John George Bourinot

Lord Elgin (Dodo Press) John George Bourinot

Sir John George Bourinot, KCMG (1836-1902) was a Canadian journalist, historian, and civil servant, widely regarded and remembered as an expert of parliamentary procedure and constitutional law. He was educated at Sydney, Nova Scotia before enrolling at Trinity College, Toronto, in 1854. Although he was a good student, he left the university two years later and worked as a parliamentary reporter. In 1860, he was in Halifax, where he founded, together with Joseph C. Crosskill, his own newspaper, the Evening Reporter. In 1867 Bourinot worked as a freelance writer for some time, until he secured a job as a clerk at the Canadian Senate in 1869. A founding member of the Royal Society of Canada, he also acted as its honorary secretary, and in 1892 served as president of the society. He wrote many books on political history, some of which were considered references for decades to come. His Parliamentary Procedure and Practice in Canada (1884) was considered a standard work. How Canada is Governed (1895) was a widely used textbook, and Canada Under British Rule, 1760-1900 (1900) was also popular.