never again appeared in the courts, except in civil actions. The immediate reason was the sudden death, on September 10, 1839, of the prominent lawyer Henry Cassady, who was also mayor of Kingston and solicitor to the Commercial Bank of the Midland District. At the age of just twenty-four, Macdonald took over many of Cassadyâs accounts and was chosen to succeed him in the prime post of solicitor for the bank. Itâs also easy to guess that, by now, Macdonald judged he had gained all the attention and publicity he needed for his legal careerâor for another one.
Henceforth, Macdonald concentrated entirely on corporate matters. Though a major part of his legal work derived from the Commercial Bank accounts, he began to extend his reach to nearby towns such as Belleville and, eventually, to the financial centre of Montreal. Initially, most of his work involved debt collection and the foreclosure of mortgages, but he began to develop new lines of business. As early as 1842, he went into real estate, buying and selling lots and parcels of land in Kingston; he did well at first, but later all his gains were wiped out by a real estatecrash. He eventually became a director of no less than a dozen Kingston companies, involved in everything from insurance to canals. In 1842 he used the opportunity of a trip to Britain to make legal and commercial contacts there; they eventually paid off in his becoming solicitor for the London-based Trust and Loan Company of Upper Canada.
In 1841 his father died, at the comparatively young age of fifty-nine. He was now officially head of the family and responsible for the financial security of his mother and two sisters, both unmarried. The strain took its toll. Beginning in 1840, and off and on through 1841, Macdonald was stricken by some ailment that, while never really identified, as was common then, left him weak and listless. His doctor thought that a long holiday, beginning with a sea trip, might do wonders for his health. That could mean only Britain; much more probably by coincidence rather than calculation, the prescription worked.
Macdonald sailed from Boston in January 1842 in the company of two friends, Thomas Wilson and Edward Wanklyn. Before leaving Kingston, he got into a high-stakes card game known as loo with some business associates and, over three nights, won the astounding sum of two thousand dollars. Afterwards, he vowed never again to gambleâand he never did, except once, when he made a throwaway bet at a horse-race and won.
Macdonaldâs stay in Britain, which eventually extended to six months, proved to be the most important holiday he ever took in his life. During it, he fell in love with the woman who would become his first wife. He also fell in love with England. More exactly, he came to understand the reasons for the love he already possessed for British culture, style and accomplishments. And radiant and compelling they were: a glowing young woman now sat on the throne; the glory of the defeat of Napoleon still reverberated in the recent past; the Royal Navy policed the seven seas;London, with its incredible population of more than two million, was easily the largest and richest city in the world; British parliamentary and legal systems were regarded as models just about everywhereâexcept in France, and, as didnât really count, in the United States. Macdonaldâs anglophilia did not begin on this trip, but what he saw and experienced during his months there at the still-impressionable age of twenty-seven deepened his lifelong conviction that whatever was British was bestâboth in itself and also for Canada.
Of all the letters Macdonald wrote over the years to members of his family (of which, sadly, comparatively few have survived), *19 the letter he sent to his mother from London on March 3, 1842, stands apart from the rest by its sheer, uninhibited joy. Heâs excited and dazzled by the city, by its gargantuan buildings and
Henceforth, Macdonald concentrated entirely on corporate matters. Though a major part of his legal work derived from the Commercial Bank accounts, he began to extend his reach to nearby towns such as Belleville and, eventually, to the financial centre of Montreal. Initially, most of his work involved debt collection and the foreclosure of mortgages, but he began to develop new lines of business. As early as 1842, he went into real estate, buying and selling lots and parcels of land in Kingston; he did well at first, but later all his gains were wiped out by a real estatecrash. He eventually became a director of no less than a dozen Kingston companies, involved in everything from insurance to canals. In 1842 he used the opportunity of a trip to Britain to make legal and commercial contacts there; they eventually paid off in his becoming solicitor for the London-based Trust and Loan Company of Upper Canada.
In 1841 his father died, at the comparatively young age of fifty-nine. He was now officially head of the family and responsible for the financial security of his mother and two sisters, both unmarried. The strain took its toll. Beginning in 1840, and off and on through 1841, Macdonald was stricken by some ailment that, while never really identified, as was common then, left him weak and listless. His doctor thought that a long holiday, beginning with a sea trip, might do wonders for his health. That could mean only Britain; much more probably by coincidence rather than calculation, the prescription worked.
Macdonald sailed from Boston in January 1842 in the company of two friends, Thomas Wilson and Edward Wanklyn. Before leaving Kingston, he got into a high-stakes card game known as loo with some business associates and, over three nights, won the astounding sum of two thousand dollars. Afterwards, he vowed never again to gambleâand he never did, except once, when he made a throwaway bet at a horse-race and won.
Macdonaldâs stay in Britain, which eventually extended to six months, proved to be the most important holiday he ever took in his life. During it, he fell in love with the woman who would become his first wife. He also fell in love with England. More exactly, he came to understand the reasons for the love he already possessed for British culture, style and accomplishments. And radiant and compelling they were: a glowing young woman now sat on the throne; the glory of the defeat of Napoleon still reverberated in the recent past; the Royal Navy policed the seven seas;London, with its incredible population of more than two million, was easily the largest and richest city in the world; British parliamentary and legal systems were regarded as models just about everywhereâexcept in France, and, as didnât really count, in the United States. Macdonaldâs anglophilia did not begin on this trip, but what he saw and experienced during his months there at the still-impressionable age of twenty-seven deepened his lifelong conviction that whatever was British was bestâboth in itself and also for Canada.
Of all the letters Macdonald wrote over the years to members of his family (of which, sadly, comparatively few have survived), *19 the letter he sent to his mother from London on March 3, 1842, stands apart from the rest by its sheer, uninhibited joy. Heâs excited and dazzled by the city, by its gargantuan buildings and
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