Denison, George Taylor

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: David Gagan, “DENISON, GEORGE TAYLOR (George T. Denison Jr, George T. Denison II, George T. Denison of Rusholme) (1816-73),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/denison_george_taylor_1816_73_10E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Lawyer, landowner, farmer, and militia officer; b. 17 July 1816 at York (Toronto), U.C., second son of George Taylor Denison and Esther Borden Lippincott, loyalist; m. Mary Anne Dewson of West Gwillimbury Township and had nine children, the eldest being George Taylor Denison of Heydon Villa; d. 30 May 1873 at Toronto, Ont., and was buried with military honours in the family’s private cemetery, St John’s-on-the-Humber, Weston, Ont.
    • George Taylor Denison’s grandfather, John, was among the first inhabitants of York. He established the family’s position as minor landed gentry, a status that was enhanced by his son G. T. Denison of Bellevue who, at his death in 1853, was reputedly the wealthiest private landholder in Canada West. G. T. Denison I also secured the family’s place among Tories influential in Toronto affairs. A vigorous proponent of the loyalist ideal of creating a British nation in North America, he had used his wealth and position to promote the growth of the volunteer militia as a necessary adjunct of Tory social and political leadership and as Upper Canada’s first line of defence against both external and internal threats. In 1822 he created the York Dragoons, one of the first cavalry troops attached to the York militia.
    • His main contribution, however, was his activity on behalf of an indigenous Canadian military establishment during the critical period of responsible government in Canada when the institutions of nationhood were being forged. A viable native defensive force was one of the prerequisites of self-determination in British North America after 1846. Nevertheless, successive governments in the Province of Canada, especially during the troubled years between 1854 and 1866, consistently refused to provide adequately for local defence in spite of the dangers of open Anglo-American hostilities. The militia was in a state of stagnation, offset partially by the volunteers who maintained themselves in readiness. George Denison and his brothers Richard Lippincott and Robert Brittain set an early precedent in 1839 when the disbandment of the active force threatened the demise of the Queen’s Light Dragoons (an honorary designation conferred on the York Dragoons during the campaigns of 1837–39); their equipment was to be returned to imperial stores. The Denisons purchased all of the necessary equipment themselves, renamed the troop “Denison’s Horse,” and continued to drill the men. 
    • It is impossible to assess with accuracy the impact of Denison’s individual effort, but it is clear that, with others like him, he aided the development of a Canadian military tradition, especially the volunteering spirit, through difficult and trying times.
  • Grandson of Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory –https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=4714
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63640038/george-taylor-denison