Hugh John Macdonald

Sir Hugh John Macdonald, (March 13, 1850 – March 29, 1929) was the only surviving son of the first prime minister of Canada, John A. Macdonald. He too was a politician, serving as a member of the House of Commons of Canada and a federal cabinet minister, and briefly as the eighth premier of Manitoba. Early life Macdonald was born in Kingston, Canada West (now Ontario) to Canada's first Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald and his first wife Isabella Clark Macdonald (1809–1857). After Isabella died leaving Macdonald a widower with a seven-year-old son, Hugh John Macdonald would be principally raised by his paternal aunt and her husband. In 1869, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and then studied law in Toronto and Ottawa. He was called to the Bar in 1872, and became a member of his father's firm. Grieved by the death of his first wife, Macdonald moved to Winnipeg in 1882 and set up his own law practice. Military service Macdonald served with the 14th Battalion Volunteer Militia Rifles during the summer of 1866 near Cornwall, in anticipation of a Fenian invasion. While at the University of Toronto, he enrolled in The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada on 13 October 1868 as a Rifleman and rose to the rank of Sergeant before being commissioned as an Ensign on 22 April 1870. Macdonald then joined the expedition of Colonel Garnet Joseph Wolseley as an Ensign in the 16th Company of the 1st (Ontario) Battalion of Rifles and made the trek to the Red River settlement in Manitoba. The Wolseley Expedition was formed to put down Louis Riel's Red River Rebellion. After taking part in the bloodless capture of Upper Fort Garry (after Riel's departure) he returned to Toronto, but would take part in putting down Riel's second rebellion.