John Simpson 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....

 businessman and political figure. 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...

 member of the Senate of Canada from 1867 to 1885.

He was born in Rothes

Rothes

Rothes is a town in Moray, Scotland, south of Elgin and on the banks of the River Spey. The village has a population of 1209 .At the south end of the village lie the remains of Rothes Castle, which dates from the 13th century...

, 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...

 in 1812 and came to Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

 with his family in 1815, eventually settling in Brockville

Brockville, Ontario

Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Though it serves as the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Brockville is politically independent and is grouped with Leeds and Grenville for census purposes only.Known as the "City of the 1000...

. He began work as a clerk in Charles Bowman's general store and mill at Darlington (later Bowmanville

Bowmanville, Ontario

Bowmanville is the largest community in the Municipality of Clarington in Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario about 75 km east of Toronto and 15 km east of Oshawa along Highway 2...

) and became Bowman's partner. Simpson excelled at the production of flour. After Bowman's death in 1848, he continued to operate the business in partnership with his brother-in-law. He became manager of the Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal

The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...

 branch at Bowmanville in 1848, but became president of the newly formed Ontario Bank

Ontario Bank

Ontario Bank was an early bank operating in Toronto, Ontario in 1860. It was last listed as a member of the Canadian Bankers Association in 1901. The bank and its 30 branches across the province were absorbed into the Bank of Montreal in the fall of 1906, after its general manager Charles McGill...

 in 1857. Simpson served on the council for the Newcastle District and for Darlington Township. He was elected to the Legislative Council for the province

Legislative Council of the Province of Canada

The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada was the upper house for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the province of Ontario...

 in 1856 and reelected by acclamation in 1864. He was named to the Senate after Confederation

Canadian Confederation

Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...

and served until his death in Bowmanville in 1885.