Robert Fleming Gourlay

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Robert Gourlay, see Robert Gourlay (disambiguation).

Robert Fleming Gourlay (March 24, 1778 – August 1, 1863) was a

Scottish-Canadian
writer, political reform activist, and agriculturalist.

Portrait located in Toronto's
St. James Park.
The plaque reads:
"Robert Gourlay championed reform
ahead of his time.
In Scotland - a vote for every man
who could read and write
In England - a living wage for workers
In Canada - fair land distribution"
The grave of Robert Fleming Gourlay, Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh

Early life and education

Gourlay was born in Craigrothie in the Parish of Ceres, Fife, Scotland [1] on 22 March 1778.

He received a

House of Lords. In 1809, he published a pamphlet proposing a radical reshaping of the system of government in Britain
. He submitted a proposal to the House of Commons that land be acquired and redistributed to the poor. Gourlay adopted the middle name Fleming in honour of his mother who died in 1827.

Travels to Canada

In 1817, his wife inherited some land in the

John Sinclair
in Scotland, the last question being "What, in your opinion, regards the improvement of your township in particular, or the province in general; and what would most contribute to the same?". This last question came to be viewed with great suspicion by the provincial authorities. The list of questions was sent to all townships in the province.

Gourlay later questioned the decision of Lieutenant Governor Francis Gore in banning the granting of land to people of the United States. This ban made it more difficult for landowners in the region to sell their land. Reverend John Strachan, seeing Gourlay as a trouble-maker, attempted to prevent the return of responses to Gourlay's questions from the townships. In May and June 1818, Gourlay began holding meetings across the province, proposing a direct appeal to the government in England. In the eastern part of the province, he encountered much resistance from the ruling elite, members of the Family Compact and was assaulted several times. Gourlay was accused of seditious libel, but was later cleared of these charges. In July 1818, a convention was held at York with representatives from 14 districts; it was decided to present a petition to the new Lieutenant Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland. However, Maitland was able to convince the Legislative Assembly to pass legislation banning seditious meetings and he refused to accept the petition.

In December,

William Tiger Dunlop
would hear Gourlay's grievances.

Return to England and political career

He returned to England and published A General Introduction to a Statistical Account of Upper Canada in 1822. In 1836, the sentence of banishment was annulled, and Gourlay's imprisonment was admitted to have been illegal. In 1842 he petitioned the house for compensation and was granted a pension of £50 a year, which he declined, as he claimed to be a creditor of the government. He was also the author of numerous pamphlets.

Although Gourlay had been crushed by the colonial authorities, he had helped bring to the surface some concerns about the administration of Upper Canada. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the

Canada West
.

Death

He returned to Edinburgh, Scotland, and died there in 1863, remaining convinced of the rectitude of his cause to the end.

He is buried in Warriston Cemetery in the north of the city. The grave is marked by an obelisk and stands on a diagonal path around 100m from the sealed eastern entrance.

References

  1. ^ Mealing, Stanley R. (16 December 2013) [22 January 2008]. "Robert Fleming Gourlay". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada.
  2. ISBN 978-0-9696418-0-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link
    )

Further reading

External links

Note

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Fleming_Gourlay&oldid=1148735869"