Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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McNab, Sir Allan Napier 1798-1862

Military officer; born in Niagara, Ontario, Canada, Feb. 19, 1798. His father was the principal aide on the staff of General Simcoe during the Revolutionary War. Allan became a midshipman in 1813, in the British fleet on Lake Ontario, but soon left the navy and joined the army. He commanded the British advanced guard at the battle of Plattsburg; practised law at Hamilton, Ontario, after the war, and was in the Canadian Parliament in 1820, being chosen speaker of the Assembly. In 1837-38 he commanded the militia on the Niagara frontier, and was a conspicuous actor in crushing the “rebellion.” He sent a party to destroy the American vessel Caroline, and for his services at that period he was knighted (see Canada). After the union of Upper and Lower Canada, in 1841, he became speaker of the legislature. He was prime minister under the governorship of Lord Elgin and Sir Edmund Head, and in 1860 was a member of the legislative council. He died at Toronto, Canada, Aug. 8, 1862.