1-345-428 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sir John Alexander Macdonald, 1st Prime Minister of Canada, c1890. Born in Glasgow, Macdonald (1815-1891) emigrated to Canada with his family in 1820. A lawyer by profession, he entered politics and was elected to the legislature of Canada in 1844. In 1867 he was knighted and was elected the first Prime Minister of the dominion of Canada. His Conservative administration was brought down by the Pacific scandal in 1873 when Macdonald was accused of taking bribes relating to the award of railway construction contracts, but he returned to power in 1878 and continued as Prome Minister until his death. A lithograph from "The Modern Portrait Gallery", Cassell, Petter and Galpin, London, Paris and New York, c1890.