Journalist; born in
Dundee, Scotland, March 12, 1795; kept a circulating library near
Dundee when he was seventeen years of age, and was afterwards clerk to Lord Lonsdale, in
England.
He went to
Canada in 1820, where he was engaged successfully in the book and drug trade in
Toronto.
He entered political life in 1823; edited the
Colonial advocate (1824-33) and was a natural agitator.
He criticised the government party, and efforts to suppress his paper failed.
Rioters destroyed his office in 1826, and the people, whose cause he advocated, elected him to the Canadian Parliament. Five times he was expelled from that body for alleged libels in his newspaper, and was as often re-elected, until finally the Assembly got rid of him by refusing to issue a writ for a new election.
He went to
England in 1832, with a petition of grievances to the home government.
In 1836
Toronto was incorporated a city, and
Mackenzie was chosen its first mayor.
He engaged, as a leader, in the
Canadian Rebellion (see
Canada), when he was outlawed by his government, his property was confiscated, and he fled to the
United States.
Arrested at
Rochester by the
United States authorities on a charge of a violation of the neutrality laws, he was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment in the county jail of
Monroe.
At the end of that time he went to New York, where he was the actuary of the Mechanics' Institute, and with his family resided in the basement of their school building.
He was editorially connected with the New York
Tribune for some time, and published
MacKENZIEenzie's gazette.
In 1850 his government pardoned him, restored his
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confiscated property, and he returned to
Canada, where he was elected to Parliament, and remained a member of the Assembly until 1858.
He established a newspaper in
Toronto, and conducted it until his death, Aug. 28, 1861.
Mackenzie was a thoroughly sincere and honest man, and had the courage of his convictions.
His admirers purchased for him a residence near
Toronto and a small annuity.
