by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer
Call him the forgotten Mackenzie brother.
Hope Fleming Mackenzie, Sarnia’s second Mayor, was a man whose considerable political achievements were completely overshadowed by those of a very famous sibling.
Indeed, his baby brother, Alexander, went on to become Prime Minister of Canada.
Still, Hope’s story is fascinating in its own right.
Born in Scotland on May 24, 1824, he immigrated to Canada at age 27, living for five years in Kingston before settling in Sarnia.
A carpenter and cabinet maker by trade, he also proved to be a handy shipbuilder.
In his youth, Hope was considered the family member most likely to succeed. Author Victor Lauriston, writing in the book ‘Lambton’s Hundred Year, 1849-1949 ‘, said Hope “seems to have been endowed with unusual gifts for public life, coupled with a certain reluctance to face its hard buffetings. His personality had a warmth, a charm, an appeal, lacking in his younger brother Alexander”.
Elected to Sarnia Council in the late 1850’s, he was appointed Mayor on September 4, 1857, to finish off the term of Thomas Forsyth, who had resigned.
Although he only served four months as Head of Council, Mayor Mackenzie proved himself a man of action.
At his first meeting, for instance, Council voted to raise 900 pounds to erect a farmers’ market downtown.
It was a minor fortune in those days but the move resulted in the establishment of a thriving market at the corner of Lochiel and Victoria Streets that stood for 90 years.
The market eventually left for Ontario Street. City Council has been trying to lure it back into the core in recent years, but modern politicians have not been able to match Mayor Mackenzie’s feat.
Mackenzie left Council at the end of 1857 and was elected to Parliament in 1859, becoming the first member of his family to enter the House of Commons.
He was offered the Liberal nomination again in 1867 but turned it down to pursue his business interests. Alexander Mackenzie won the seat instead, going on from there to become the nation’s second Prime Minister.
Hope was back in public life a few years later, when he was elected MP for South Oxford.
He died on June 4, 1866, at age 46.