1. Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet was a Canadian political leader, land speculator and property investor, lawyer, soldier, and militia commander who served in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada twice, the Legislative Assembly for the Province of Canada once, and served as joint Premier of the Province of Canada from 1854 to 1856.
Allan MacNab was a member of the Family Compact in Upper Canada.
Allan MacNab briefly shared a military regiment with another member in the War of 1812.
Allan MacNab's father was a lieutenant in the 71st Regiment and the Queen's Rangers under Lt-Col.
Allan MacNab probably served at the Battle of York and certainly in the Canadian forlorn hope that headed the Anglo-Canadian assault on Fort Niagara.
Allan MacNab was admitted to the bar in 1824, and called to the bar in 1826.
In 1826, Allan MacNab moved from York to Hamilton, where he established a successful law office, but it was chiefly by land speculation that he made his fortune.
Allan MacNab served on several boards, including as a board member of the Beacon Fire and Life Insurance Co.
The amount increased and by 1835 Allan MacNab had "cornered much of the best land in the centre of expanding Hamilton".
Again before the Rebellion, Allan MacNab was appointed as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th Regiment of the Gore militia in May 1830, partly through the influence of the Chisholm family of Oakville.
Allan MacNab opposed the reform movement in Upper Canada that was led by William Lyon Mackenzie.
When Mackenzie led the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837, Allan MacNab was part of the force of British regular troops and Upper Canada militia that moved against Mackenzie at Montgomery's Tavern in Toronto on 7 December, dispersing Mackenzie's rebels in less than an hour.
Duncombe's men dispersed when they learned that Allan MacNab was waiting for them, but the quality of Allan MacNab's leadership was nonetheless regarded as "mixed".
Allan MacNab was dispatched by Sir Bond Head on Christmas Day to command the troops in Niagara with support from both naval forces and regular officers.
Allan MacNab saw himself alternating between "drilling or dining" for about 4 to 5 days as "supplies and billeting were inadequate and orders were vague" regarding command centers in Toronto and Montreal.
The dawn attack was not sanctioned or ordered by Allan MacNab and was the result of a group of particularly bibulous officers and the event nearly ended in disaster.
The affair saw Allan MacNab indicted for murder in Erie County, New York, and subsequently replaced by Colonel Hughes, taking Allan MacNab's post of Commander in Niagara.
However, before leaving the frontier Allan MacNab protested that Hughes would be the one to receive "all the credit" whilst Allan MacNab and the militia had done "all the drudgery".
Later, Allan MacNab quitted the Niagara frontier on 14 January 1838.
Allan MacNab shared a common philosophy in his own troops, believing that officers earn the respect of their subordinates "not only through courage in war but by tempering strict justice with kindness and approachability off the battlefield".
Allan MacNab represented Hamilton in Parliament from 1830 until his death in 1862, first in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, then in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, and finally in the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada representing the Western Division.
Allan MacNab was joint Premier of the province from 1854 to 1856.
Allan MacNab was sentenced to jail for 10 days by the House of Assembly, following apparent "prodding" from William Lyon Mackenzie.
Allan MacNab came under public scrutiny when he was ousted as president of the Desjardins Canal Company in 1834, after having mortgaged a large block of personal land as security for a government loan to the company in 1832.
Allan MacNab committed a breach of privilege and was arrested by the sergeant-at-arms during the 10th Parliament of Upper Canada after a motion by the legislative assembly.
Allan MacNab retaliated by seconding a motion in December 1831 which was accusing William Lyon Mackenzie of breach of privilege and motioned for him to be expelled from the house on the grounds of libel.
Allan MacNab acted as a "spearhead" in the political attacks against Mackenzie and this was beneficial for Allan MacNab, causing him to gain power within the Assembly and maintain a solid link with the members of so-called "Tory York".
Allan MacNab opposed the policy of the "Ultra Reformers" to implement responsible government.
When Parliament met at Montreal, Allan MacNab took apartments there at Donegana's Hotel.
Allan MacNab married his second wife, Mary, who died 8 May 1846 and was a Catholic; she was the daughter of John Stuart, Sheriff of the Johnstown District, Ontario.
Allan MacNab married at Dundurn Castle, Hamilton, on 15 November 1855, William Keppel, Viscount Bury, afterwards the 7th Earl of Albemarle, who died in 1894.
The Toronto Globe and The Hamilton Spectator expressed strong doubts about the conversion, and the Anglican rector of Christ Church declared that Allan MacNab died a Protestant.