John George Bourinot (younger)

Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, he was the oldest son of John Bourinot.{{cite book|title=The Canadian Railway Employees' Monthly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8p5aAAAAYAAJ|volume=38|year=1952|publisher=Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees and Other Transport Workers.|page=54}} He was educated at Sydney before enrolling at Trinity College, Toronto, in 1854. Although he was a good student, he left the university two years later and worked as a parliamentary reporter for a Toronto newspaper. In 1860, he was in Halifax, where he founded, together with Joseph C. Crosskill, his own newspaper, the Evening Reporter. In May 1867, Bourinot left this newspaper and worked as a freelance writer for some time, until he secured a job as a clerk at the Senate of Canada in May 1869. In the following years, he steadily advanced through various grades until he was appointed chief clerk of the House of Commons of Canada in December 1880. a post he would occupy until his death 22 years later.

A founding member of the Royal Society of Canada, he also acted as its honorary secretary, and in 1892 served as president of the society. He wrote many books political history, some of which were considered references for decades to come. His Parliamentary Procedure and Practice in Canada (Montréal, 1884) is considered a standard work. How Canada is governed (Toronto, 1895) was a widely used textbook, and Canada under British rule, 1760 – 1900 (Cambridge, England, 1900) was also popular. He also wrote books about the history of Nova Scotia, and several more on constitutional law. He also created the work that was posthumously to be called Bourinot's Rules of Order.

Bourinot was an advocate of Imperial Federation and a proponent of both a national university and library of Canada. He also was in favour of the right of women to higher education. In his later life, Bourinot received honorary degrees from many Canadian universities and was created CMG in 1890 and KCMG in 1898. He died in Ottawa, Ontario and was buried in Beechwood Cemetery there.

Bourinot was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1893.[http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistb American Antiquarian Society Members Directory]

• The Intellectual Development In The Canadian People, (1881)
• French Canada, (1887)
• Our Intellectual Strength And Weakness, (1893)
• Sea, Forest, And Prairie..., (1893)
• Canada, (1897)
• Builders Of Nova Scotia, (1900)
• Canada Under British Rule 1760-1900, (1900)
• Constitutional History, (1901)
• Lord Elgin, (1903)
• Canada [2nd edition with William H INGRAM], (1922)
• How Canada Is Governed, (?)
• Catalogue Of The Library Of The Late Sir John Bourinot, (1906)
• Parliamentary Procedure And Government In Canada, (?/?)
• Cape Breton And Its Memorials Of The French Régime, (?)

Source:{{cite web |title=Author - Sir, John George Bourinot |url=http://www.authorandbookinfo.com/cgi-bin/auth.pl?B006423 |publisher=Author and Book Info}}

{{Reflist}}

• Banks, M. A.: Sir John George Bourinot, Victorian Canadian: His Life, Times, and Legacy, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-7735-2191-7}}.
• Margaret A. Banks, [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6573 “Bourinot, Sir John George,”] Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–
• Claude Bélanger, [https://web.archive.org/web/20060307230244/http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/encyclopedia/JohnGeorgeBourinotbio.htm Bourinot, John George] at the Québec History Encyclopedia.
• {{cite DNB12|wstitle=Bourinot, John George |first=William Stewart|last= Wallace}}

• {{Gutenberg author |id=2056 |name=John George Bourinot}}
• {{FadedPage|id=Bourinot, John (Sir John George)|name=John Bourinot|author=yes}}
• {{Internet Archive author |sname=John George Bourinot |birth=1837 |death=1902 }}

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{{s-bef|before=Alfred Patrick}}

{{s-ttl|title=Clerk of the House of Commons of Canada|years=1880–1902}}

{{s-aft|after=Thomas Barnard Flint}}

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{{s-bef|before=Joseph-Clovis-Kemner Laflamme}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of the Royal Society of Canada|years=1892–1893}}

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Category:1836 births

Category:1902 deaths

Category:19th-century Canadian historians

Category:Burials at Beechwood Cemetery (Ottawa)

Category:Colony of Nova Scotia people

Category:Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George

Category:Canadian male non-fiction writers

Category:Clerks of the House of Commons (Canada)

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada

Category:Historians of Canada

Category:Journalists from Nova Scotia

Category:People from Sydney, Nova Scotia

Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)

Category:Province of Canada people