On Hillcroft Drive at the T junction where Hillcroft becomes a circle.
Commemoration
Built in 1853 by a mayor of Kingston, Francis Hill, this house, during the 1860's and 1870's, was the residence of Alexander Campbell (1822-1892). A member of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada and delegate to the Quebec Conference which led to Confederation, he was a life-long political associate of the Dominion's first Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald. Campbell held several cabinet posts after Confederation, was knighted in 1879 and, from 1887 to 1892, was Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario.
Background
Francis Hill emigrated from England to Canada. Hewas mayor in 1849 and 1851. He did not live to see the house he had commissioned completed.
Alexander Campbell was born in Yorkshire, England and brought to Canada as a child when his family moved across the Atlantic. He not only served in Macdonal’s government but was a partner in his law office. He died in office in Toronto in 1892.
Campbell and Macdonald, both representing this community, show the influence that Kingston had at the time that Canada became an independent dominion. Since then, Kingston has lost status compared to Toronto, Montreal and newer cities in the west. However, it still remains significant in eastern Ontario and continues to prosper beyond the dreams of any of its original Loyalist settlers.