A portrait of Brantford’s first mayor has returned home.
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Ian Muirhead, of Vancouver, delivered the oil painting of his great, great grandfather William to Mayor Kevin Davis at a June 25 ceremony.
“I’ve been looking at this portrait since I was about 10,” Muirhead said. “I don’t know how this portrait ended up in Vancouver but I know it has been part of the family for decades.
“I thought it was time for him to come back to Brantford.”
After checking with his siblings, Muirhead reached out to Davis and made arrangements to bring the portrait and his great grandfather’s musket to Brantford during a June visit.
Born in Niagara in 1802, Muirhead settled in Brantford in 1825. He established the first Bank of Montreal in Brantford in the 1830s and was one of seven councillors representing seven wards in Brantford which, at the time, was a town.
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Muirhead was elected mayor in 1847, served one term and did not run for re-election in 1848. He was responsible for the first town hall at Market and Dalhousie streets, now the SC Johnson-Laurier Brantford building.
“It is with a great deal of pride that we today honor our first mayor,” Davis said at the start of the June 25 council meeting. “He was a visionary and a leader and pioneer whose contributions left an indelible mark on Brantford.”
In addition to his political contributions, Muirhead was instrumental in the city’s economic development. As a banker, Muirhead played a pivotal role in financing some of the then town’s earliest businesses.
Muirhead will be inducted into the city’s Wall of Recognition and the portrait and musket will be part of an exhibit in city hall.
The city’s Wall of Recognition honours the contributions of former members of city council who, during the course of their careers, demonstrated exemplary service to municipal issues.
Davis thanked Ian Muirhead and his wife Trish for their generous donation.
“We’re just grateful that my great, great grandfather’s portrait will be in such great care, for years and years to come,” Muirhead said.
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