Hugh Johnston was a Scottish

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...

-born merchant and politician in New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

. He represented St. John County yin the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick

The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick is located in Fredericton. It was established de jure when the colony was created in 1784, but only came in to session in 1786 following the first elections in late 1785. Until 1891, it was the lower house in a bicameral legislature when its upper house...

 from 1802 to 1820.

He was born in Morayshire, the son of William Johnston and Isabel Hepburn. He married Ann Gilzean. He set up business at Saint John, New Brunswick

Saint John, New Brunswick

City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...

 in the 1780s. Johnston traded fish and lumber for sugar and molasses from the West Indies which was used to manufacture rum

Rum

Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...

 in Scotland. In 1806, he married Margaret Thurburn after the death of his first wife. Johnston was a director of the Bank of New Brunswick

Bank of New Brunswick

The Bank of New Brunswick was established on March 25, 1820 in the pre-Confederation Province of New Brunswick, Canada as the first Canadian bank to operate under a charter. Headquartered in a new building on Prince William Street in Saint John in 1826, the neoclassical bank façade consisted of an...

 and a port warden for the harbour at Saint John. With others, he helped establish the first Presbyterian church in New Brunswick. Johnston was named a magistrate for St. John County in 1818. He died in Saint John at the age of 73.

His son Hugh Johnston, Jr.

Hugh Johnston, Jr.

Hugh Johnston was a merchant and politician in New Brunswick. He represented the city of St. John from 1820 to 1830 and Queen's County from 1834 to 1842 and from 1847 to 1850 in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick....

also served in the New Brunswick assembly.