Elmes Yelverton Steele

Elmes Yelverton Steele (February 6, 1781 – August 6, 1865) was a British naval officer, and militia officer, farmer and political figure in Canada West, Province of Canada. The father of a large family, one of his sons was Sam Steele, an officer in the early days of the North-West Mounted Police.

Early life and naval career He was born in Coleford, Gloucestershire, England in 1781. He was the son of Elmes Steel (d.1824), surgeon of Coleford, and Mary Benfield (1749–1831). He was one of ten children. Two of his brothers served as officers in the Royal Navy and three as officers in the British Army. His uncle, Colonel Samuel Steele, served in Quebec under Lord Amherst.

Like two of his brothers, he joined the Royal Navy as an officer cadet in 1798 and served during the Napoleonic Wars rising to the rank of Lieutenant. He retired from the navy in 1812 on half-pay. He settled in France, but returned to England at the start of the French Revolution of 1830.

Upper Canada In 1832, Steele and his son John emigrated to Upper Canada, where as a British officer, Steele was entitled to a land grant. He settled on a large farm, 1,000 acres in size, in Medonte Township, north of Lake Simcoe. The rest of his family joined him the next year. In 1833, he was named a justice of the peace.

Legislative Assembly

Once in the Legislative Assembly, Steele was a moderate Reformer with an independent streak. In the first session, held in the fall of 1841, he voted in favour of the union of the two Canadas, and was a consistent supporter of the Governor General, Lord Sydenham, often on the other side of issues from the ultra-Reformers led by Robert Baldwin. However, in subsequent sessions, he tended to vote with Baldwin, particularly on the issue of responsible government. During his term in office, he successfully lobbied for improvements on the road connecting Orillia and Toronto. He also lobbied for improvements to military pensions.

Steele did not stand for re-election in the general election of 1844. The expenses of the 1841 election had a significant impact on his personal finances, and some of his former supporters felt that he had not been a strong enough voter in favour of reform, in light of his early support for Lord Sydenham.

Later life and family Steele had accepted retirement from the Royal Navy in 1838, with the rank of Commander, after forty years on the rolls. He continued to serve in the local militia, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He retired from politics, concentrating his energies on local matters, his work as a justice of the peace, and the local Anglican church, which he had endowed.

Steele was married twice. His first marriage, in 1809, was to Elizabeth Seeley Coucher. They had six children. His second marriage, in 1847, was to Anne MacIan Macdonald. They also had six children, one of whom was Major-General Sir Samuel Steele, one of the first members of the North-West Mounted Police, and later a commander of Lord Strathcona's Horse in the Second Boer War.

Steele died in Medonte Township in 1865, aged 84.