Mount, Roswell

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Wendy Cameron, “MOUNT, ROSWELL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mount_roswell_6E.html
  • DCB profile:
    • Surveyor, politician, militia officer, jp, and office holder; b. 1797 in Delaware Township, Upper Canada, the son of Moses Mount and Jane Burtch; m. c. 1820, he had one son and one daughter; d. 19 Jan. 1834 in York (Toronto).
    • He trained as a deputy surveyor under Mahlon Burwell and early in 1820 qualified to receive his licence. As Burwell’s assistant and from about 1825 until 1833 on his own, Mount made surveys and laid out roads in several townships of the province’s western districts. He also acquired land, both as a surveyor and by purchase, and showed more than a surveyor’s interest in roads, development, and politics.
    • Mount was chosen as one of the two members for the riding of Middlesex in the general election of 1830. In a dull contest among three tories he held second spot in the polls behind Burwell. The Christian Guardian reported that during the first two sessions of the legislature he voted with the government on all important issues. It may be less than coincidence that in this period he rose from captain to colonel in the Middlesex militia and became a justice of the peace, a road commissioner, and, in 1832, crown land agent for the Western District.
    • Land agents normally encountered a range of problems in the performance of their duties but the peculiar circumstances of 1832 exacerbated the difficulties and increased their magnitude. That year over 51,000 immigrants arrived in Quebec, many bringing cholera with them. Fear of cholera inhibited the local community from providing assistance or shelter. Thus, in a wet and difficult season, Mount became the only source of rations, wages, medical aid, and shelter. In July 1832 he assisted 400 immigrants, from Petworth in West Sussex; in August, another 800–1,000 newcomers arrived all at once; still others, according to a later memorial on Mount’s behalf, “poured in on him week after week.”
    • Personally ambitious, he responded to all demands and ignored Robinson’s warnings of the limits of the immigration fund. Mount had allowed his local ambitions to colour his interpretation of his instructions. Whereas a total of £5,000 had been allotted for the relief and settlement of immigrants in 1832, £13,286 had actually been spent, a staggering £7,588 by Mount. 
  • Son of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=6053
  • Find a Grave: Cannot locate.