Frederick Mackenzie was a lawyer and political figure in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. He represented Montreal West

Montreal West (electoral district)

Montreal West was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commonsfrom 1867 to 1892.It was created by the British North America Act of 1867. It consisted initially of St. Anne Ward, St. Antoine Ward and St. Lawrence Ward. In 1872, St. Anne Ward...

 in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 from 1874 to 1875 as a Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 member.

He was born in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Canada East

Canada East

Canada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....

, the son of John Gordon Mackenzie, a merchant there. Mackenzie was educated at McGill University

McGill University

Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

 and was called to the Lower Canada bar in 1862. He was a captain in the militia and served during the Fenian raids

Fenian raids

Between 1866 and 1871, the Fenian raids of the Fenian Brotherhood who were based in the United States; on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada, were fought to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland. They divided many Catholic Irish-Canadians, many of whom were...

. Mackenzie was a lay secretary for the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 in Quebec and Montreal. His election in 1874 was declared void; he was elected again in a by-election held in December that year. That election was also declared void and Thomas Workman

Thomas Workman (politician)

Thomas Workman was a Quebec businessman and political figure. He represented Montreal Centre in the 1st Canadian Parliament and Montreal West from 1875 to 1878 as a Liberal member....

was elected in a by-election held the following year.