Brown, George

Brown, George,

1818–80, Canadian statesman and journalist, b. Scotland. In 1837 he emigrated to the United States, but after five years in New York City, he settled in Toronto, Ont. There he founded (1844) the Toronto Globe, which under his editorship became the most powerful political journal in Upper Canada. He wholeheartedly supported Robert Baldwin and the movement for responsible government. Elected in 1851 as a Reform member of the Canadian legislative assembly, Brown in time became leader of the "Clear Grits" faction, which opposed the influence of the French Canadians in the assembly. He urged the secularization of the Clergy Reserves (lands reserved for the Protestant churches), a national school system, the purchase of the Northwest Territories, and representation by population instead of the equal representation for Quebec and Ontario as established by the Act of Union (1840). Brown played an important role in the movement for confederation. Despite his personal and political hatred for Sir John A. MacdonaldMacdonald, Sir John Alexander,
1815–91, Canadian statesman, first prime minister of the Dominion of Canada, b. Glasgow. His parents settled in 1820 in Kingston, Ont. Macdonald first practiced law.
..... Click the link for more information. , he joined (1864) "the great coalition" ministry and with Macdonald and others went to England in 1865 to urge Canadian confederation. He resigned that year from the government because of his inability to work with Macdonald and left Parliament in 1867. He later (1873) accepted appointment to the Canadian Senate, serving until he was shot to death by an insane employee.

Bibliography

See biography by J. M. S. Careless (2 vol., 1959–63).

Brown, George

(1787–1859) railroad promoter; born in County Antrim, Ireland (son of Alexander Brown). He joined his father in Baltimore, Md. (1802). He was influential in the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and was the company's treasurer (1827–34). He was a cautious director of the family firm, Alexander Brown & Sons (1834–59). He gave generously to the House of Refuge and the Peabody Institute of Baltimore.

Brown, George (Scratchley)

(1918–78) aviator; born in Montclair, N.J. A 1941 West Point graduate, he flew heavy bombers during World War II, most notably on the raids against the Ploesti oilfields in August 1943. Brown held a series of staff and line appointments during the 1950s and 1960s. As commander of the 7th Air Force in Saigon (1968–70), he was accused of falsifying reports about air strikes in Cambodia in 1969–70. President Richard Nixon appointed him chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1974, a tenure punctuated by impolitic comments about Jewish influence in business, journalism, and the Congress.