George Alexander Drew, QC

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 (February 21, 1826 – July 5, 1891) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 lawyer, judge and political figure. He represented Wellington North

Wellington North

Wellington North was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1953. It was located in the province of Ontario....

 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...

 as a Liberal-Conservative

Liberal-Conservative Party

The Liberal-Conservative Party was the formal name of the Conservative Party of Canada until 1873, although some Conservative candidates continued to run under the label as late as the 1911 election and others ran as simple Conservatives prior to 1873...

 member from 1867 to 1872 and from 1878 to 1882.

He was born near Williamstown, 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...

, the son of John Drew and Margaret McKay, and was educated there and in Cornwall

Cornwall, Ontario

Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario. Cornwall is Ontario's easternmost city, located on the St...

. Drew studied law with John Sandfield Macdonald

John Sandfield Macdonald

John Sandfield Macdonald, QC was the first Premier of the province of Ontario, one of the four founding provinces created at the confederation of Canada in 1867...

 in Cornwall, was called to the bar in 1854 and set up practice in Elora

Elora, Ontario

Elora is a community in the township of Centre Wellington, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. It is well known for its 19th-century limestone architecture, its artistic community and the geographically significant Elora Gorge.-History:...

. In 1856, he married Elizabeth Mary Jacob; in 1865, after his first wife's death, he married her sister, Maria Louise. Drew was named Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 in 1872.

Drew ran unsuccessfully against Nathaniel Higinbotham

Nathaniel Higinbotham

Nathaniel Higinbotham was a Canadian pharmacist and political figure. He represented Wellington North in the Canadian House of Commons from 1872 to 1878 as a Liberal member....

 for the federal seat in 1872, 1874 and 1875 before defeating him in 1878. In 1882, he was named judge for Wellington County

Wellington County, Ontario

Wellington County is a county located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat is Guelph, a city which is politically independent, but Guelph's status as the seat means it houses the county's administrative offices...

; later that same year, he was named judge in the High Court of Justice for Ontario. Drew died while still a judge at the age of 65.

The community of Drew

Drew, Ontario

Drew is a rural farming community in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada, forming part of the Town of Minto. From the division of Minto into 18 concessions, Drew emerged from Concessions 16 and 17, spanning approximately five miles...

 in Minto Township

Minto, Ontario

Minto is a town in midwestern Ontario, Canada, on the Maitland River in Wellington County. Minto is the eastern terminus of Highway 9. It is named for Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto; 8th Governor General of Canada....

 was named after him.

His grandson, George Drew, later served as Premier of Ontario.