John Peter Featherston was the mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, from 1874 to 1875.

Born in Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1830, he came to Canada in 1858. Upon settling in Ottawa, he opened a drug store

Pharmacy

Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...

. In 1867 he was elected to city council, and in 1879 was appointed clerk and registrar for the Carleton County court. He served as chairman of the board for the Ottawa Collegiate Institute

Lisgar Collegiate Institute

Lisgar Collegiate Institute is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Lisgar Collegiate Institute, one of the country's best regarded public schools, is located in downtown Ottawa by the Rideau Canal and is only a few blocks from Canada's Parliament Hill...

, and ran unsuccessfully to represent the City of Ottawa

Ottawa (City of)

Ottawa was a federal electoral district in the province of Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1935.It was created by the British North America Act of 1867. It consisted of the city of Ottawa...

 in the federal parliament in an 1877 by-election. Featherston was a District Deputy Grand Master of the Freemasons.

Very little is known about Mr. Featherston, other than the fact that he was 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...

 politician, and that he wired Mr. Richard Scott (Later Sir Richard William Scott

Richard William Scott

Sir Richard William Scott, PC, KC was a Canadian politician and cabinet minister.He was born in Prescott, Ontario in 1825. A lawyer by training, Scott was admitted to the bar in 1848 and established a practice in Bytown...

, K.C., P.C.

Queen's Privy Council for Canada

The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...

) in 1871 advising him to enter the Liberal Government. Later that year Mr. Scott became Speaker of the Legislature.

Family

In 1871 John Peter Featherston married Bessie Parnell, daughter of John Parnell, of County Wicklow. She was born in Dublin, and accompanied her parents to Canada. She volunteered with the Carleton Protestant Hospital, the Maternity Hospital, the Lady Stanley Institute, and
the Ottawa Humane Society. She served as President of the Ladies' Auxiliary for the Carleton Protestant Hospital. Her residence as Lady Mayoress was 452 Rideau Street, Ottawa.