Thursday, October 27, 2016

Sir Francis Hincks at Renfrew Plaque

In Renfrew, Ontario on the southeast corner of Albert Street and Bruce Street the plaque for Sir Francis Hincks at Renfrew stands close by and inside the chain link fence near home base of a baseball diamond.




SIR FRANCIS HINCKS AT RENFREW

Premier of the Province of Canada 1851-1854, Governor of
Barbados 1856-1862, and British Guiana 1862-1865, Hincks
was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1803, settled in Upper Canada in
1832, and was elected to the Assembly in 1841. He was prominent
in the Reform campaign for Responsible Government and
was a keen advocate of railway building. While Finance Minister,
1869-1873, Hincks framed the Bank Act of 1871 which laid
the foundation of Canada's baning system. In 1853 he purchased
property here, laid out a subdivision and provided land
for building mills at the Second Chute of the Bonnechère River.
Twice elected a Member for Renfrew, 1854 and 1869, he donated
land for a public square. In 1874 he settled in Montreal, where
he died in 1885.

Erected by the Ontario Heritage Foundation,
Ministry of Culture and Recreation