Elmes Yelverton Steele

Elmes Yelverton Steele (February 6 1781 – August 6 1865) was a naval officer, farmer and political figure in Canada West.

He was born in Colford, Gloucestershire, England in 1781, the son of an English doctor. He joined the Royal Navy as an officer cadet in 1798 and served during the Napoleonic Wars. He settled in France, but returned to England at the start of the French Revolution of 1830. In 1832, he settled on a large farm in Medonte Township in Upper Canada. In 1833, he was named a justice of the peace. Steele helped raise a group of volunteers from the township to help put down the Upper Canada Rebellion. He was a lieutenant-colonel in the local militia. With others, he signed a petition advocating the development of a water route connecting the Bay of Quinte to Lake Huron. Steele was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada as a Reformer in 1841. During his term in office, he lobbied for improvements on the road connecting Orillia and Toronto.

He died in Medonte Township in 1865.

His son Samuel became one of the first members of the North West Mounted Police.

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4722 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]