View source for Marshall Spring Bidwell

{{Short description|Upper Canada politician (1799–1872)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name             = Marshall Spring Bidwell
| honorific-suffix = 
| image            =Marshall Spring Bidwell - Brady-Handy.jpg
| imagesize        = 
| office           = Member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada]] for Lennox & Addington
| predecessor      = 
| successor        =
| term_start       = 1824
| term_end         = 1836
| office2          = Speaker of the [[Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada]]
| predecessor2     = [[John Wilson (Ontario politician)|John Wilson]]|
| successor2       =[[Archibald McLean (judge)|Archibald McLean]] 
| term_start2      = 1829
| term_end2        = 1830
| predecessor3     = Archibald McLean
| successor3       = Archibald McLean
| term3=1835
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1799|2|16}}
| birth_place      = [[Stockbridge, Massachusetts]]
| death_date       ={{death date and age|1872|10|24|1799|2|16}}
| death_place      =[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| resting_place   = Stockbridge Cemetery, Stockbridge, Massachusetts
| nationality      =
| spouse           =
| party            = 
| relations        =[[Barnabas Bidwell]] (father)
| children         =
| residence        =
| alma_mater       = 
| occupation       =Lawyer
| profession       =
| cabinet          = 
| committees       = 
| portfolio        = 
| religion         =
| signature        =
| website          =
| footnotes        =
}}
'''Marshall Spring Bidwell''' (February 16, 1799 – October 24, 1872) was a lawyer and political figure in [[Upper Canada]].

He was born in [[Stockbridge, Massachusetts]] in 1799, the son of politician [[Barnabas Bidwell]]. His family settled in [[Bath, Ontario|Bath]] in Upper Canada before the [[War of 1812]]. He studied with a law firm in [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]] and was called to the [[Ontario Bar]] in 1821. When his father was unseated in 1821 based on allegations of misappropriation of funds in Massachusetts, Bidwell presented himself as a candidate but was declared ineligible. In the April 1823 Lennox and Addington by-election, Bidwell ran against George Ham of [[Bath, Ontario|Bath]] where Ham won by 13 votes.

==Canadian political career==
{{Moresources|section|date=July 2023}}
Bidwell ran in the byelection for [[Lennox County, Ontario|Lennox]] & [[Addington County, Ontario|Addington]] to replace his father, who had been barred from taking his seat by the legislature. Bidwell was disqualified by the election returning officer under the assumption that if his father was ineligible to run for office Bidwell was unqualified, too. After the byelection, the legislature voided the results because of Bidwell's disqualification. In the second byelection, the returning officer again disqualified Bidwell under similar pretences but the legislature voided the second results. The 1824 general election was called before another byelection could be held and Bidwell was able to run and become elected to the [[9th Parliament of Upper Canada]].<ref name="Raible 97">{{Cite book |last=Raible |first=Chris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqN5AAAAMAAJ |title=Muddy York Mud: Scandal & Scurrility in Upper Canada |publisher=Curiosity House |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-9696418-0-3 |location=Toronto |pages=97}}</ref> 

He held the seat until 1836. In 1826 Bidwell represented [[William Lyon Mackenzie]] in his civil lawsuit against rioters in the Types Riot.<ref name="Raible 94">{{Cite book |last=Raible |first=Chris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqN5AAAAMAAJ |title=Muddy York Mud: Scandal & Scurrility in Upper Canada |publisher=Curiosity House |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-9696418-0-3 |location=Toronto |pages=94}}</ref> 

In 1828, he helped introduce a bill which made it easier for [[United States|American]]-born residents to become citizens. He also lobbied for [[responsible government]] within the province.<ref>{{Citation | last= De Lancey|first= Edward Floyd| title = Marshall S. Bidwell, a memoir, historical and biographical|  page = 6 | publisher = Edward Floyd De Lancey  | location = New York, NY  | year = 1890}}</ref> In 1828, he was elected speaker for the assembly.

Although he did not take part in the [[Upper Canada Rebellion]], his name appeared on a banner carried by the rebels and he was forced to leave the province in December 1837. Some sources believe that Lieutenant Governor Sir [[Francis Bond Head]] forced Bidwell out of the province because Head's refusal to appoint Bidwell as a judge in the province was a factor in his dismissal by the British [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|Colonial Office]].

==Return to the United States==
{{Unsourced|section|date=July 2023}}
Bidwell returned to the United States, settling in [[New York City]]. He was admitted to the [[New York State Bar Association|New York bar]] and in 1838 became a partner in George Washington Strong's law firm, which would later become [[Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft]]. Bidwell died in [[New York City]] in 1872, aged 73.

==Footnotes==
 <references/>

== External links ==
*[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4834 Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'']
*[https://aims.archives.gov.on.ca/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/DESCRIPTION_WEB/WEB_DESC_DET?SESSIONSEARCH&exp=sisn%20145 Marshall Spring Bidwell family fonds], Archives of Ontario

{{Members of the Reform Movement (Upper Canada)}}
{{s-start}}
{{succession box|
before=[[John Wilson (Ontario politician)|John Wilson]]|
title=Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada |
years='''1829&ndash;1830''' |
after=[[Archibald McLean (judge)|Archibald McLean]] 
}}
{{s-end}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box|
before=[[Archibald McLean (judge)|Archibald McLean]]|
title=Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada |
years='''1835''' |
after=[[Archibald McLean (judge)|Archibald McLean]] 
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bidwell, Marshall Spring}}
[[Category:1799 births]]
[[Category:1872 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada]]
[[Category:American emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario]]
[[Category:Lawyers in Ontario]]
[[Category:New York (state) lawyers]]
[[Category:People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from Lennox and Addington County]]
[[Category:Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada]]
[[Category:Immigrants to Upper Canada]]
[[Category:People associated with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]