William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie (
March 12,
1795 –
August 28,
1861) was a
Canadian journalist, politician and leader of an unsuccessful rebellion.
Mackenzie was born in
Dundee,
Scotland and immigrated to
Upper Canada in
1820. From
1824 to
1834 he published the newspaper the
Colonial Advocate in
York, Upper Canada (now
Toronto, Ontario), attacking the upper class clique known as the "
Family Compact" which was in control of the government. In response to this, fifteen young men from wealthy, well-known families of York (now
Toronto) raided his printing office, damaged his press, and threw cases of type into
Lake Ontario in
1826. In
1828 he was elected to the
Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, but was expelled five times for
libel, each time being re-elected.
In
1834 he became the first
mayor of Toronto, and in
1836 he founded the newspaper,
The Constitution, to promote the policies of his
Reform Party. In
1837 he led the
Upper Canada Rebellion against Sir
Francis Bond Head and the Family Compact, which was quickly put down. Mackenzie escaped to the
United States, and set up a provisional
Republic of Canada government on
Navy Island in the
Niagara River. He was later imprisoned in the U.S. for his involvement in the
Caroline Affair. An amnesty allowed his return to Canada in
1849, and he was a member of the
Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from
1851 to
1858.
