Thomas Scott
Who was Thomas Scott?
Canadian military figure and politician (1841–1915)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Thomas Scott (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Thomas Scott was born on February 16, 1841, in Lanark County, Ontario, which was then known as Upper Canada. He was the youngest of four children born to Irish immigrant parents. After his father died while he was still a baby, the family moved to Perth, Ontario, where Scott went to school. He then trained as a printer, a trade that shaped the start of his career. In 1861, he started the Perth Expositor newspaper, working as its editor and owner until 1872, making his mark in local journalism.
Scott's military career started in 1860 during the Trent Affair. He led the Perth Infantry during the 1866 Fenian Raids, spending five months on the frontier. By the time of the Red River Expedition in 1870, Scott had become a colonel and led the Ontario Rifles to Fort Garry after Louis Riel fled. He returned to Ontario in December 1870, but went back to Fort Garry in 1871 for the Second Red River Expedition. He retired from the military in 1874 and settled in Manitoba.
In Manitoba, Scott entered politics. He was elected to Winnipeg's first city council and became the city's third mayor in 1877. In 1878, he was elected to the Manitoba Legislative Assembly for Winnipeg. Two years later, in 1880, he defeated incumbent Donald A. Smith to become the Conservative Member of Parliament for Selkirk. He was re-elected in 1882 in the new riding of Winnipeg, solidifying his role as a key Conservative figure in the province.
Scott briefly returned to military service in 1885, while still an MP. At the request of Minister of the Militia Sir Adolphe-Philippe Caron, Scott raised a regiment to help quell the North-West Rebellion. He organized and equipped the Ninety-fifth Manitoba Grenadiers in just thirteen days, a significant logistical feat. After leaving politics in 1887, Scott became the collector of customs at the port of Winnipeg, a position he held later in life. He died on February 11, 1915, just five days before what would have been his seventy-fourth birthday.
Before Fame
Thomas Scott grew up in modest conditions in Perth, Ontario, raised by his Irish immigrant mother without a father. In the mid-19th century, Perth was a bustling settler town in the Ottawa Valley. It was here that Scott learned the printer's trade as an apprentice, a typical path to public life for men of his time. Literacy, access to the press, and civic involvement were tightly connected in Victorian Canada, and when Scott founded the Perth Expositor in 1861 at age twenty, he became part of that tradition.
The political and military tensions in 1860s Canada also shaped Scott's early path. The threat of American expansion, the Trent Affair, and the Fenian Raids created a situation where militia service was seen as both a civic duty and a way to gain social standing. Scott enlisted in 1860 and played an active role during the Fenian crisis of 1866, gaining military credentials that would influence much of his later career and eventually lead him to the new Manitoba frontier.
Key Achievements
- Founded and edited the Perth Expositor newspaper from 1861 to 1872
- Served as the third Mayor of Winnipeg in 1877
- Elected Member of Parliament for Selkirk in 1880, defeating incumbent Donald A. Smith
- Commanded the Ontario Rifles during the Red River Expedition of 1870
- Raised and equipped the Ninety-fifth Manitoba Grenadiers in thirteen days during the North-West Rebellion of 1885
Did You Know?
- 01.Scott organized and fully equipped the Ninety-fifth Manitoba Grenadiers in just thirteen days in response to the North-West Rebellion of 1885.
- 02.He defeated Donald A. Smith, a prominent figure in Canadian financial and railway history, to win the federal seat for Selkirk in 1880.
- 03.Scott founded the Perth Expositor newspaper in 1861 when he was only twenty years old and ran it for over a decade.
- 04.He served as mayor of Winnipeg in 1877, making him the city's third mayor in its early years of incorporation.
- 05.Scott participated in both the 1870 Red River Expedition and the subsequent Second Red River Expedition of 1871, making him one of relatively few officers to serve in both operations.