Joseph Willcocks

Joseph Willcocks

 Joseph Willcocks, officeholder, journalist, politician, army officer (b at Palmerston, Ire 1773; d at Ft Erie, Upper Canada 4 Sept 1814). A keen observer of Irish and local politics, Willcocks initially eschewed participation in UC in favour of a "genteel income" as an office holder. In 1807 he was removed from office by reason of "general and notorious bad conduct," whereupon he established the Upper Canada Guardian; or, Freeman's Journal (Niagara-on-the-Lake). Elected to the Assembly in 1807, 1808 and 1812, and leader of the coalition of interests that formed the Opposition, he was an 18th-century Whig, concerned to "check the progress of inordinate power, and keep alive the sacred flame of a just and rational liberty." Motivated more by political principle than self-interest, Willcocks, after a period of active loyalty during the WAR OF 1812, joined the Americans in 1813, raising the Company of Canadian Volunteers "to assist in changing the government of this province into a Republic." He was killed in action.