Robert F. Gourlay 1778-1863

Photo by Alan L Brown - August, 2004

Plaque Location

In the Township of South West Oxford in the County of Oxford
at coordinates N 42 57.500 W 80 47.554
in Mount Elgin.

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Plaque Text

Gourlay was a radical Scot who crusaded for social reform in Britain in the early nineteenth century. His activities in Upper Canada sent shock waves through the province. He arrived in 1817 to examine property he owned just east of here and became interested in promoting settlement. To encourage immigration, Gourlay began compiling his "Statistical Account of Upper Canada" (1822). He soon decided that government favouritism and mismanagement were stifling growth. Gourlay challenged the authorities, organizing protest meetings and publishing colourful, heated attacks on office holders. Cleared of charges of seditious libel in Kingston and Brockville, he was charged under the Seditious Alien Act late in 1818 in Niagara, jailed for eight months, then banished.

Related Ontario plaque page
Court-House and Gaol 1817-1866

Related Toronto plaque page
Robert Gourlay 1778-1863

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Politicians

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Posted September 3, 2008 - when did he finished writting the "statistical Account of Upper Canada"?

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