He was born in Newark[2] (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) to Allan MacNab and Anne Napier (daughter of Captain Peter William Napier, R.N., the commissioner of the port and harbour of Quebec). When MacNab was a one year old, he was baptized in the Anglican church in St. Mark's Parish of Newark.[2] His father was a lieutenant in the 71st Regiment and the Queen's Rangers under Lt-Col. John Graves Simcoe. After the Queen's Rangers were disbanded, the family moved around the country in search of work and eventually settled in York (now Toronto), where MacNab was educated at the Home District Grammar School.
War of 1812
As a fourteen-year-old boy, MacNab fought in the War of 1812. He probably served at the Battle of York and certainly in the Canadian forlorn hope that headed the Anglo-Canadian assault on Fort Niagara. The twenty local men eliminated two American pickets of twenty men each with the bayonet before taking part in the final assault. Captain Kerby, of the Incorporated Militia Battalion, was reportedly the first man into the fort.[3]
Legal and business career
After his service in the War of 1812, MacNab studied law in Toronto under (at the time) Judge George D'Arcy Boulton, where MacNab "took nearly twice the average time to qualify at the bar was a result of his inadequate education and his preference for active work".[1] MacNab was admitted to the bar in 1824, and called to the bar in 1826.[4][1] In 1826, MacNab moved from York to Hamilton, where he established a successful law office, but it was chiefly by land speculation that he made his fortune. There was no Anglican church in Hamilton yet, so MacNab attended a Presbyterian church until Christ Church was established in 1835.[5]
A successful entrepreneur as well as politician, MacNab, with Glasgow merchant Peter Buchanan, was responsible for the construction of the Great Western Railway of Ontario.[6] MacNab also served on several boards, including as a board member of the Beacon Fire and Life Insurance Co. of London alongside prominent financier Thomas Clarkson.[7]
Following an amount of "liberal credit" rewarded from the Bank of Upper Canada regarding legislative assistance given by MacNab, and his own cash reserves, MacNab sought to own land. By May 1832, MacNab owned "some 2000 acres of wild land in London, Gore, and Newcastle districts". The amount increased and by 1835 MacNab had "cornered much of the best land in the centre of expanding Hamilton". MacNab's land holdings fluctuated often, and their total value at any one time is unknown, but in a suggestion of just how massive the amounts of land and sales were, Charles Bagot stated in 1842 that MacNab was "a huge proprietor of land – perhaps the largest in the country".[1] This is stated in MacNab's biography as "probably true".
MacNab's land purchases (especially in the early 1830s) placed financial strain on MacNab initially, but proved to be worth it in the long run. In one scenario, MacNab purchased a piece of land in November 1832 located in Burlington Heights from J. S. Cartwright for 2500 pounds – 500 more than MacNab wanted – where MacNab saw the "symbol of his social aspirations" built: the opulent and luxury 72-room Dundurn Castle. On the day of the sale for the land, between 5000 and 10000 pounds of fire damage ravaged MacNab's Hamilton projects.[1]
MacNab could prove to be unethical but effective with his business career: case in point is MacNab being some three years behind in payments for an extremely important creditor named Samuel Peters Jarvis, and after some three years time MacNab stated he would not pay Jarvis back for this credit as Jarvis "owed MacNab for past services". Whether this is true or not is unknown, but Jarvis simply stated MacNab as one word for this – villain.[1]
Upper Canada Rebellion, 1837
Before the Rebellion broke out, MacNab argued for increased American immigration as "they are a useful and enterprising people and if admitted would be of great advantage to the country" in 1837. Again before the Rebellion, MacNab was appointed as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th Regiment of the Gore militia in May 1830, partly through the influence of the Chisholm family of Oakville.[1]
MacNab in turn for the victory at Montgomery's Tavern was awarded sole command of troops sent to London District by Lieutenant Governor Sir Francis Bond Head and led a militia of his own against the rebels marching towards Toronto from London, led by Charles Duncombe. Duncombe's men also dispersed when they learned that MacNab was waiting for them, but the quality of MacNab's leadership was nonetheless regarded as "mixed". There were "extreme problems" in communication, procuring supplies, and controlling the volunteers, along with MacNab ignoring basic operational procedures. MacNab was given 250 troops but ultimately had some 1500 men assembled total, as MacNab argued "as early as December 14".[1]
Mackenzie fled to the United States following his defeat at the Battle of Montgomery's Tavern on 7 December, and return to Canada on 13 December, occupying Navy island, with increased American sympathy. MacNab was dispatched by Sir Bond Head on Christmas Day (25 December 1837) to command the troops in Niagara with support from both naval forces and regular officers. MacNab saw himself alternating between "drilling or dining" for about 4 to 5 days as "supplies and billeting were inadequate and orders were vague" regarding command centers in Toronto and Montreal. Moreover, there were contradictory reports coming to both Head and MacNab regarding the amount of American supplies and the strength and morale of Mackenzie's new rebel force, and Head refused to sanction Navy island but offered no other alternatives. There were some 2000 raw and reckless volunteers amassed as troops by 29 December 29.[1]
29 December proved to be important to MacNab as two attacks happened against Mackenzie's forces on 29 December under MacNab's command: a dawn attack and a dusk attack. The first attack proved how little discipline the officers had under MacNab, how little control MacNab had over them, and how weak the line of command was, and the second attack showed how reckless MacNab could be if his position as "commander" was stood up. The dawn (first) attack was not sanctioned or ordered by MacNab and was the result of a group of particularly bibulous officers and the event nearly ended in disaster. The second (dusk) attack however both ended in disaster and was the result of MacNab's order. MacNab and Captain Andrew Drew, a retired officer of the Royal Navy, commanding a party of militia, acting on information and guidance from Alexander McLeod, attacked Mackenzie's supply ship at Navy Island, an American ship called the Caroline. The sinking of the SS Caroline happened in American waters and saw an American citizen killed – the stakes became raised and the reaction was swift and immediate. The event became known as the Caroline affair. The affair saw MacNab indicted for murder in Erie County, New York, and subsequently replaced by Colonel Hughes, taking MacNab's post of Commander in Niagara. However, before leaving the frontier MacNab protested that Hughes would be the one to receive "all the credit" whilst MacNab and the militia had done "all the drudgery". Later, MacNab quitted the Niagara frontier on 14 January 1838. There were some 3500 troops amassed only four days before. On the evening of 14 January, Mackenzie and his force slipped off the island and Hughes (MacNab's replacement) was occupying Navy island as MacNab was lobbying in Toronto for his command position back.[1]
During the Rebellions, MacNab appreciated "degrees of involvement" with rebel forces in that he jailed "only the rebel leaders" under his own initiative and saw the "common followers" of the rebels as people who were "deceived", even promising clemency to some. MacNab also shared a common philosophy in his own troops, believing that officers earn the respect of their subordinates "not only through courage in war but also by tempering strict justice with kindness and approachability off the battlefield".[1]
In 1838, Macnab was knighted for his zeal in suppressing the rebellion.
In 1860, Macnab was appointed an honorary colonel in the British army, and aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria.[8]
In 1829, MacNab refused to testify before a House of Assembly committee which was investigating the hanging of an effigy of Lieutenant Governor Sir John Colborne, chaired by Reformer W. W. Baldwin. MacNab was subsequently sentenced to jail for 10 days by the House of Assembly, following apparent "prodding" from William Lyon Mackenzie. MacNab returned to the public as a "Torymartyr", and effectively utilized/exploited this image to defeat the Reformers in Wentworth County and secure the political victory for both he and John Willson.[1]
In April 1833, MacNab secured the appointment of the land registrar of Wentworth for his brother David Archibald. This was important as whoever controlled this office could "quietly acquire choice and undeveloped land in the Wentworth area without a need for a public auction". This benefitted MacNab as a land speculator as "he had gained a seemingly impregnable hold over Wentworth’s land development and, as a result, a firm grip on the county’s commercial and political future" due to appointing his brother.[1]
MacNab came under public scrutiny when he was ousted as president of the Desjardins Canal Company in 1834, after having mortgaged a large block of personal land as security for a government loan to the company in 1832.[1]
MacNab committed a breach of privilege and was arrested by the sergeant-at-arms during the 10th Parliament of Upper Canada after a motion by the legislative assembly. MacNab retaliated by seconding a motion in December 1831 which was accusing William Lyon Mackenzie of breach of privilege and motioned for him to be expelled from the house on the grounds of libel. The motion failed after Tory legislators feared the political backlash of supporting an obscure parliamentary privilege.[10] This was the first of five expulsions, MacNab active in all of them.[1]
MacNab acted as a "spearhead" in the political attacks against Mackenzie (because of his involvement in all five expulsions) and this was beneficial for MacNab, causing him to gain power within the Assembly and maintain a solid link with the members of so-called "Tory York". This was beneficial for the Tories in Canada regarding their control of power in the Upper Canadian commercial and economic sectors, as MacNab acted as bridge for all members to communicate with each other, whereas previously there was only "intra-party maneuverings". This "intra-party struggle" was most evident and apparent when it came to banks and land speculation.[1]
MacNab was a "Compact Tory" – a supporter of the Family Compact which had controlled Upper Canada prior to the union of the Canadas.[2][11] In the first Parliament of the new Province of Canada, he supported the principle of union, but was an opponent of the Governor General, Sydenham, and his policy of creating a government with a broad base of moderate supporters in the Assembly. He opposed the policy of the "Ultra Reformers" to implement responsible government.[12]
Although MacNab received the title of "Baronet" through a baronetcy patronage by Sir Edmund Walker Head in July 1856, the action was nearly entirely the result of Head's "sympathetic recommendation" over any sort of rewarded action.[1]
MacNab was married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth Brooke, who died 5 November 1826, possibly of complications following childbirth. Together, they had two children.
He married his second wife, Mary, who died 8 May 1846 and was a Catholic; she was the daughter of John Stuart, Sheriff of the Johnstown District, Ontario. The couple's two daughters, Sophia and Minnie, were raised as Catholics.[2]
MacNab died at his home, Dundurn Castle, in Hamilton. His deathbed conversion to Catholicism caused a furore in the press in the following days. The Toronto Globe and the Hamilton Spectator expressed strong doubts about the conversion, and the Anglican rector of Christ Church declared that MacNab died a Protestant.[5]
However, MacNab's Catholic baptism is recorded at St. Mary's Cathedral in Hamilton, at the hands of John Farrell, Bishop of Hamilton, on 7 August 1862.[2]
When the 12th Chief of Clan Macnab died, he bequeathed all his heirlooms to MacNab, whom he considered the next Chief. When the latter's son was killed in a shooting accident in Canada, the position of Chief of Clan Macnab passed to the Macnabs of Arthurstone.
A ship was named Sir Allan MacNab and was sturdily built in Canada but was not altogether designed for speed. The master in 1855 was Captain Cherry, and the tonnage of the ship was 840, then quite large.
^ abKing, Nelson (5 August 2009). "Alan Napier MacNab". Soldier, Statesman, and Freemason Part 3. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
^Smith, Edward (2007). ""All My Politics Are Railroads"". Dundurn Castle: Sir Allan MacNab and his Hamilton Home. James Lorimer & Company Ltd. pp. 75–84. ISBN978-1-55028-988-6. The result was that Canadian directors like MacNab had control over the day-to-day work of the railroad and seeing to political backing in Canada, while overall financial control resided in England.
^Mights' Greater Toronto City Directory (1856) page 159
^Paul G. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841-67 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015), pp. 6, 7, 10, 93–97.
