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You are here: Home / Patriotic Patter / Historical Figures / Alexander Mackenzie – 2nd Prime Minister of Canada

Alexander Mackenzie – 2nd Prime Minister of Canada

October 24, 2009 By Submit to Canadiana Connection

Prime Minister of Canada Alexander Mackenzie
(Featured August 2003, revised January 2014)

Alexander Mackenzie was the second Prime Minister and the first Liberal Prime Minister of Canada. (Not to be confused with the Canadian explorer, Sir Alexander Mackenzie 1764-1820.)

He was born in Scotland, the third of ten children. His family was not financially stable, so they moved frequently. In fact, they went through several moves in a ten year period. Mackenzie’s father, a carpenter, died in 1836 at 52 years.

Partly due to his father’s death, and he and his elder brothers wanting to support the family, Alexander began apprenticeship as a stone mason at 16 years old, becoming a journey man at age 20.

He left Scotland in 1842, following his sweetheart and her family to Canada. Over the next three years he courted Helen Neil. He married her in 1845. They had three children together, but only one, Mary, survived infancy. Helen died in 1852.

Approximately a year after Helen died, on June 17, 1853, Mackenzie married Jane Sym. Sym had been the stepmother to Alexander’s daughter, from his prior marriage. Jane became the new Spouse of the Prime Minister of Canada; the official title of the wife of the Prime Minister. Alexander had met Jane through the Point Sarnia Baptist church, which they had both attended.

Jane Sym Mackenzie
Jane Sym Mackenzie
As his years declined, he made a concerted effort to keep Jane out of the public eye, and instead keep her in his private life, a life he had “reserved to enjoy in her company.” Not much is known—or easily found—concerning Jane Sym. We do know that she and he had visited, among other places, historic Bell Farm, in Indian Head, Saskatchewan.

Jane is buried at Lakeview Cemetery, in Sarnia, as is her husband.

Mackenzie’s political career actually began by campaigning for George Brown of the Reform Party (which eventually became the Liberal party). He spent time in the Ontario Provincial Assembly, and before becoming Prime Minister, served in the Federal government as the Public Works Minister. He served as Prime Minister from November 7, 1873 – October 8, 1878. His was the first Liberal administration of the Dominion of Canada. His government established the Secret Ballot in 1874, founded the Royal Military College, created the Supreme Court of Canada and the Office of the Auditor General. One of his first acts as Prime Minister was to introduce rreform legislation (organizational and regulatory rationalization). Most important was a requirement that all election ridings held elections on the same day. He introduced several other acts as well, including: the insurance acts, the Customs Act, and the Weights and Measures Act. The latter was important in that it established a legal context for free market forces.

Many of Mackenzie’s accomplishments were not so much political as those which spoke to his expertise as a stone mason. He helped plan or erect the Welland Canal, the Martello Towers at Fort Henry, an Episcopal Church and a bank in Sarnia, the courthouses and jails in Chatham and Sandwich. Perhaps his greatest architectural / building accomplishment was when, as Public Works Minister, he oversaw drafting and the completion of the Parliament buildings.

To round out a picture of how prolific Mackenzie’s contributions to Canadian society were, here’s a partial timeline of his accomplishments and political career:

Political Career Timeline:

  • 1852: Editor of the Lambton Shield, a Reform newspaper
  • 1861: Elected to the Provincial Assembly
  • 1866 – 1874 Major, 27th Lambton Volunteer Infantry
  • 1867 – 1882 Elected to the Federal Assembly, constituency Lambton, Ontario
  • 1871-72: MLA Ontario Assembly
  • 1873: Became leader of the Liberal Party (originally called Reform)
  • 1873 – 1878 Public Works Minister
  • 1874: Became Prime Minister when a scandal forced the previous Conservative government to resign. The elections that followed put Mackenzie in power.
  • 1878: Lost election
  • 1878-1880 Leader of the Opposition
  • 1880: Gave up Liberal Leadership remained in parliament until his death
  • 1882 – 1892 Constituency: York East, Ontario

An interesting and unique fact concerning Mackenzie was that he refused Knighthood three times, being the single one of Canada’s first eight PMs not to be knighted. It’s known that he was genuinely saddened at having to leave the Prime Minister’s Office.

Alexander Mackenzie had many chapters, twists, and turns in his public life. We’d like to close this part of our article by talking about a significant speech he made in Dundee, Scotland, on July 13, 1875. In this speech, he spoke about the relationship between Canada and England at the time. Considering the year this speech was made in, two very interesting facts stand out about Mackenzie and his vision. First, he touched upon in a large way of how Canada stood with England and her military forces, in rejecting and repelling the Americans. Second, he specifically addressed the value of business relationships and open trade. This excerpt is just one of the things he had to say about ‘free trade’:

“We we can only make money by trading with other nations and individuals, and I quite appreciate your suggestion, my Lord Provost, that the people of Dundee and Canada should endeavour to trade a little more in the future then they have done in the past.”

Mackenzie remained a Member of Parliament until 1892, when he died after hitting his head in a fall. As was mentioned above, he was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Sarnia, Ontario. Funeral services, which were held in Sarnia and Toronto, were attended by large crowds of people. (Note: he did not have a State funeral.)

Filed Under: Historical Figures, Patriotic Patter Tagged With: alexander mackenzie, Dominion of Canada, prime minister of canada

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Fit2009 says

    January 10, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    you spelled scandal wrong

  2. cletch says

    January 12, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    Thanks! Feel free to proof anything for me! 🙂

  3. Sslvsbs says

    February 25, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    You helped me on my progect thanks

  4. Drblizzy says

    March 13, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    He didnt have 1 child. he had 3 but 2 of them died by infancy.

  5. cletch says

    March 16, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    That is outlined here: https://www.canadianaconnection.com//2009/10/trivia-eh-alexander-mackenzie/

  6. Melanie says

    April 3, 2011 at 7:12 pm

    haha same here i had to do this for a project ,but ya thanks
    well also i learned a little bit about Alexandre Mackenzie:)

  7. Maxine Dundas says

    May 3, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    For anybody wanting to know more about his life in-depth ( and his childhood in Scotland ) try this e-book:

    http://www.archive.org/stream/cihm_03821/cihm_03821_djvu.txt

    It explains all about his family life and political aspirations. Coincidentally, his brother, Hope Fleming Mackenzie ( who also dallied in Canadian politics ) was originally married to my great-great-great grandmother’s sister, Vere. She died two years after marriage and migration to Canada and he went on to marry somebody else, who is always mentioned in the textbooks but poor Vere isn’t. So, for once, I would like to give poor Vere the opportunity to shine!! 🙂

    It is a very quaint little book, well worth dipping into.

    Regards

    Maxine Dundas

  8. Fernandoopk says

    May 29, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    ty for the help

  9. Rachel says

    October 3, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    I NEED MORE INFORMATION THAN THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  10. cletch says

    October 3, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    What kind of “more” information do you need?

  11. Erykahver says

    December 8, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    his full name,the country he is from,date of birth and death,where he was born,lived and died,information about becoming an explorer and what is he famous for(main accompplishments)

  12. cletch says

    December 8, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    His main accomplishments could include he was the first Liberal Prime Minister, the secret ballot was created under his leadership.
     
    It says he is from Scotland… but you’ll find more specific details here: https://www.canadianaconnection.com/2009/10/trivia-eh-alexander-mackenzie/
    The rest of the info, I would have to research and may not have time before your paper is due  😉  So if you find the answers first come back and share them here.  Good luck!
      
    Oh wait… your comments mention explorer…. this is not the same Alexander Mackenzie.  Note the information above specifically says:  (Not to be confused with the Canadian explorer Sir Alexander Mackenzie 1764-1820)  Did you actually read the page before posting your comment?  😉 

  13. Soccer281970 says

    January 15, 2012 at 2:31 pm

    i need more information

  14. Mackenzie says

    January 16, 2012 at 4:16 pm

    I need MORE INFORMATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  15. Blaaaaa says

    January 18, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    this is ver bad i need MORE STUFF 

  16. Dhawkj says

    January 25, 2012 at 8:10 pm

    Need more aboout his second wife but overall wasn’t that bad 🙂

  17. Atldsau says

    January 25, 2012 at 8:43 pm

    same like about his second wife.

  18. Hth says

    February 18, 2012 at 6:04 pm

    non yoummm

  19. Jonathan Hampton says

    February 23, 2012 at 1:50 pm

    he is a fucking faget

  20. Mike says

    March 17, 2012 at 7:39 am

    it appears you are hiding your deep seeded desire for the male genitalia…

  21. guest says

    April 10, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    This Alexander Mackenzie wasn’t an explorer. He was Canada’s second prime minister

  22. Matias says

    June 12, 2012 at 9:59 am

    Need More Information about his ACCOMPLISHMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  23. Alessandro Aviles-Molina says

    June 6, 2013 at 10:18 am

    Your old

  24. ale says

    January 15, 2014 at 9:33 pm

    this is not a enough but it will do for now

    NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

  25. Kanzee says

    October 5, 2015 at 6:15 pm

    Is there any “Quotes” or information about his relations with the First Nations Ppls ?

  26. cletch says

    October 5, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    I don’t have any offhand…. I’d have to search the internet and I don’t have time for that now. If you find anything, please feel free to share.

  27. lily says

    December 1, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    thank you you SAVED MY REPORT!

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