Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1801-1907 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
28 Boxes (7.5 meters)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Sir Allan Napier MacNab, born in Ontario in 1798, was a a Canadian political leader. He fought in the War of 1812 and later became a lawyer. A staunch supporter of English policies, he commanded "he men of Gore" against the rebels in the uprising of 1837, and later took charge of the forces opposing the insurgents under William Lyon Mackenzie. MacNab was knighted in 1838 for these actions. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Canada from 1841 to 1857. He became prime minister in 1854 but was forced to resign in 1856. He died in 1862.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The collection of historical documents relating to the Rebellion and some later, individually noteworthy, MacNab items were given to the Library by the Earl of Albemarle in 1968. In 1970, two tin deed boxes containing the business papers and the Sophia MacNab estate papers were discovered in a cupboard in the University of Toronto’s History Department where they had been overlooked for many decades. They were transferred to the Library in the same year.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Legal and business papers and correspondence, chiefly relating to MacNab’s various property transactions, as well as a small amount of historical material relating to the Rebellion of 1837-1838. Also includes documents from the governing of the Estate after Allan MacNab’s death. This includes papers from MacNab’s sister-in-law and executor, Sophia Stuart MacNab, as well papers from her successors, Mary Stuart Daly and Caroline Daly. These records pertain to the maintenance of the estate, information on the mortgages owned by the estate and lawsuits.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Material may be requested in person at the Fisher Library Reference Desk, or in advance using our online stack retrieval request form: https://aeon.library.utoronto.ca
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English