Isaac Buchanan

Province of Canada businessman and politician

Isaac Buchanan (July 21, 1810 – October 1, 1883) was a businessman, political figure and writer in Upper Canada, then Canada West, Province of Canada (now Ontario). Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he emigrated to British North America in 1830, settling first in Montreal, then York (now Toronto), and then Hamilton. At the height of his business career, he had an extensive house and estate in Hamilton, which he named "Auchmar", in recognition of his Clan Buchanan roots in Scotland. Buchanan's business was primarily centred in Hamilton and Canada West, but he was an international merchant, with business interests in Scotland and New York as well as Toronto and Montreal. He was the first president of the Hamilton Club, and founder of Hamilton and Toronto boards of trade – forerunners to modern chambers of commerce. He was the founder of the regiment that later became the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. He was also actively involved in the presbyterian movement in Canada West, helping to establish the Free Church of Scotland in Canada. Buchanan was elected four times to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, originally as a moderate Reformer from Toronto, but gradually moving to more conservative opinions, when elected from Hamilton. He was a generous donor to public causes, particularly in the Hamilton area. Although at one point he was one of the richest men in Canada West, his businesses gradually became unprofitable and failed. He lived in reduced circumstances in his later years, with his income supplemented by a government appointment. He died in Hamilton in 1883.

Isaac Buchanan was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1810 to Peter and Margaret Miller Buchanan. Isaac's father and mother were both scions of the Buchanans of Auchmar, a cadet branch of the Clan Buchanan, which was prominent in the Loch Lomond region. Peter Buchanan (1760 1826) established himself as a manufacturer of cloth in Glasgow, with a factory in Hutcheson Street. He became prominent in the city's mercantile community, becoming a member of the Merchants House (an organization of businessmen) and an elder at St. David's Church. Peter Buchanan married Margaret Miller Buchanan in 1800. Margaret was the daughter of Isaac Buchanan of Gartfairn. Her sister was the wife of Peter Buchanan's brother, Andrew. Isaac Buchanan was one of nine children. He attended the Glasgow Grammar School but his ambitions for a professional career were thwarted by family financial reverses and the death of his father in 1825.

At the urging of his elder brother, Peter Buchanan (1805 1860), Isaac located employment as a clerk with the Glasgow firm of William Guild & Company, traders to the West Indies and Honduras. Isaac became a junior partner in a new firm with his employer's son. The new firm was established for the purpose of opening a wholesale dry goods store in Montreal, Lower Canada (now Quebec. Buchanan travelled to Montreal in 1830 to take charge of the venture. Soon afterward, Buchanan moved to York, Upper Canada (now Toronto) to be closer to clients in Upper Canada. In 1834, with his brother Peter, he bought the business in York and set up an office in Glasgow. In 1840, he set up a new company in Hamilton; he and his brother also established a Montreal branch. Their business included wholesale grocery trade, iron, hardware, and grain. Part of their successful business model was extension of credit lines to their retail customers. He served as lieutenant colonel of the Battalion for two years. On his appointment as lieutenant colonel, his wife, Agnes Buchanan, presented a stand of colours to the Battalion.