Daguerreotype portrait of John A. Macdonald cased in a gold locket

Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1968-086 / PA-121571
This is a daguerreotype portrait of John A. Macdonald cased in a gold locket which was possibly carried by Macdonald himself. The locket also contains portraits of his first wife Isabella and his son Hugh John, both copied from oil paintings. When this portrait was made, John Alexander Macdonald was the newly elected member for Kingston in the Legislative Assembly of Canada (Ontario and Quebec), just beginning a distinguished 47-year political career during which he would become the first prime minister of Canada in 1867.