Philip VanKoughnet

Colonel The Hon. Philip VanKoughnet M.L.C., M.L.A. (April 2 1790 – May 7 1873) landowner, businessman and political figure in Upper Canada.

History of the Name

This family originated during the Middle Ages in Switzerland, when their name was spelt von Gachnang after acquring the lands of Gachnang and Schelleburg in 1336. They remained loyal to the Princes of Austria and were guests of the Holy Roman Emperor at Zurich in 1443. In 1566, they entrusted their considerable land holdings to Sigismund, Archduke of Austria who prompty lost them by using the money raised to fight unsuccessful wars. The family maintained their noble name and moved to the surrounding villages of Zurich and Zurich itself, where they were prominent citizens. During the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) their ancestor fled to Turckheim and then Colmar, Alsace, where three successive generations of the family were members of the Grand Jury, spelling their name von Gochnat, the French version of the name. Having again lost their status after the French regained possession of Alsace, in 1751, the subject's grandfather emigrated to North America where their name changed again to VanKoughnet, as it has since been known.

Career

Born in New Johnstown (Cornwall), 2 April, 1790, he was the son of Michael VanKoughnet (1751-1832), 'a large landowner' and United Empire Loyalist. He was educated at John Strachan's school. He fought at the Battle of Crysler's Farm during the War of 1812. In 1816, he was elected to the 7th Parliament of Upper Canada representing Stormont & Russell. In 1833, he was part of a commission to establish a canal at Cornwall to improve transportation along the Saint Lawrence River. In gratitude, VanKoughnet Island, off the canal, was named after him.

In 1832, Philip VanKoughnet inherited his father's extensive lands in Upper Canada (which he bought in 1783 after the Americans had put a price on his head for his loyalty to the Crown) adding to them over time until at his death he owned the entirety of the district. His father had named the original settlement 'New Johnstown', after Johnstown (New York) where the Colonel's grandfather, John, or Johann Eberhardt von Gochnat (1712-1770), had lived on arriving from Alsace in 1751.

In 1836, VanKoughnet was appointed to the Legislative Council of Upper Canada by Lieutenant Governor Sir Francis Bond Head. In 1838, he commanded a battalion of militia (2nd Stormont Regiment) at the Battle of the Windmill. In 1870, he was appointed chairman of the Canadian Board of Government Arbitrators. It was said of the Colonel that he had, ‘all the stubbornness of a German, with the patriotism of a Briton’. He had ‘earned the respect of his contemporaries for his sterling qualities and honest patriotism’, holding little regard for the American revolutionaries.

Family

On 1 April, 1819, he married Harriet Sophia (1795-1854), daughter of Matthew Scott (1775-1812), formerly 'a very eminent' and 'affluent and respectable (grain) merchant' of Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary by his wife Lady Anna Glancy of Kurley, Co. Kilkenny. So serious was the economic situation at Carrick in 1797, a textile town severely affected by the credit crisis, that Scott had given over 1,000 barrels of oats to be sold in meal under the market price to the poverty-stricken of the district and he was also arranging to raise a large amount of money to be distributed in small loans to the textile workers of the town. But following the Irish Rebellion of 1798 his act of kindness was seen by the notorious Thomas Judkin 'Flogging' Fitzgerald as aiding the rebels and he was wrongly imprisoned and severely flogged [1]. Whilst in gaol the price of grain dropped and unable to protect his business interests he was declared bankrupt. Following this he went to America to build up his business again before returning to County Tipperary. Terminating his misfortunes, Scott took his own life in 1812 [2]. Matthew Scott's grandmother was a Purcell, Barons of Loughmoe, and he was a nephew of Lord Chief Justice The Rt. Hon. John Scott (1739-1798) [3], 1st Earl and Viscount of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, known as 'Copper-faced Jack'. The Colonel's sister-in-law, Catherine Scott (1785-1863), married William Percy Pack of Kilkenny, the maternal great grandparents of the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Philip and Harriet left thirteen children, who after his death on 7 May, 1873, divided Cornwall (which New Johnstown is now known as) between themselves. The eldest son, The Hon. Philip Michael Matthew Scott VanKoughnet, became the Chancellor of Upper Canada (now known as Ontario). One of his grand-daughters, Agnes Gertrude VanKoughnet, married Sir [[Hugh John MacD donald]], the only surviving son of the first Prime Minister of Canada.

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online