John Matthews (Upper Canada politician)
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John Matthews (c. 1763 – 20 August 1832) was a Canadian military officer and politician who served as captain in the Royal Artillery and represented Middlesex County in the Parliament of Upper Canada from 1824 to 1830.
John Matthews was probably born in England circa 1763.[1] He claimed to have studied in Paris at an English college. At some point after 1779 he attended Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He served with the Royal Artillery, achieving the rank of captain. He quit the artillery during the Napoleonic Wars to become a farmer, but returned after the post-Napoleonic depression caused an agricultural crisis. He retired when the Royal Artillery was disbanded.[2]
Arrival in Canada
Matthews immigrated to Canada in 1819.[1] Matthews claimed that he came to Canada upon a promise by Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, then the governor-in-chief of British North America, that Matthews would run a military settlement. Lennox died when Matthews landed in Quebec, and Matthews met with Peregrine Maitland, the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, to relay this promise. Matthews settled in Queenston, Upper Canada, while he negotiated with Maitland for the site of the military colony. The Executive Council of Upper Canada eventually offered Matthews 800 acres in Lobo Township.[2]
Matthews moved to Lobo Township in October 1820 with his family and household staff. He was disappointed with the land he bought and sold it at a loss to buy property in a more affluent part of the county. He accused the magistrate of gaining property through fraud and of public drunkenness. He also accused the commissioners for forfeited estates for providing the wrong deed, or not providing a deed at all, to the land he had purchased. Matthews's claims on his land purchased were supported by Maitland, but Henry John Boulton, the solicitor general, declared that the commissioners could not refund Matthews for his purchase. This caused Matthews to believe that the province of Upper Canada was ruled by an inner circle of closely connected families and friends.[2]