John Charlton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Source: Library and Archives Canada
John Charlton (February 3, 1829 – 11 February 1910) was a Canadian Member of Parliament and businessman. Charlton was the Member of Parliament for Norfolk North, Ontario for 32 years until 1904.
Born in Garbuttsville, New York he was the eldest son of Adam Charlton of Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
He was first educated in McLaren Grammar School of Caledonia, New York before moving the Springville Academy in New York. Interested in bettering himself, he studied medicine, the law and public speaking.
In 1849, when he was twenty years old, he moved with his parents to Ayr, in Dumfries Township, Ontario. In this period, he was a farmer. Charlton's interest in educating himself continued and he helped start a library in the town of Ayr. Next, in 1853 he moved to Lynedoc and opened a general store. Then, his next career move was to become the Canadian Manager for the lumber company of Messieurs Smith & Westover of Tonawanda, New York.
It was in 1872 that he was first elected to the House of Parliament. He was a Liberal with strong religious views and high ideals. Charlton's speeches were considered blunt and brusque compared to his contemporaries. He was a strong advocate for provincial rights. Charlton worked for years for passage of a law affording protection to women and girls under a certain age.
After a tour of the United States in 1897, Charlton served on the Joint High Commission between Great Britain, Canada and the United States from 1898 to 1899.
Charlton was the author of "Parliamentary Recollections" and contributed to the North American Review.
In his private life, he married Ella Gray in 1854, daughter of George Grey of Charlotteville, Ontario. She died in 1905. Charlton married Cora J. Given in 1907. He died of a stroke at his home in Lynedoch in 1910.
References:
- Charlton, John. Speeches and Addresses: Political, Literary and Religious. Toronto: Morang, 1905.
- ____. Papers. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto. Manuscript Collection 110 includes Charlton's unpublished diaries, speeches, autobiography and manuscripts.
- Ferns, Thomas H., and Robert Craig Brown. “John Charlton,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994), Vol. 13, p. 189.
- Toronto Public Library Scrapbook, microfilm T686.3, Volume , page 127
