John Hutchison.

About John Hutchison

John Hutchison was a Canadian businessman, politician, and mayor of Toronto in 1857. He was born in Scotland and immigrated to Montreal in 1828. He moved to Toronto in 1847 and opened a merchant business. He was also a director on various Toronto public works projects. He was elected as an alderman to Toronto City Council in 1852, but resigned when the council refused to censure the city's mayor. He was again elected to the council in 1856 and was elected the city's mayor the following year. Hutchison's mayoralty occurred during an economic recession and his term was characterized by withdrawing funding from railway projects. The recession caused his business to become bankrupt and he did not run for a council seat upon the end of his mayoral term. Sources differ on when and where Hutchison died; one source says he died in Toronto a few years after becoming mayor, while an obituary states that he returned to Montreal when his term ended and died in Quebec in 1863.