 sir william mcdougall pc cb (january 25, 1822 â may 29, 1905) was a canadian lawyer, politician and one of the fathers of confederation. born near york, upper canada (now toronto, ontario), the son of daniel mcdougall and hannah matthews, mcdougall received his education at victoria college in cobourg, upper canada, and in 1847, began practising law as an attorney and solicitor in upper canada. in 1862, he was called to the upper canada bar. in 1849, william mcdougall's office in toronto was the meeting place for the clear grit political movement. other clear grit supporters included peter perry, david christie, charles clarke, charles lindsay, and malcolm cameron. in 1850 he started the north american, a liberal newspaper. he was elected as a member of the legislative assembly in 1858 and served as commissioner of crown lands and provincial secretary. he attended all three confederation conferences, and then served as minister of public works in the macdonald government. in the federal election of 1867 he was elected in the district of lanark north, for the liberal-conservative party. mcdougall was appointed
1822_births 1905_deaths Canadian_people_of_Scottish_descent Companions_of_the_Order_of_the_Bath Fathers_of_Confederation Lieutenant-Governors_of_the_Northwest_Territories Members_of_the_House_of_Commons_of_Canada_from_Ontario Members_of_the_Queen\'s_Privy_Council_for_Canada People_from_Old_Toronto People_of_United_Empire_Loyalist_descent People_of_the_Red_River_Rebellion Persons_of_National_Historic_Significance_(Canada)