John Stoughton Dennis (1820-1885)

Land surveyor.

Born in Kingston, Upper Canada, Dennis was educated at Victoria College. He then qualified as a land surveyor. In 1869 he was instructed by the Canadian federal government to go to the Red River Settlement to report on a system of surveys for the western interior. He met with considerable resistance from the Métis under Louis Riel and disbanded his survey on 9 December. He fled the colony two days later with Governor William McDougall, having failed to raise much interest among “volunteers” to fight against the Métis on behalf of the Canadian government.

In 1871 he became Canada’s first Surveyor General and head of the Dominion Lands Branch, and in 1878 Deputy Minister of the Interior under Sir John A. Macdonald. He succeeded in establishing the 160-acre unit for homesteads rather than the 80-acre unit preferred by Macdonald. He resigned in 1881 and was made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1882.

More information:

The Red River Rebellion and J. S. Dennis, “Lieutenant and Conservator of the Peace” by Colin Read
Manitoba History, Number 3, 1982

John Stoughton Dennis, Dictionary of Canadian Biography XI, 244-46.

Source:

Profile revised: 5 March 2008

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