CANADA 
CANADA
Canada is one of the most Scottish influenced countries in the world. About 10% of all Canadians report to the census that their ancestors came from Scotland, and allowing for intermarriage, perhaps one in six Canadians has at least some Scottish blood. However, the Scottish prominence in Canadian history far exceeds the proportion of Scots in the Canadian population.
As early as 1010AD two Scots are reported among the crew that Thorfinn Karlsevni sent to explore Vineland, and Prince Henry Sinclair reached Nova Scotia in 1398.
Between 1880 and 1885 20% of Canada’s industrial elite were born in Scotland, and 28% had fathers born in Scotland, a total of 48%, while only 3% of the population of Canada as a whole were first and second generation Scots.
The first governor in what is now Canada was Sir William Alexander of Scotland. James IV and the Scottish Parliament appointed him the hereditary lieutenant of Nova Scotia in 1621.
The second British-Canadian governor was also a Scot, Sir David Kirke, who established the colony of Newfoundland.
General James Murray, a Scot, became the first actual British governor in Canada in 1763.
In the nineteenth century Scots and part- Scots held the office of governor general more than half the time :
James Craig (1807-1811)
The Duke of Richmond (1818-1819)
The Earl of Dalhousie (1819-1828)
Sir James Kempt (1828 – 1830)
Lord Gosford (1835 – 1837)
The Earl of Elgin (1846 – 1854)
Lord Lisgar (1868 – 1872)
The Earl of Dufferin (1872 – 1878)
The Duke of Argyll (1878-1883)
The Earl of Aberdeen (1893-1894)
The Earl of Minto (1898-1904)
Thirty-six men attended conferences in 1864 and 1866 that resulted in the confederation of the British North West American colonies into the Dominion of Canada – about 50% were of Scottish origin.
Eight of the ten main ‘fathers’ of Confederation were Scots. John A. McDonald was the most important delegate. In 1864 his Quebec Resolutions became the basis for the creation of modern Canada.
Another, George Brown, the owner of the Toronto Globe, used his pages to lend support. Alexander Galt gave his financial expertise. William McDougall and Oliver Mowat worked on the division of powers between the local and federal governments.
The first two Canadian Prime Ministers were both native born Scots, John A MacDonald and Alexander McKenzie. McDonald was recognized as the new nation’s principle founder.
The syndicate formed to build the Canadian Pacific Railway was entirely Scottish. The brilliant engineer of the project was Sandford Fleming, also a Scot.
Despite their minority status, since the confederation of 1867, eight men and one woman of Scottish ancestry have been Prime Minister of Canada more than two-thirds of the time :
Sir John A McDonald (1867-1873, 1878-1891)
Alexander McKenzie (1873-1878)
Sir MacKenzie Bowell (1894-1896)
Arthur Meighen (1920-1921)
W L McKenzie King (1921-1926, 1926-1930, 1935-1948)
John G Diefenbaker (1957-1963)
Pierre Elliot Trudeau (1968-1979, 1980-1984)
Kim Campbell (1993)
Kim Campbell, the first female Prime Minister was of Scottish descent, as was Agnes Campbell McPhail, the first woman elected to the House of Commons (1921) and Cairine MacKay Wilson, the first woman appointed to the Senate (1930).
Five of the first six Universities in Canada were founded by Scots :
University of New Brunswick 1785
Kings College (Nova Scotia) 1789
Dalhousie University 1818
McGill University 1821
University of Toronto 1827
‘The Maple Leaf Forever’ was written by Canadian-Scot Alexander Muir.
‘O Canada’ was written by another Canadian of Scots decent, R Stanley Weir.
Scots
in the founding of New Brunswick
Scots
in the Founding of Nova Scotia
Scots
in the founding of Quebec
Back to The Mark of the Scots Index
This page last updated on 5th June, 2001