Johnny Ussher

John Tannatt Ussher (1830-1879) was a settler, provincial magistrate and Gold Commissioner in the Thompson Country of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada in the 1870s.

Ussher, whose duties as Gold Commissioner included the roles of constable and jailer as well as magistrate and who had previously demurred on arresting the McLeans, as attempts to hold them in the flimsy jail in Kamloops would prove futile, rode out with John McLeod, with Amni Shumway as guide, and rancher William Palmer, whose prize stallion the McLeans had stolen.

Fleeing the consequences of Ussher's killing, the McLeans sought refuge with the Nicola people and made a speech to their chief Chilliheetza, son of the famous Chief Nicola, trying to enlist their support in a revived version of the abortive uprising planned by the Interior First Nations peoples in 1874.

Chilliheetza refused, knowing that the boys' motivation was not political but caused by drink, and chastised them for their shameful behaviour.

They were, after a second trial had to be held because of technicalities, hanged for the murder of Johnny Ussher and sheepherder James Kelly on January 31, 1881.