp. 3–4.
  4. Union Act, 1840, 3 & 4 Vict., c. 35 (UK), s. 3.
  5. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841-67, pp. 5, 10.
  6. "John William Dunscomb", "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  7. J.O. Côté, Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada, 1841 to 1860 (Quebec: St. Michel and Darveau, 1860), p. 59, note (1).
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