born Nov. 29, 1818, Edinburgh, Scot.
died May. 9, 1880, Toronto, Ont., Can.
Canadian journalist and politician.
He immigrated to New York in 1837 and in 1843 moved to Toronto, where he founded The Globe (1844), a reformist political newspaper. As a member of the Canadian assembly (1857–65), he advocated proportional representation, the confederation of British North America, acquisition of the Northwest Territories, and separation of church and state. He later became a leader of the Clear Grits movement. In 1873 he was appointed to the Canadian Senate, though he continued to manage his influential and popular newspaper (later The Globe and Mail ).