Richard Beasley (politician)
Richard Beasley (July 21, 1761 – February 16, 1842) was a soldier, political figure, farmer and businessman in Upper Canada.
He was born in New York in 1761 and moved to Quebec in 1777. In 1783, he formed a partnership with Peter Smith in the fur trade. In 1788, he settled in Barton Township on Lake Ontario near the current city of Hamilton, still involved in trading furs. Richard Beasley became one of the founders of Ancaster when he gave millwright James Wilson half of the financial backing to build a grist-mill in 1791 and a sawmill in 1792. In 1797 Beasley sold his half share of the mills to fur trader and businessman Jean Rousseaux. Ultimately by 1800, after speculating on land originally granted to the Six Nations of the Grand River in 1784 by the Haldimand Proclamation along the Grand River, he was forced to sell part of his property to cover debts. At one time he owned 13,350 acres (54.0 km2) of land in what is now Kitchener, Ontario. Much of it was later sold to German-speaking Pennsylvania Dutch settlers.
In 1796, he was elected to the 2nd Parliament of Upper Canada, representing Durham, York & 1st Lincoln. He was also appointed magistrate in the same year. In the next Parliament, he represented West York, Lincoln & Haldimand and served as speaker from 1803 to 1804. In 1802, he became a lieutenant colonel in the York militia. In 1808, he was elected to represent West York in the 5th Parliament, but he was unseated because it was found that his agent had closed the polls too early.
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