View source for David Lewis Macpherson

{{Short description|Canadian politician (1818–1896)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name             = Sir David Lewis Macpherson
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|KCMG|size=100%}}
| image            = David Lewis Macpherson.jpg
| imagesize        = 
| office           = [[Senate of Canada|Senator]] for Saugeen, Ontario
| appointed        = Royal Proclamation
| term_start       = October 23, 1867
| term_end         = August 16, 1896
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1818|09|12}}
| birth_place      = Castle Leathers in Inverness parish, [[Scotland]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1896|08|16|1818|09|12}}
| death_place      = at sea en route to Canada
| nationality      = 
| spouse           = 
| party            = [[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservative]]
| relations        = 
| children         = 
| residence        = 
| alma_mater       = 
| occupation       = 
| profession       = 
| religion         = 
| cabinet          = Minister Without Portfolio (1880–1883)<br>Minister of the Interior (1883–1885)
| portfolio        = Speaker of the Senate (February 1880 & April 1880&nbsp;– October 1883)

{{Infobox military person
   |embed        = yes
   |embed_title  = Military Service
   |allegiance   = [[Lower Canada]]
   |branch       = Canadian Militia
   |serviceyears = 1838
   |unit         = Montreal Light Infantry
   |rank         = Private
   |battles      = [[Rebellions of 1837–1838|Lower Canada Rebellion]]
  }}
}}
'''Sir David Lewis Macpherson''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|KCMG}} (September 12, 1818&nbsp;&ndash; August 16, 1896) was a Canadian businessman and political figure. He was a member of the [[Senate of Canada]] from 1867 to 1896. He was knighted for his service to the country in 1884.

==Life and career==
Macpherson was born in Castle Leathers in Inverness parish, [[Scotland]], in 1818 and came to [[Lower Canada]] with his family in 1835.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Macpherson, Sir David Lewis |volume=17 |page=267}}</ref> He became a clerk in the [[Montreal]] office of his older brother's shipping business, which transported passengers and freight in [[Upper Canada|Upper]] and [[Lower Canada]]. During the [[Lower Canada Rebellion]], from November 4 until December 31, 1838, Macpherson served as a Private in the Montreal Light Infantry.

In 1842, he became a senior partner in the business. In partnership with [[Alexander Tilloch Galt]] and [[Luther Hamilton Holton]], Macpherson acquired the shares of the [[Montreal and Kingston Railway]], knowing that their rail line was required as part of a planned railway connection between Montreal and [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]]. He was part of a contracting firm formed to extend the [[Grand Trunk Railway]] in Upper Canada. In 1853, he moved to [[Toronto]]. He helped set up the Toronto Rolling Mills Company, which supplied track to the Grand Trunk. He also served as a director of the [[Bank of Upper Canada]]. In 1864, he was elected to the [[Legislative Council of the Province of Canada]] for Saugeen division and, in 1867, he was appointed to the Senate as a [[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservative]] and served until his death.

Macpherson was a member of the arbitration board that dealt with the financial issues associated with the creation of the separate provinces of [[Ontario]] and [[Quebec]] after [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]]. He led the resistance in the Senate to [[Sir John Rose, 1st Baronet|John Rose]]'s proposed changes to banking legislation, and some of Macpherson's proposals made their way into the Bank Act of 1871.

He served as [[Speaker of the Senate of Canada|Speaker of the Senate]] from 1880 to 1883.  In the early eighties, the legalization of marriage with a deceased wife's sister was under discussion in the [[Parliament of Canada]]. On the day that the bill received its second reading in the Red Chamber, Macpherson invited Mrs. [[Ezekiel Stone Wiggins|Susan Anna Wiggins]], whose 'The Gunhilda Letters: Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister' letters of support for the bill had gained attention, to take a seat on his right, an honour which was never before accorded to any woman but the wife of a Governor-General.<ref name=Morgan352>{{cite book |editor-last=Morgan |editor-first=Henry James |editor-link=Henry James Morgan |title=Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada |location=Toronto |publisher=Williams Briggs |date=1903 |url=https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft |page=[https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft/page/352 352]}}</ref>

To commemorate his time as Speaker, Macpherson, as well as other Speakers of the Senate, had his name crafted in stained glass in the ceiling of the front foyer of the Senate Chamber.

Macpherson also served in cabinet as a [[Minister without Portfolio]] from 1880 to 1883 and as [[Minister of the Interior (Canada)|Minister of the Interior]] from October 1883 to 1885.<ref name=EB1911/> In later life, Macpherson suffered from [[diabetes]] and he spent part of the summer and fall each year recovering at spas in [[Germany]]. He attempted to encourage settlement in western Canada along the planned route for the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]], but settlers found land in the western United States more attractive. Problems with land policy, unwillingness to take action and a basic lack of understanding in Macpherson's ministry of the concerns of the [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis people]] helped set the stage for the [[North-West Rebellion]] in 1885. He resigned from his cabinet post later that year.

He died at sea on August 16, 1896, on board the steamship Labrador, in mid-ocean, and his remains were buried at sea.<ref name=Morgan225>{{cite book |editor-last=Morgan |editor-first=Henry James |editor-link=Henry James Morgan |title=Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada |location=Toronto |publisher=Williams Briggs |date=1903 |url=https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft |page=[https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft/page/225 225]}}</ref>

==Family==
[[File:Lady Elizabeth Macpherson by William Notman.jpg|thumb|left|Lady Macpherson by [[William Notman]]]]
David Lewis Macpherson married on June 18, 1844, Elizabeth Sarah Molson, daughter of William Molson, President of [[Molson Bank]], and his wife, Elizabeth Badgley, and granddaughter of the Hon. [[John Molson]], member of the Executive and Legislative Councils of Lower Canada, and President of the Bank of Montreal. Elizabeth was born and educated in Montreal.

The couple lived for forty years at their mansion, Chestnut Park, [[Toronto|Toronto, Ontario]]. Lady Macpherson volunteered with the Toronto Ladies' Educational Association. Lady Macpherson died, after a long illness, at San Remo, Italy, March 23, 1894, aged 74. Her remains were cremated, and the ashes were deposited in [[Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto]].  The Honourable [[William Miller (Canadian politician)|William Miller]], K.C., pronounced in the Senate a tribute to Sir David and Lady Macpherson after the former's death.

The couple had two sons and five daughters. Elizabeth Frances Dobell was the wife of the Hon. [[Richard Reid Dobell]], M.P., P.C., Quebec. Naomi Beckett was the wife of Thomas Beckett. Helen Bankes was the wife of [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[Meyrick Bankes]], [[Highland Light Infantry]], London.  Christina Ridout was the wife of [[P. F. Ridout]], Esquire, Toronto. Isabel Louise Kirkpatrick was the wife of Sir [[George Airey Kirkpatrick]], P.C., K.C.M.G., formerly [[Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario]], Toronto.<ref name=Morgan225/>

== Archives ==
There is a David Lewis Macpherson [[fonds]] at [[Library and Archives Canada]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=David Lewis Macpherson fonds, Library and Archives Canada|url=http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=103239&lang=eng}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite DCB |title=Macpherson, Sir David Lewis |first=Ken |last=Cruikshank |volume=12 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/macpherson_david_lewis_12E.html}}
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=12651}}

{{Speakers of the Canadian Senate}}
{{CA-Ministers-of-the-Interior}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macpherson, David Lewis}}
[[Category:1818 births]]
[[Category:1896 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Canadian senators from Ontario]]
[[Category:Montreal Annexation Manifesto signers]]
[[Category:Speakers of the Senate of Canada]]
[[Category:Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) senators]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]
[[Category:Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario]]
[[Category:People who died at sea]]
[[Category:Immigrants to Lower Canada]]
[[Category:Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Quebec]]