MACKENZIE, WILLIAM LYON, a Canadian journalist; born in Dundee, Scotland, March 12, 1795; emigrated to Canada in 1820; and in 1824 established the "Colonial Advocate," first at Queens town, then at Toronto. There his denun ciations of the officials resulted in the partial destruction of his printing office in 1826. In 1828 he was elected to the provincial Parliament for York, but was expelled for libel on the Assembly, and was successively expelled and re-elected till finally the government refused to issue the writ. In 1834 he was elected the first mayor of Toronto, and in 1836 he started the "Constitution." In 1837 he published a virtual declaration of inde pendence in his paper, headed a band of armed insurgents, and demanded of the lieutenant-governor a settlement of all provincial difficulties by a convention. This demand not having been granted, Mackenzie determined to arrest the lieu tenant-governor and capture the military stores in Toronto; but being met by a superior forco at Montgomery's Hill, 4 miles from the city, the insurgents were put to flight after a brief skirmish in which several were killed. Mackenzie
and others effected their escape and took possession of Navy Island in the Niagara river, where he established a provisional government. He was soon, however, com pelled to break up his camp, and was afterward sentenced by the United States authorities to 12 months' imprisonment in Rochester, N. Y. On the proclamation of amnesty in 1849 he returned to Can ada, and was a member of Parliament from 1850 till 1858. Reforms more radi cal than those he contended for have since been granted. He died in Toronto, Aug. 28, 1861.