David Lewis Macpherson
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Sir David Lewis Macpherson, KCMG, PC (September 12, 1818 – 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.
He was born in Castle Leathers in Inverness parish, Scotland in 1818 and came to Canada with his family in 1835. He became a clerk in the Montreal office of his older brother's shipping business, which transported passengers and freight in Upper and Lower Canada. 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. 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 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 Confederation. He led the resistance in the Senate to 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 from 1880 to 1883 and also served in cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio from 1880 to 1883 and as Minister of the Interior from 1883 to 1885. 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 helped set the stage for the North-West Rebellion in 1885. He resigned from his cabinet post later that year.
He died at sea in 1896 while returning from Europe to Canada and was buried at Toronto.
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