John Gillies was an Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 farmer and political figure. He represent Bruce North

Bruce North

Bruce North was a federal electoral district in 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 which divided the county of Bruce into two ridings: Bruce North and Bruce South.-Geography:The North...

 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 1872 to 1882 and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

 from 1883 to 1886 as a Liberal.

He was born in Kilcalmonell, Argyll

Argyll

Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, the son of Hugh Gillies and Mary Blue, and came to Canada West in 1852, settling near Paisley

Paisley, Ontario

Paisley is now an unincorporated community, a village in the Municipality of Arran-Elderslie in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. Paisley is defined by its position at the confluence of the Saugeen River and the Teeswater River, and at the junction of Bruce Roads 1, 11, and 3.-History:Paisley began,...

. Gillies was reeve for Elderslie Township from 1857 to 1873 and warden for Bruce County

Bruce County, Ontario

Bruce County is a county in western Ontario, Canada, and includes the Bruce Peninsula. As of 2006, the population was 65,349. The area was . The county seat is Walkerton, Ontario. It is located at ....

 in 1863 and from 1869 to 1872. He also served as a major in the local militia. Gillies defeated Alexander Sproat

Alexander Sproat

Alexander Sproat was an Ontario land surveyor, businessman and political figure. He represented Bruce North in the 1st Canadian Parliament as a Conservative member....

, who had served in the first Canadian parliament, in 1872 and 1878 to win the seat in the House of Commons. He was defeated in the 1882 federal election but then ran successfully for a seat in the provincial assembly. In 1888, he was named police magistrate at Sault Ste. Marie

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...

. He died there at the age of 52.

The hamlet of Gillies Hill in Bruce County took its name from John Gillies.