Researching James Strachan

Stachan was born in Cornwall in Upper Canada in 1808, the oldest son of John Strachan, the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto. He purchased a commission in the British 68th Regiment of Foot and studied at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. In 1836, he returned to Upper Canada where he began the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1838. During the Upper Canada Rebellion, he served as military secretary to the LLieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Sir Francis Bond Head. He joined the law practice of John Hillyard Cameron in Toronto as a partner.

In 1841, in the first general election for the new Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, Strachan stood for election to the riding of Huron, located in Huron County on Lake Huron, even though he lived and worked in Toronto, located on Lake Ontario. Strachan was the favoured candidate of both the Family Compact, the oligarchic group which had largely controlled the government of Upper Canada, and the Canada Company, which was the major land owner and developer in the Huron Tract. The opposing candidate, William "Tiger" Dunlop represented the interests of the prosperous local landowners in the Colborne Township of Huron County.

Although a local newspaper confidently asserted that Strachan would be defeated, having "...no more chance, than a stump-tailed ox in fly time," he was declared the winner by the local returning officer, by a majority of 10 votes (159 to 149). Strachan took his seat when the Assembly was summoned in June, 1841. However, Dunlop then lodged a controverted election petition with the Assembly, alleging that unqualified voters had been allowed to vote in the election for Strachan. The matter was assigned to a select committee to investigate, and for the first two months of the session, Strachan participated in the Assembly's proceedings. On August 20, 1841, the committee reported, recommending that Dunlop be awarded the seat due to election irregularities. The Assembly adopted the report and Dunlop replaced Strachan as the member from Huron.

In his short time in the Assembly, Strachan voted in support of the government of the Governor General, Lord Sydenham, and in support of the union of the Canadas.

Strachan also served on the Toronto city council in 1842 and 1852.

Strachan went bankrupt in 1847 after speculating in land and railway companies but had recovered by 1853, when he bought a large tract of land west of Toronto, which occupied his attention for the rest of his life.

He died in Toronto in 1870.

Strachan was born in Montrose, Scotland, the fifth son of John Strachan and his wife Isobel, née Smith. Strachan arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1832 with his widowed mother and two sisters. He was an early settler in Port Phillip District (which later became Victoria), and a leading merchant in Melbourne, in which city he built the first brick store.left|thumb|Mausoleum of James Strachan at Geelong's Western CemeteryStrachan was an active promoter of separation from New South Wales, and when the colony of Victoria was constituted in 1851 he was returned to the semi-elective Legislative Council, then the only chamber, as member for Geelong in October of that year. After responsible government was conceded in 1855, Strachan was elected to the first wholly elective Legislative Council for the South-Western Province in November 1856. He was a member of the second Haines Ministry without portfolio from April 1857 to March 1858. During the great constitutional battle between the two Houses on the tariff and Darling grant "tacks" Strachan took a leading part on the side of the Council, and resigning his seat for the South-Western Province, contested the Western Province against Henry Miller, who had accepted office under Sir James McCulloch, and defeated him on 10 August 1866. Strachan held the seat until September 1874.

Strachan died at Geelong, Victoria on 14 April 1875, aged sixty-five years. He was married to Lilias Cross née Murray, daughter of Hugh Murray, a fellow Scottish emigrant, merchant and grazier.