Mackenzie, William Lyon, 1795–1861, Canadian journalist and insurgent leader, b. Scotland; grandfather of William Lyon Mackenzie King King, William Lyon Mackenzie, 1874–1950, Canadian political leader, b. Kitchener, Ont.; grandson of William Lyon Mackenzie. An expert on labor questions, he served in Wilfrid Laurier's Liberal administration as deputy minister of labor (1900–1908) and
..... Click the link for more information. . Emigrating to Upper Canada in 1820, he published (1824–34), first at Queenston, then at York (later Toronto), his noted Colonial Advocate. In it he vigorously attacked the governing clique called the Family Compact Family Compact, name popularly applied to a small, powerful group of men who dominated the government of Upper Canada (Ontario) from the closing years of the 18th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. , and in 1826 his printing office was partly demolished. Elected (1828) to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, Mackenzie was five times expelled for "libel" and five times reelected by his constituency. As a leader of the Reform party of Upper Canada he went to London in 1832 to obtain redress of grievances. In 1834 he became the first mayor of Toronto. In 1836 he founded the Constitution as a Reform party organ. Enraged by the policies of Sir Francis Bond Head Head, Sir Francis Bond, 1793–1875, British administrator in Canada. A soldier (1811–25) and unsuccessful mining adventurer in South America, he had had little experience to prepare him for the post of lieutenant governor of Upper Canada (Ontario), to
..... Click the link for more information. and by the defeat of the Reform party, Mackenzie and a group of insurgents attempted (1837) to seize Toronto, but the rebellion was quickly put down. Mackenzie and others escaped to the United States. He set up a provisional government with fortified headquarters on Navy Island in the Niagara River, but he was later imprisoned for 18 months by the U.S. authorities for violating the neutrality laws (see Caroline Affair Caroline Affair. In 1837 a group of men led by William Lyon Mackenzie rebelled in Upper Canada (now Ontario), demanding a more democratic government. There was much sympathy for their cause in the United States, and a small steamer, the Caroline, owned by U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. ). After his release Mackenzie worked as a journalist and writer until the proclamation of general amnesty allowed his return (1849) to Canada. There he was a member (1851–58) of the Legislative Assembly of United Canada (Upper and Lower Canada).

Bibliography

See S. Leacock, Mackenzie, Baldwin, LaFontaine, Hincks (1926 ed.); E. C. Guillet, The Lives and Times of the Patriots (1938).

Mackenzie, William Lyon

(born March 12, 1795, Springfield, Angus, Scot.—died Aug. 28, 1861, Toronto) Scottish-born Canadian journalist and political agitator. He immigrated to Canada in 1820 and became a merchant in Upper Canada (later Ontario). In 1824 he founded a newspaper in Queenston, the Colonial Advocate, in which he criticized the ruling oligarchy in Upper Canada. Elected to the province's assembly (1828–36), he was expelled six times by the conservative majority for his newspaper's invectives against the government. A list of Canadian grievances against British colonial rule that he published led to the recall of the province's governor. In 1837 he led 800 followers in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the provincial government. After attempting to rally his forces on Navy Island in the Niagara River, N.Y., he was jailed for violating U.S. neutrality laws. He returned to Canada in 1849 and later served in the Canadian Parliament (1851–58).