Sydney Robert Bellingham

Sydney Robert Bellingham
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Argenteuil
In office
1867–1878
Succeeded by Robert Greenshields Meikle
Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Argenteuil
In office
1854–1860
Succeeded by John Abbott
Personal details
Born August 2, 1808(1808-08-02)
Castlebellingham (Republic of Ireland)
Died March 9, 1900(1900-03-09) (aged 91)
Castlebellingham (Republic of Ireland)
Political party Conservative

Sydney Robert Bellingham (August 2, 1808 – March 9, 1900) was an Irish-born businessman, lawyer, journalist and political figure in Canada East. He represented Argenteuil in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1867 to 1878.

Contents

Birth

He was born in Castlebellingham, Ireland in 1808, the fourth son of Sir Alan Bellingham (1776–1827) 2nd Bt., of Castle Bellingham, Co. Louth, and his wife Elizabeth (1788–1822), daughter of The Rev. Rees Edward Walls of Boothby Hall, Lincolnshire. His grandfather was Sir William Bellingham, 1st Baronet.

Arrival in Canada and marriage

His father being unable to support him financially, he came to Canada at the age of fifteen to seek his fortune. He travelled widely throughout Upper Canada until 1827 when he took a job at Montreal under the brother of George Hamilton (lumber baron), in the timber business. A few months before his marriage he started an import-export business with his friend James Wallis (1807–1893) of Drishane Castle, Co. Cork and Fenelon Falls, Upper Canada.

In 1831, Bellingham married, Arabella Holmes (1808–1887), a distant relation through both the Hamilton and Cairnes families, and the youngest daughter of one of his father's friends, William Holmes (1762–1834) of Quebec. In Lower Canada, her family were well-connected as part of the Château Clique, and she was also the heiress to 15,000 acres (61 km2) of land in the counties of Buckland and Bellechasse, Quebec. After the failure of his business with Wallis, aided by his wife's money, Bellingham entered Canadian politics.

Politics, Business & Military

In 1834, Bellingham was an unsuccessful candidate in Montreal East for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. He opposed the reforms to government being proposed by the Parti Patriote. He was named a Justice of the Peace in 1837. During the Lower Canada Rebellion, Bellingham served as a captain with the Royal Montreal Cavalry - The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal) - and aide-de-camp to Lt.-Colonel George Augustus Wetherall. As a civil magistrate he led many daring raids deep into patriote territory to arrest the rebel leaders during the war.

He studied law with Alexander Buchanan, and was called to the Lower Canadian bar in 1840, entering into practice with William Walker at Montreal. He also edited the Canada Times, a reform-oriented newspaper. Bellingham supported the reforms proposed by Lord Durham but opposed the union of Upper and Lower Canada. In 1843, he became editor of the Times and Daily Commercial Advertiser. Bellingham was a proponent of annexation with the United States and served as secretary of the Montreal Annexation Association. In 1853, he co-founded the Montreal and Bytown Railway.

In 1853, he bought a tract of land on the north brough of Mount Royal overlooking Montreal, where he and his wife made their home, Dunany Cottage, named for his grandmother's house in Co. Louth. In 1854, Bellingham was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Argenteuil. He bought 21,000 arpents of land there, bringing many settlers, both French and English to the area, aiding them to farm successfully. He was also made a colonel of the local militia, the Argenteuil Rangers. However his election was declared invalid twice after it was alleged that he had used intimidation and bribery but he was re-elected in the by-elections that followed and he finally took his seat in May 1856. He was elected again in 1858, his election was overturned in 1860.

After Confederation, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. In 1871, he criticized Joseph-Édouard Cauchon, another member of the assembly, for the deplorable conditions in his asylum which received government grants; this led to Cauchon's resignation. In 1871, he became editor of the Daily News of Montreal. Originally elected as a Conservative, Bellingham became a Liberal following the Tanneries scandal in 1874.

Return to Ireland

Bellingham was recognized as 'one of the best political writers in Lower Canada'. In 1877, he was appointed president of the Lovell Publishing Company of Montreal, but the following year he and his wife returned to Ireland to take up residence at his ancestral home, Castle Bellingham, which he had inherited in 1874 after the deaths of his elder brothers. His ties with Montreal remained strong, always keeping abreast of Canadian politics. In 1895, he dictated his Canadian memoirs to his nurse, and they were published privately the year after his death by his nephew. He and his wife lived at Southgate House, Castlebellingham, where he died 9 March 1900, without children. In his will he left the Castlebellingham estate to his nephew, Sir Henry Bellingham, 4th Baronet, and he left all his personal effects (valued at £2,500) to Edward Graves Meredith, the second son of his wife's niece, Lady Meredith.

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