1.
Robert Harris (painter)
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Robert Harris CMG was a Welsh-born Canadian painter most noted for his portrait of the Fathers of Confederation. Born in Caerhun, Conwy, Wales, he came to Prince Edward Island via Liverpool with his family as a youth and he later studied art in Boston, Londons Slade School of Art, in Paris under Léon Bonnat, and in Rome. He traveled extensively, finally settling in Montreal and his commission to paint the Fathers of Confederation came early in his career and it established his reputation as a portrait artist. He was later commissioned by publications of the day to create portraits of notable personalities. For example, he made portraits of those accused of murdering the Donnelleys for the Toronto Globe and he was a founding member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and elected president of the RCA in 1893. An important collection of his works is housed at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown and he was married but had no children. He was the brother of the architect William Critchlow Harris and took an active interest in the artwork of his cousin Kathleen Morris, Moncrieff Williamson, Robert Harris, An Unconventional Biography, Toronto, McClelland & Stewart,1973. Robert Harris - Confederation Painter Pictures in the National Gallery of Canada Article by Moncrieff Williamson
Robert Harris (painter)
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Self-portrait (1908)
Robert Harris (painter)
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1885 photo of Harris' 1884 painting, Conference at Québec in 1864, to settle the basics of a union of the British North American Provinces, also known as The Fathers of Confederation. The original painting was destroyed when the
Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings was consumed by fire in 1916.
Robert Harris (painter)
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A Meeting of the School Trustees (1885,
National Gallery of Canada
2.
Charlottetown Conference
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The Charlottetown Conference was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from the colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation. The conference took place between September 1 through 9,1864, the conference was originally planned as a meeting of representatives from the Maritime colonies, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland agreed with the movement, but was not notified in time to part in the proceedings. In August 1864 Newfoundland also asked to be allowed to join the conference, coincidentally there was a circus in Charlottetown during the conference, and it was much more interesting to the majority of the population. The Canadian delegates stayed each night on board the SS Queen Victoria, as circus-goers, the conference began on Thursday September 1 with a banquet for the delegates. Parties and banquets were held each night after the discussions had ended, except for Sunday September 4. The representatives from the Province of Canada dominated the conference, overshadowing the concerns of the Maritimes, four of the first five days were spent outlining the Canadian position, and the Maritime representatives did not discuss their own plans until September 6 and 7. One Canadian delegate, George Brown, spent two days discussing the details of the constitution, which would keep Canada within the British Empire. The delegates also believed that union could be achieved within a few years, the conference concluded on Wednesday September 7, but the representatives agreed to meet again the next month in Quebec City. A ball was held on September 8, after which the delegates returned home. Hewitt Bernard was the secretary at the conference, at the request of John A. Macdonald. The Road to Confederation, The Emergence of Canada, 1863-1867,1867, How the Fathers Made a Deal. The Critical Years, the Union of British North America, 1857-1873, the Life and Times of Confederation, 1864–1867, Politics, Newspapers, and the Union of British North America. Charlottetown Conference of 1864 Canadian Confederation, a museum exhibition at Library
Charlottetown Conference
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Delegates of the Charlottetown Conference on the steps of
Government House.
Charlottetown Conference
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Province House, Charlottetown
3.
Quebec Conference, 1864
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The Quebec Conference was the second meeting held in 1864 to discuss Canadian Confederation. The 32 delegates from the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, newfoundland also sent two observers, but did not participate directly in the proceedings. British Columbia did not participate in the conference, the conference began on October 12. It lasted for two weeks. The major source of conflict at the conference was between those who favoured a union, i. e. a unitary state, such as John A. Macdonald. Representatives from the Maritimes and Canada East tended to argue for provincial rights, Macdonald thought the failure of a weak central power was evident in the American Civil War, which was still being fought in the United States as the delegates met in Charlottetown and Quebec. The delegates eventually compromised, dividing powers between a general parliament and local provincial legislatures, the Prince Edward Island delegation called for a scheme similar to the Triple-E Senate proposal of the 1990s. Eventually, a structure for the government was written out in the form of the seventy-two resolutions at the end of the conference. The conference ended on October 27, and the returned to their provinces to submit the Seventy-Two Resolutions to the provincial legislatures. Albert James Smith led the opposition to Confederation in New Brunswick, while Joseph Howe led the opposition in Nova Scotia, only Prince Edward Island rejected the resolutions. Hewitt Bernard was the secretary at the conference at the request of John A. Macdonald
Quebec Conference, 1864
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Delegates of the convention
4.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
England
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Stonehenge, a
Neolithic monument
England
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Flag
England
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Boudica led an uprising against the
Roman Empire
England
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Replica of a 7th-century ceremonial
helmet from the
Kingdom of East Anglia, found at
Sutton Hoo
5.
Canadian Confederation
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Canadian Confederation was the process by which the British colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united into one Dominion of Canada on July 1,1867. Upon confederation, the old province of Canada was divided into Ontario and Quebec, along with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, over the years since Confederation, Canada has seen numerous territorial changes and expansions, resulting in the current configuration of ten provinces and three territories. Canada is a federation and not an association of sovereign states. It is nevertheless considered to be among the worlds more decentralized federations. To contemporaries of Confederation the con- prefix indicated a strengthening of the centrist principle compared to the American federation, the term is now often used to describe Canada in an abstract way, such as in the Fathers of Confederation. Provinces and territories became part of Canada after 1867 are also said to have joined, or entered into. The term is used to divide Canadian history into pre-Confederation and post-Confederation periods. All the former colonies and territories that became involved in the Canadian Confederation on July 1,1867, were part of New France. Nova Scotia was granted in 1621 to Sir William Alexander under charter by James VI, the British acquired present-day mainland Nova Scotia by the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 and the Acadian population was expelled by the British in 1755. They called Acadia Nova Scotia, which included present-day New Brunswick, the rest of New France was acquired by the British by the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Seven Years War. From 1763 to 1791, most of New France became the Province of Quebec, however, in 1769 the present-day Prince Edward Island, which had been part of Acadia, was renamed St Johns Island and organized as a separate colony. It was renamed Prince Edward Island in 1798 in honour of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the first English attempt at settlement had been in Newfoundland, which would not join the Confederation until 1949. The Society of Merchant Venturers of Bristol began to settle Newfoundland and Labrador at Cupers Cove as far back as 1610, in the wake of the American Revolution, an estimated 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled to British North America. The British created the colony of New Brunswick in 1784 for the Loyalists who settled in the western part of Nova Scotia. The War of 1812 and Treaty of 1818 established the 49th parallel as the border with the United States from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains in Western Canada. As a result of Durhams report, the British Parliament passed the Act of Union 1840, the new province was divided into two parts, Canada West and Canada East. Governor General Lord Elgin granted ministerial responsibility in 1848, first to Nova Scotia, in the following years, the British would extend responsible government to Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. The area which constitutes modern-day British Columbia is the remnants of the Hudsons Bay Companys Columbia District and New Caledonia District following the Oregon Treaty
Canadian Confederation
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1885 photo of
Robert Harris ' 1884 painting, Conference at Quebec in 1864, to settle the basics of a union of the British North American Provinces, also known as The Fathers of Confederation. The original painting was destroyed in the 1916 Parliament Buildings Centre Block fire. The scene is an amalgamation of the
Charlottetown and
Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
Canadian Confederation
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Hon George-Étienne Cartier
Canadian Confederation
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Map of the Eastern British Provinces in North America at the time of Canadian Confederation, 1867.
Canadian Confederation
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Delegates of the
Charlottetown Conference on the steps of
Government House, September 1864.
6.
Queen Victoria
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Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
Queen Victoria
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Victoria wearing her
small diamond crown Photograph by
Alexander Bassano, 1882
Queen Victoria
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Victoria, aged four Painting by
Stephen Poyntz Denning, 1823
Queen Victoria
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Victoria with her spaniel Dash, 1833 Painting by
George Hayter
Queen Victoria
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Self-portrait, 1835
7.
Victoria Day
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Victoria Day is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday preceding May 25, in honour of Queen Victorias birthday. As such, it is the Monday between the 18th to the 24th inclusive, and thus is always the penultimate Monday of May, the date is simultaneously that on which the current Canadian sovereigns official birthday is recognized. It is sometimes considered the beginning of the summer season in Canada. The holiday has been observed in Canada since at least 1845 and it continues to be celebrated in various fashions across the country, the holiday has always been a distinctly Canadian observance. Victoria Day is a statutory holiday, as well as a holiday in six of Canadas ten provinces. In Quebec, before 2003, the Monday preceding 25 May of each year was unofficially the Fête de Dollard, in 2003, provincial legislation officially created National Patriots Day on the same date. It was noted that on that date in 1854, the 35th birthday of Queen Victoria, over the ensuing decades, the official date in Canada of the reigning sovereigns birthday changed through various royal proclamations until the haphazard format was abandoned in 1952. The following year, Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day and in 1977 it was moved to the second Monday in March, Victoria Day celebrations were marred by tragedy twice, In 1881, the passenger ferry Victoria overturned in the Thames River, near London, Ontario. The event came to be known as the Victoria Day disaster, in 2013, a group of prominent Canadian actors, authors, and politicians sent a petition to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, requesting that the holiday be renamed Victoria and First Peoples Day. Most workplaces in Canada are regulated by the provincial or territorial government, therefore, although Victoria Day is a statutory holiday for federal purposes, whether an employee is entitled to a paid day off generally depends on the province or territory of residence. In Nunavut and New Brunswick, the date is set as a holiday to mark the reigning sovereigns official birthday. This replaced the Fête de Dollard, which had been celebrated by Quebecers on Victoria Day since the 1960s, Canada is the only country that commemorates Queen Victoria with an official holiday. Several cities hold a parade on the holiday, with the most prominent being that which has taken place since 1898 in the namesake city of Victoria. Other celebrations include a fireworks show, such as that held at Ashbridges Bay Beach in the east end of Toronto. Across the country, Victoria Day serves as the marker of the end of the winter social season. Victoria Day is also a mark of the beginning of the cottage season, gardeners in Canada will similarly regard Victoria Day as the beginning of spring, as it falls at a time when one can be fairly certain that frost will not return until the next autumn. There is also a change in fashion, lighter-coloured summer clothing was worn from Victoria Day through until Labour Day. The holiday weekend may also be known as May Long or May Run, a traditional, short song about Victoria Day went as follows, The twenty-fourth of May / Is the Queens birthday, / If they dont give us a holiday / Well all run away
Victoria Day
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A portrait in
Ottawa City Hall of
Queen Victoria,
first sovereign of a
confederated Canada
Victoria Day
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Victoria Day, 1854; crowds gather outside
Government House in
Toronto,
Canada West (now
Ontario)
Victoria Day
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Victoria Day 2010 fireworks display from
Ontario Place,
Toronto
Victoria Day
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Turkish Canadians march in the 2007 Victoria Day parade in
Victoria, British Columbia
8.
Louis Riel
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Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, Riel sought to preserve Métis rights and culture as their homelands in the Northwest came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence. Over the decades, he has made a folk hero by the Francophones, the Catholic nationalists, the native rights movement. Riel has received scholarly attention than practically any other figure in Canadian history. His first resistance was the Red River Rebellion of 1869–1870, the provisional government established by Riel ultimately negotiated the terms under which the modern province of Manitoba entered the Canadian Confederation. Riel ordered the execution of Thomas Scott, and fled to the United States to escape prosecution, despite this, he is frequently referred to as the Father of Manitoba. While a fugitive, he was elected three times to the Canadian House of Commons, although he never assumed his seat, because of this new religious conviction, Catholic leaders who had supported him before increasingly repudiated him. He married in 1881 while in exile in Montana in the United States, in 1884 Riel was called upon by the Métis leaders in Saskatchewan to articulate their grievances to the Canadian government. Instead he organized a resistance that escalated into a military confrontation. Ottawa used the new lines to send in thousands of combat soldiers. It ended in his arrest and conviction for high treason, rejecting many protests and popular appeals, Prime Minister MacDonald decided to hang him. Riel was seen as a victim by francophone Canadians, his execution had a lasting negative impact on Canada. An even more important long-term impact was the bitter alienation Francophones across Canada showed and he is increasingly celebrated as a proponent of multiculturalism, although that downplays his primary commitment to Métis nationalism and political independence. Louis Riel was born there in 1844, near modern Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Louis Riel, Sr. Riel was the eldest of eleven children in a locally well-respected family. Sayers eventual release due to agitations by Louis Sr. s group effectively ended the monopoly, and his mother was the daughter of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury, one of the earliest white families to settle in the Red River Settlement in 1812. The Riels were noted for their devout Catholicism and strong family ties, Riel was first educated by Roman Catholic priests at St. Boniface. At age 13 he came to the attention of Alexandre Taché, the Suffragan Bishop of St. Boniface, in 1858 Taché arranged for Riel to attend the Petit Séminaire of the Collège de Montréal, under the direction of the Sulpician order. Descriptions of him at the time indicate that he was a scholar of languages, science, and philosophy
Louis Riel
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Louis Riel
Louis Riel
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The Métis provisional government
Louis Riel
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The execution of Thomas Scott
Louis Riel
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Louis Riel circa 1875
9.
Manitoba
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Manitoba is a province at the longitudinal centre of Canada. It is one of the three provinces and Canadas fifth-most populous province with its estimated 1.3 million people. Manitoba covers 649,950 square kilometres with a varied landscape. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited what is now Manitoba for thousands of years, in the late 17th century, fur traders arrived in the area when it was part of Ruperts Land and owned by the Hudsons Bay Company. In 1869, negotiations for the creation of the province of Manitoba led to an uprising of the Métis people against the Government of Canada. The rebellions resolution led to the Parliament of Canada passing the Manitoba Act in 1870 that created the province, Manitobas capital and largest city, Winnipeg, is Canadas eighth-largest census metropolitan area. Winnipeg is the seat of government, home to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, four of the provinces five universities and all four of its professional sports teams are in Winnipeg. The name Manitoba is believed to be derived from the Cree, the name derives from Cree manitou-wapow or Ojibwa manidoobaa, both meaning straits of Manitou, the Great Spirit, a place referring to what are now called The Narrows in the centre of Lake Manitoba. It may also be from the Assiniboine for Lake of the Prairie, the lake was known to French explorers as Lac des Prairies. Thomas Spence chose the name to refer to a new republic he proposed for the south of the lake. Métis leader Louis Riel also chose the name, and it was accepted in Ottawa under the Manitoba Act of 1870 and it adjoins Hudson Bay to the northeast, and is the only prairie province to have a saltwater coastline. The Port of Churchill is Canadas only Arctic deep-water port and the shortest shipping route between North America and Asia, Lake Winnipeg is the tenth-largest freshwater lake in the world. Hudson Bay is the worlds second-largest bay, Manitoba is at the heart of the giant Hudson Bay watershed, once known as Ruperts Land. It was a area of the Hudsons Bay Company, with many rivers. The province has a saltwater coastline bordering Hudson Bay and more than 110,000 lakes, Manitobas major lakes are Lake Manitoba, Lake Winnipegosis, and Lake Winnipeg, the tenth-largest freshwater lake in the world. Some traditional Native lands and boreal forest on Lake Winnipegs east side are a proposed UNESCO World Heritage Site. Manitoba is at the centre of the Hudson Bay drainage basin, with a volume of the water draining into Lake Winnipeg. This basins rivers reach far west to the mountains, far south into the United States, major watercourses include the Red, Assiniboine, Nelson, Winnipeg, Hayes, Whiteshell and Churchill rivers
Manitoba
Manitoba
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Deep Lake at Riding Mountain National Park.
Manitoba
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Polar bears are common in northern Manitoba
10.
Amor De Cosmos
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Amor De Cosmos was a Canadian journalist, publisher and politician. He served as the second Premier of British Columbia, Amor De Cosmos was born William Alexander Smith in Windsor, Nova Scotia to United Empire Loyalist parents. His education included a stint at Kings College in Windsor, following which, around 1840, he became a clerk in Halifax. There he joined the Dalhousie University debating club, and came under the influence of the Nova Scotia politician and reformer, in 1845, at the age of 20, he converted to Mormonism and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1852, he left for New York on a steam ship stopping first in Boston and he settled in Kanesville, known as Council Bluffs, Iowa, for two months where he established a daguerreotype gallery. But the following year the lure of the California Gold Rush beckoned, here he set up a new studio and prospered taking pictures of the miners and their operations. Joined by his brother, the pair moved northwest to Oroville, California, the name paid tribute, De Cosmos said, to what I love most. Love of order, beauty, the world, the universal, in 1858, De Cosmos and his brother moved on again, this time heading north to British North America as they wished to live under the British flag once again. They also sensed an opportunity in the city of Victoria. De Cosmos founded a newspaper, The Daily British Colonist, which survives today in its current incarnation as the Victoria Times-Colonist. De Cosmos decried the family-company compact of Hudsons Bay men and Douglas associates who controlled the political and social affairs of the colony and this group generally distrusted representative government, and believed in maintaining a hierarchical social order. De Cosmos was a liberal reformer cast in the mold of John Locke, however, true to the Victorian spirit of the age, De Cosmos was also a proponent of social progress through economic and population growth. As the child of American refugees, who had himself lived six years in the United States, from such policies, emerged the two great causes of his later career, the union of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, and the merged Colony of British Columbia’s entry into Confederation. Through the instrumental role De Cosmos played in realizing these two goals, he earned for himself his reputation as British Columbias Father of Confederation. At the time of British Columbias entry into Confederation on July 20,1871 and that year, he was elected to represent Victoria in both the provincial legislature and the House of Commons. Despite his prominence — or perhaps because of it — Lieutenant Governor Sir Joseph Trutch passed over De Cosmos for the job of Premier, undoubtedly, De Cosmos reputation as an iconoclast and his infamously volatile temperament did not endear him to the establishment. McCreight resigned in 1872 on a motion of non-confidence, and on December 23,1872, De Cosmos populated his cabinet with reformers, mostly born in North America, many of whom would come to dominate provincial politics for a generation. His government pursued an agenda of reform, economic expansion
Amor De Cosmos
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Amor De Cosmos, September 1874
Amor De Cosmos
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Hon. Amor de Cosmos
11.
British Columbia
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British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, with a population of more than four million people located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion, along with the U. S. states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. The first British settlement in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, subsequently, on the mainland, the Colony of British Columbia was founded by Richard Clement Moody and the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Port Moody is named after him, in 1866, Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia, and Victoria became the united colonys capital. In 1871, British Columbia became the province of Canada. Its Latin motto is Splendor sine occasu, the capital of British Columbia remains Victoria, the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada, named for the Queen who created the original European colonies. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, in October 2013, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,606,371. British Columbia evolved from British possessions that were established in what is now British Columbia by 1871, First Nations, the original inhabitants of the land, have a history of at least 10,000 years in the area. Today there are few treaties and the question of Aboriginal Title, notably, the Tsilhqotin Nation has established Aboriginal title to a portion of their territory, as a result of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision. BCs economy is diverse, with service producing industries accounting for the largest portion of the provinces GDP and it is the endpoint of transcontinental railways, and the site of major Pacific ports that enable international trade. Though less than 5% of its vast 944,735 km2 land is arable and its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging, farming, and mining. Vancouver, the provinces largest city and metropolitan area, also serves as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies and it also benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the national average. The Northern Interior region has a climate with very cold winters. The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Canadian cities, the provinces name was chosen by Queen Victoria, when the Colony of British Columbia, i. e. the Mainland, became a British colony in 1858. The current southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, British Columbias land area is 944,735 square kilometres. British Columbias rugged coastline stretches for more than 27,000 kilometres and it is the only province in Canada that borders the Pacific Ocean. British Columbias capital is Victoria, located at the tip of Vancouver Island. Only a narrow strip of the Island, from Campbell River to Victoria, is significantly populated, much of the western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by thick, tall and sometimes impenetrable temperate rainforest
British Columbia
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Strait of Georgia, near
Vancouver.
British Columbia
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Flag
British Columbia
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The Okanagan region has a climate suitable to vineyards.
British Columbia
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Mount Robson,
Canadian Rockies, BC
12.
Newfoundland and Labrador
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Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province of Canada. Situated in the countrys Atlantic region, it comprises the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador to the northwest, in 2013, the provinces population was estimated at 526,702. About 92% of the population lives on the island of Newfoundland. The province is Canadas most linguistically homogeneous, with 97. 6% of residents reporting English as their mother tongue in the 2006 census, historically, Newfoundland was also home to unique varieties of French and Irish, as well as the extinct Beothuk language. In Labrador, local dialects of Innu-aimun and Inuktitut are also spoken, Newfoundland and Labradors capital and largest city, St. Johns, is Canadas 20th-largest census metropolitan area and is home to almost 40 percent of the provinces population. St. Johns is the seat of government, home to the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador and to the highest court in the jurisdiction and it became the tenth province to enter the Canadian Confederation on March 31,1949, as Newfoundland. On December 6,2001, an amendment was made to the Constitution of Canada to change the official name to Newfoundland. The name Newfoundland is a translation of the Portuguese Terra Nova, the influence of early Portuguese exploration is also reflected in the name of Labrador, which derives from the surname of the Portuguese navigator João Fernandes Lavrador. Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province in Canada, and is located at the corner of North America. The Strait of Belle Isle separates the province into two divisions, Labrador, which is a large area of mainland Canada, and Newfoundland. The province also includes over 7,000 tiny islands, each side is about 400 km long, and its area is 108,860 km2. Newfoundland and its small islands have a total area of 111,390 km2. Newfoundland extends between latitudes 46°36′N and 51°38′N, Labrador is an irregular shape, the western part of its border with Quebec is the drainage divide of the Labrador Peninsula. Lands drained by rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean are part of Labrador, most of Labradors southern boundary with Quebec follows the 52nd parallel of latitude. Labradors extreme northern tip, at 60°22′N, shares a border with Nunavut. Together, Newfoundland and Labrador make up 4. 06% of Canadas area, Labrador is the easternmost part of the Canadian Shield, a vast area of ancient metamorphic rock comprising much of northeastern North America. Colliding tectonic plates have shaped much of the geology of Newfoundland, gros Morne National Park has a reputation as an outstanding example of tectonics at work, and as such has been designated a World Heritage Site. The Long Range Mountains on Newfoundlands west coast are the northeasternmost extension of the Appalachian Mountains, the north-south extent of the province, prevalent westerly winds, cold ocean currents and local factors such as mountains and coastline combine to create the various climates of the province
Newfoundland and Labrador
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Churchill Falls in Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
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Flag
Newfoundland and Labrador
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The Beothuk tribe of Newfoundland is extinct. It is represented in museum, historical and archeological records.
Newfoundland and Labrador
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L'Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland, site of a
Norse colony
13.
Joey Smallwood
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Joseph Roberts Joey Smallwood, PC, CC was a politician from Newfoundland, Canada. He was the force that brought the Dominion of Newfoundland into the Canadian confederation in 1949, becoming the first Premier of Newfoundland. As premier, he vigorously promoted economic development, championed the welfare state, Smallwood abandoned his youthful socialism and collaborated with bankers, turning against the militant unions that sponsored numerous strikes. The results of his efforts to promote industrialization were mixed, with the most favourable results in hydroelectricity, iron mining, never shy, he dubbed himself the last Father of Confederation. Joey Smallwood was born at Mint Brook, near Gambo, Newfoundland, to Charles and his grandfather, David Smallwood, was a well-known maker of boots in St. Johns. Growing up in St. Johns, as a teenager Joey Smallwood worked as an apprentice at a newspaper, in New York he worked for the socialist newspaper The Call. Joey Smallwood returned to Newfoundland in 1925, where he soon met, in 1925 he founded a newspaper of his own in Corner Brook. In 1928, he acted as manager for the Prime Minister of the Dominion of Newfoundland. He also ran as a Liberal candidate in Bonavista in 1932, during the Great Depression, he worked for various newspapers and edited a two-volume collection titled The Book of Newfoundland. He also hosted a program, The Barrelman, beginning in 1937 that promoted pride in Newfoundlands history. He left the Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland in 1943 to operate a pig farm at the Newfoundland Airport at Gander, as soon as prosperity returned in 1942, agitation began to end the Commission. Newfoundland, with a population of 313,000, seemed too small to be independent, Smallwood at this point was a well-known radio personality, writer and organizer, he was a nationalist who long had criticized British rule. In 1945, London announced that a National Convention would be elected in Newfoundland to advise on what choices should to be voted on by referendum. Union with the United States was a possibility, but London rejected the option, Canada issued an invitation to join it on generous financial terms. Smallwood supported joining Canada, arguing that union with Canada would bring prosperity and his skills as a radio broadcaster served him well, he was able to use the proceedings of the Convention, which were broadcast over the radio, to publicise the benefits of union with Canada. He founded and led the Confederate Association that supported the Confederation option in the Convention during the 1948 Newfoundland referendums, displaying a mastery of propaganda technique, courage and ruthlessness, he succeeded in having the Canada option on the ballot. His main opponents were Peter Cashin and Chesley Crosbie, Cashin, a former finance minister, led the Responsible Government League, warning against cheap Canadian imports and the high Canadian income tax. Smallwood carried his cause in a referendum and a runoff in June and July 1948 as the decision to join Canada carried 77,869, as against 71,464
Joey Smallwood
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The Honourable Joey Smallwood
PC CC
Joey Smallwood
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Members of the National Convention.
Joey Smallwood
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Bradley, King and Smallwood, at the Liberal party convention of 1948.
Joey Smallwood
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A bust of Joey Smallwood on display at
Memorial University of Newfoundland.
14.
Adams George Archibald
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Sir Adams George Archibald KCMG PC QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician, and a Father of Confederation. He was based in Nova Scotia for most of his career, Archibald was born in Truro to a prominent family in Nova Scotian politics. He was the son of Samuel Archibald, and grandson of James Archibald, judge of the court of common pleas and he was also related to Samuel G. W. Archibald, who had served as the provinces Attorney General from 1830 to 1841. Sir Adams Archibald studied science and medicine for a few years, subsequently articled in law and he held a number of local offices over the next decade, and was appointed a probate judge in 1848. Archibald was elected to the Nova Scotia legislature in 1851 as a supporter of Joseph Howes governing Reformers, once in the legislature, Archibald frequently took positions that were opposed by other members of the Liberal caucus. He supported elected municipal governments, for instance, and was a proponent of taxation for a state-run school system. Archibald also supported reciprocity with the United States, and opposed any efforts to expand the electoral franchise. Archibald was re-elected in 1855, and was appointed Solicitor General of Nova Scotia on August 14,1856, Archibald was forced to resign his position on February 21,1857. In the provincial election of 1859, Howes Liberals were returned to office on a platform of defending Protestant interests and this was essentially a cynical appeal to popular prejudice, and no significant actions were taken against the provinces Catholics following the election. Archibald did not run, but was nevertheless appointed Attorney General in Howes government on February 10,1860 and he returned to parliament following a by-election victory on March 8,1860. In his new capacity, Archibald was a proponent of provincial railway development. In December 1862, Premier Howe was appointed Imperial Fisheries Commissioner by the British government, Archibald succeeded him as Liberal leader, although Howe continued to serve as Premier until the next election was called. In early 1863, Howes outgoing ministry passed a bill which re-introduced property qualifications for voters, the bill did not become law before the provincial election of May 1863, however, and it was largely due to the bills unpopularity that Archibalds Liberals were dealt a crushing defeat. The party won only 14 seats out of 55, though Archibald was personally re-elected in Colchester South, despite serving as leader of the opposition from 1863 to 1867, Archibald frequently sided with the Conservative ministry against his own caucus on important legislative initiatives. He supported the tax plan put forward by Charles Tuppers government. Archibald was later the Nova Scotia Liberal Partys representative to the first conference on Canadian Confederation, held at Charlottetown, following the conference, he was the only member of the Liberal caucus to support Nova Scotias entry into confederation. Archibald faced a challenge from anti-confederate William Annand in 1866. When Nova Scotia joined the new nation of Canada on July 1,1867, the Confederation Party suffered a massive defeat, and Archibald was defeated by Archibald McLelan in the riding of Colchester
Adams George Archibald
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The Honourable Sir Adams George Archibald
PC KCMG QC LL.D.
Adams George Archibald
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Mrs Elizabeth Alice Jones (née Archibald) by Parsons, St. John's, Nfld
15.
George Brown (Canadian politician)
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George Brown was a Scottish-born Canadian journalist, politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation, attended the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences. A noted Reform politician, he is best known as the founder and editor of the Toronto Globe and he was an articulate champion of the grievances and anger of Upper Canada. He played a role in securing national unity. George Brown was born in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, on November 29,1818 and his father, an evangelical Presbyterian, was committed to civil and religious liberty, progress, and laissez-faire economics. He was an enemy of Tory aristocratic privilege, and provided an education for his son. The family emigrated to New York in 1837, and began publishing newspapers, Brown discovered he appreciated British parliamentarianism more than American republicanism. He visited Canada several times and was invited to move there in 1843 by Presbyterians and he began the Toronto Banner in 1843, It was a Presbyterian weekly supporting Free Kirk principles and political reform. Browns father raised the money and founded a newspaper, The Globe in 1844. Filled with strong editorials on religious and political affairs, The Globe quickly became the leading Reform newspaper in the Province of Canada. In 1848, he was appointed to head a Royal Commission to examine accusations of misconduct in Provincial Penitentiary of the Province of Upper Canada at Kingston. The Brown Report, which Brown drafted early in 1849, included sufficient evidence of abuse to set in motion the termination of warden Henry Smith. Browns revelations of poor conditions at the Kingston penitentiary were heavily criticized by John A. Macdonald, Brown attacked slavery in the United States and in 1850, helped found the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada. This society was founded to end the practice of slavery in North America, as a result, black Canadians enthusiastically supported Browns political ambitions. He vehemently ridiculed and denounced the Catholic Church, Jesuits, priests, nunneries and his newspaper promoted the strident speeches of ex-Catholic priests Alessandro Gavazzi, which incited mob violence in 1853 with nine dead in Montreal. Brown was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1851 and he reorganized the Clear Grit Party in 1857, supporting, among other things, the separation of church and state, the annexation of Ruperts Land, and a small government. But the most important issue for George Brown was representation by population, from the Act of Union in 1840, the Canadian colonial legislature had been composed of an equal number of members from Canada East and Canada West. But during the 1840s and 1850s, as the population of Upper Canada grew larger than the Canadien population of Lower Canada, Brown believed that the larger population deserved to have more representatives, rather than an equal number from Upper and Lower Canada. After Alexander Galt declined the opportunity, George Brown attempted to form a ministry with Antoine-Aimé Dorion, at the time, newly appointed ministers had to resign their seats and run in by-elections
George Brown (Canadian politician)
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The Honourable George Brown
George Brown (Canadian politician)
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Statue on
Parliament Hill,
Ottawa
George Brown (Canadian politician)
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Monument to George Brown at Queen's Park, Toronto, Canada, circa 1910
George Brown (Canadian politician)
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Shooting of George Brown, Toronto
16.
Alexander Campbell (Canadian politician)
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Sir Alexander Campbell KCMG PC QC was an English-born, Upper Canadian statesman and politician, and a father of Canadian Confederation. Born in Hedon, Yorkshire, he was brought to Canada by his father, who was a doctor and he was educated in French at St. Hyacinthe in Quebec and in the grammar school at Kingston, Ontario. Campbell studied law and was called to the bar in 1843 and he became a partner in John A. Macdonalds law office. He was elected to the Legislative Council in 1858 and 1864 and he attended the Charlottetown Conference and the Quebec City Conference in 1864, and at Confederation was appointed to the Canadian Senate. He later held a number of posts in the Cabinet of Sir John A. Macdonald and was the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1887 to 1892. He died in office in Toronto in 1892, and was buried at Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston, in 1883, he built his home on Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, now known as Campbell House. Campbell Crescent in Kingston, a street in the Portsmouth municipal district, is named in his honour, in 1855, Campbell married Georgina Frederica Locke, daughter of Thomas Sandwith of Beverley, Yorkshire, and a niece of Humphrey Sandwith III of Bridlington. He left two sons and three daughters
Alexander Campbell (Canadian politician)
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The Honourable Sir Alexander Campbell
Alexander Campbell (Canadian politician)
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Campbell House, 236 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa
17.
Frederick Carter
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Sir Frederick Bowker Terrington Carter, KCMG was a lawyer and Premier of Newfoundland from 1865 to 1870. He was son of Peter Weston Carter and great-grandson of Robert Carter, in 1855, he was elected to the House of Assembly as a Conservative and was Speaker from 1861 to 1865. In 1865 he succeeded Sir Hugh Hoyles as Premier, Carter was a supporter of Canadian confederation having been a delegate to the 1864 Quebec conference. However, the Conservatives were defeated on the Confederation issue in the November 1869 election by the Anti-Confederation Party led by Charles Fox Bennett, even though Newfoundland did not join the confederation until 1949, Carter is considered one of the Fathers of Confederation. Carter became Premier a second time in 1874 but had dropped the issue of joining Canada, in 1880 Carter was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland, succeeding Sir Hugh Hoyles, and served in the post until 1898. During his term as Chief Justice, Carter was an advisor for the Colonial Governors of Newfoundland. In Halpenny, Francess G. Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Frederick Carter
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Frederick Carter
18.
Edward Barron Chandler
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Edward Barron Chandler was a New Brunswick politician and lawyer from a United Empire Loyalist family. He was one of the Fathers of Confederation, Chandler was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia and moved to New Brunswick to study law. He moved to Dorchester, New Brunswick and served in the colonys government, in 1836 Chandler became a member of New Brunswicks Legislative Council. Later, Chandler was a New Brunswick delegate to the conferences in London, Charlottetown, though he supported the federal Conservatives of Sir John A. Macdonald he was a cautious supporter who opposed a strong central government. He also supported the policy of reciprocity with the United States and he refused an appointment to the Canadian Senate but accepted an appointment as the fifth Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick in 1878. He died in Fredericton in 1880, chandlers home in Dorchester, Chandler House or Rocklyn, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1971. List of New Brunswick lieutenant-governors Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Edward Barron Chandler
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Edward Barron Chandler
19.
Jean-Charles Chapais
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Chapais was born in Rivière-Ouelle, a small town in Kamouraska, Quebec, and was educated in Nicolet. Following his success as a farmer and merchant, in 1845 he became the first mayor of Saint-Denis-de-la-Bouteillerie, the following year, he married Georgina Dionne, they had six children together. At the prompting of his father-in-law, Chapais entered regional politics, in 1851, he was elected for the first time to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, he was eventually to serve a total of five terms representing Kamouraska. A bleu, he was a supporter of Augustin-Norbert Morin, Étienne-Paschal Taché and he worked to abolish the system of seigneurial tenure in Quebec and reform agricultural legislation. Chapais was Commissioner of Public Works in the Great Coalition of 1864–1867, in 1867 the British North America Act was passed, creating the Dominion of Canada, and Chapais became the first Minister of Agriculture. At this time, he switched to representing Champlain in the Quebec legislature. On 30 January 1868, Jean-Charles Chapais entered the Senate of Canada, after less than three years, he was replaced by Christopher Dunkin, which he greatly resented. His new position of Receiver General for Canada was significantly less prestigious and powerful, Chapais resigned in 1873, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family and business. He is buried in Saint-Denis-De La Bouteillerie, Quebec, Chapais house in Saint-Denis-De La Bouteillerie was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1962. Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours, Jean-Charles Chapais – Parliament of Canada biography Biography Libraries and Collections Canada Biography from the Ministry of Agriculture
Jean-Charles Chapais
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Jean-Charles Chapais as Receiver-General, in 1870
20.
James Cockburn (politician)
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James W. Cockburn, QC was a Canadian Conservative politician, and a father of Canadian Confederation. He was born in Berwick-Upon-Tweed on the English–Scottish border and immigrated to Canada with his father, James Cockburn Snr. mother, Sarah Turnbull and brother, Adam, after attending Upper Canada College and Osgoode Hall, he established a law practice in Cobourg, Ontario. In the 1850s, Cockburn was elected to the town council, in 1861, he was elected to the Province of Canadas legislative assembly as a Reformer representing Northumberland West. Despite elected as an opponent of the Macdonald - Cartier administration, Cockburn switched allegiances, Cockburn attended the Quebec Conference of 1864 as a supporter of Confederation. After Confederation, he was elected to the new Canadian House of Commons in the countrys first election and he was nominated by Sir John A. Macdonald to be Canadas first Speaker of the House of Commons, a position in which he served from 1867 to 1874. His performance as Speaker was hindered by the fact that he spoke no French in a chamber in which both English and French were official languages. In 1872, Cockburn was nominated for a term as Speaker despite reservations by the Opposition that he had been too favourable to the government in his rulings. Cockburn lost his seat in the 1874 election that had been precipitated by the Pacific Scandal, Cockburn won back his former seat in the 1878 election but did not take an active role in Parliament. He resigned in 1881 when he was appointed to collect and classify Canadian statutes and he was still working on this assignment when his death occurred on August 14,1883. His cause of death is unknown and he married Isabella Susan Patterson in 1854 and they had three children, Sarah Isabella Cockburn, Francis Cockburn and May Cockburn. He is buried in St. James Cemetery, in Toronto, James Cockburn – Parliament of Canada biography Gravestone, St. James Cemetery, Toronto
James Cockburn (politician)
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James Cockburn
21.
George Coles (politician)
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George Coles was a Canadian politician, being the first Premier of Prince Edward Island, and a Father of Canadian Confederation. Coles was born in Queens Royalty, Prince Edward Island, the son of James Coles, a farmer, although he had little formal education he became a farmer and a businessman at an early age. He travelled to England at age 18, there he learned about the brewing industry. While in England he married Mercy Haine on August 14,1833 and he soon became a prosperous brewer and merchant. He first entered politics in 1841 representing the New London-DeSable district in the Assembly, Coles was always a colourful political figure. He is said to have duelled with Edward Palmer and to have challenged James C. Pope to a duel as well. As a member of the government in 1846, he spent 31 days in the custody of the sergeant-at-arms for refusing to retract a statement made in the assembly. He was convicted of assault in the 1850s, Coles, with Edward Whelan, the editor of the Examiner, was the leader in the struggle for responsible government. When Responsible Government was granted in 1851 Coles became the Islands first Premier, with the exception of a few months in 1854, Coles remained as Premier until 1859 when his party was defeated. Coles once again served as Premier from 1867 to 1869 but failing health necessitated his turning the government over to Joseph Hensley and his administration embarked on a number of significant reforms the most important being the Free Education Act and the Land Purchase Act. The former provided better opportunities than in any of the other colonies. Despite being a supporter of union he turned against Confederation when it became apparent that the project would not solve the land tenure question. Just before Confederation all his properties burned down and he abandoned his public life and went into seclusion. For a time he was thought to be insane and was placed under care by his family, Coles died in 1875 at his home in Charlottetown Royalty
George Coles (politician)
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George Coles
22.
Robert B. Dickey
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Born in Amherst, the son of Robert McGowan Dickey and Eleanor Chapman, he was educated at Windsor Academy and later studied law with Alexander Stewart. He was called to the Nova Scotia bar in 1834, and he was made a Queens Counsel in 1863. He served as judge and registrar of probate in Cumberland County for 20 years. In 1844, he married Mary Blair, one of Alexander Stewarts daughters, Dickey was a director of the Nova Scotia Electric Telegraph Company and consular agent for the United States at Amherst. From 1858-1867, Dickey was appointed to the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia, in 1867, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada representing the senatorial division of Amherst, Nova Scotia. A Conservative, he served until his death in 1903 and his son Arthur Rupert Dickey served as a member of the House of Commons. Library and Archives Canada Profile Robert B, Dickey – Parliament of Canada biography
Robert B. Dickey
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The Hon. Robert Barry Dickey
23.
Charles Fisher (Canadian politician)
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Charles Fisher was a politician and jurist of New Brunswick, Canada. Fisher was a leading Reformer of his day who headed the first responsible government in New Brunswick from 1854 to 1861, born in Fredericton, he was first elected to the colonial assembly in 1837, serving from 1848 to 1850. During this time, Fisher wrote to his friend Joseph Howe about the ways of the family compact and on the irresponsible nature of the government. Fisher would become leader of the opposition and then Premier and Attorney-General in 1854 and his government implemented various reforms in education, administration and the electoral system. His government lost power in 1856 when it tried to implement prohibition which proved unpopular with voters and his leadership ended in 1861 when he was ousted by fellow reformer Samuel L. Tilley due to a scandal over the leasing of crown lands. Charles Fisher became a Father of Confederation, participating in the Quebec Conference of 1864 and he was elected to the House of Commons in 1867 as a Liberal but resigned his seat in 1868 to accept an appointment to the New Brunswick Supreme Court. One of his decisions as a judge of the Court was his lone dissent in Dow v. Black. He would have upheld the constitutionality of a provincial statute dealing with municipal taxation, in another case, Ex parte Renaud, he concurred in the Courts decision upholding the constitutionality of the Common Schools Act of 1871. That decision was upheld by the Judicial Committee, in Maher v. Town Council of Portland. He declined an appointment to be Chief Justice of New Brunswick and his daughter, Jane M. Paulette Fisher, married future premier John James Fraser. Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online Government of New Brunswick complete profile of Charles Fisher
Charles Fisher (Canadian politician)
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Charles Fisher
24.
Alexander Tilloch Galt
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Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, GCMG CB PC, was a politician and a father of Canadian Confederation. He was born in Chelsea, England, the son of a Scottish novelist and colonizer, John Galt, by his wife Elizabeth and he was a first cousin of Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal. He was a member of the Great Coalition government in the Province of Canada that secured Confederation between 1864 and 1867. He became a figure in the creation of the Coalition when he was asked to become premier of the Province of Canada by then Governor General Sir Edmund Walker Head. In return, Cartier and Macdonald asked him to become Inspector-General of Canada and he accepted the post on the condition that Macdonald and Cartier made Confederation a key platform in their new government. As Inspector General, Galt reformed the Province of Canadas banking system trade policies and he was the main architect of the Cayley-Galt Tariff, which protected colonial businesses and caused consternation in both Britain and the United States. July 1,1867, Canada East and West, New Brunswick, Galt served as the first Minister of Finance in the new confederation. As minister of Finance, he reversed many of his earlier policies, following a strong disagreement with Macdonald and Cartier concerning the fate of the Commercial Bank of Canada, Galt resigned from government. He continued to sit as an MP until 1872, nevertheless, Galt remained an important figure in Canadian business and politics. In 1877, The British appointed him as their representative in the Halifax Fisheries Commission concerning American fishing rights in Canadian waters, following a rapprochement with the re-elected Macdonald, Galt was sent to London to be Canadas informal representative there. As this was the important office of the Canadian government overseas at the time, he also travelled to France. The British government knew of these trips and was not pleased that Canada had developed a foreign policy separate from the Empire, the British demanded that Galts position be formalized, and in late 1880, he became the first Canadian High Commissioner in London. He left his post on 1 June 1883, on February 9,1848, Galt married Elliott Torrance, the daughter of John Torrance, of Saint-Antoine Hall, Montreal. She died on May 25,1850, shortly after giving birth to their only son, later he married her younger sister, Amy Gordon Torrance. Amy gave birth to 7 daughters and 2 more sons and they lived in Montreal at their house within the Golden Square Mile, which Galt built in about 1860. The Canadian Post Office refused to accept the name Lethbridge for the community in the Dominion of Canada, Sir ed to the prairie level from the river valley. Canadas Governor General, the Marquess of Landsdowne, demonstrated the Dominion governments support of the Galt enterprises, Galts company, the North Western Coal and Navigation Company went through a variety of name changes as it moved into railways, and irrigation enterprises. Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier dedicated the Galt Hospital addition, which houses the Galt Museum, Galt is interred in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal, Quebec
Alexander Tilloch Galt
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Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt in 1869
Alexander Tilloch Galt
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The Galt house on Simpson Street in the
Golden Square Mile at
Montreal
Alexander Tilloch Galt
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The
International Train Station Depot in the
County of Warner No. 5,
Alberta
25.
John Hamilton Gray (Prince Edward Island)
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John Hamilton Gray was Premier of Prince Edward Island from 1863 –1865 and one of the Fathers of Confederation. Gray began his career in 1862 when he was elected to the provincial assembly as a reformer. He became a member of the opposition, with a reputation even among his opponents as a great orator. He impressed the governor so much that he was invited to become a member of the Executive Council, however, his acceptance of the position drew criticism from his reform colleagues, and gained him a reputation for vacillation that followed him for the rest of his career. Gray became the Tory leader in the assembly, but when the Liberals won a majority in 1854, two years later, in 1856, the provincial governor dismissed the Liberal Executive Council and replaced them with a government led by Gray. Gray was born in 1811, the son of Robert Gray, the elder Gray held a number of important administrative appointments in the early colonial government. John Hamilton Gray was educated in Charlottetown and he chose a military career, trained in England and was commissioned into the 15th Foot in 1831. He transferred to the 13th Light Dragoons later the year, the 15th Light Dragoons in 1839, the 1st Dragoon Guards in 1840, the 14th Light Dragoons in 1841. It was not long before he was asked to participate in the life of the colony. In 1858 he was elected to represent the district of 4th Queens in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island as a Conservative, Gray was chairman of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference, which laid the groundwork for the British North America Act of 1867. He supported the entry of the Island into Confederation but when the Island rejected the scheme he left politics and he then returned to his first interest, the military. He was appointed adjutant-general of the PEI military in 1867 with the rank of colonel and he continued to be an administrator of military affairs until after the eventual Confederation of Prince Edward Island with Canada in 1873. In 1887 John Hamilton Gray died at Inkerman House in Charlottetown, the name of the estate is in reference to the Battle of Inkerman where his father-in-law Sir John Pennyfeather, had lost honours to an older man. Inkerman Drive which once led to the house, is lined with trees planted by Gray and replacements of the same species, linden on one side and a mixture of white birch, beech, mountain ash and poplar on the other. Colonel Gray Sr. High School, a secondary school in Charlottetown. In 1968, a CN automobile/passenger/railcar ferry entered service carrying the name MV John Hamilton Gray, Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
John Hamilton Gray (Prince Edward Island)
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John Hamilton Gray
26.
John Hamilton Gray (New Brunswick)
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He should not be confused with John Hamilton Gray, a Prince Edward Island politician in the same era. Gray was born in St. Georges, Bermuda and his father, William, was naval commissary in Bermuda and later served as British consul in Norfolk, Virginia. Grays grandfather, Joseph Gray, was a United Empire Loyalist from Boston who settled in Halifax, John Hamilton Gray was educated at Kings College in Nova Scotia after which he became a lawyer in Saint John, New Brunswick. He also served as a captain in the New Brunswick Regiment of Yeomany Cavalry becoming a major in the Queens New Brunswick Ranger by 1850, in 1854 he became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. Politically, Gray was a high Tory Conservative but also a moderate reformer and he joined the New Brunswick Colonial Association after it was founded in 1849. Gray moved a calling for a federal union of the British North American colonies. The motion was defeated but was an anticipation of Canadian confederation, Gray was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick as a supporter of the Colonial Associations platform of reforms in opposition to the Compact government. Lieutenant Governor Edmund Walker Head appointed Gray to the Executive Council causing the reform opposition to collapse and he was created a Queens Counsel In 1853. In 1855, Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Manners-Sutton dismissed the Reform government over its attempt to institute prohibition, as Premier, Gray led the Conservatives to victory in the June 1856 election on an anti-prohibition platform and repealed the liquor law. However, with the central issue uniting his government now resolved he became unable to command a majority in the legislature, Gray continued in opposition as a Conservative MLA. He also led committees of inquiry into railway construction and investigated allegations of patronage and corruption, after 1860, Gray drifted away from his fellow Conservatives and became supportive of Samuel Leonard Tilleys Liberal government but was defeated in the 1861 election for his efforts. Out of elected politics, Gray returned to his practice as a lawyer and was appointed to a board on the land question in Prince Edward Island. Gray became a supporter of Canadian Confederation and joined Tilleys new Liberal-Conservative Party returning to the legislature in a by-election in 1864. Gray returned to the legislature in 1866 and served as Speaker, when confederation became a reality, Gray won a seat in the House of Commons. He did not run for re-election in 1872 and he was appointed judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia and moved west reluctantly. He served on the 1885 Royal Commission on Chinese immigration and he was a Freemason, and a member of Albion Lodge No.570 in St. John, N. B. and Civil Service Lodge No.148 in Ottawa. John Hamilton Gray died in Victoria, British Columbia and is interred there in the Ross Bay Cemetery and he is the only father of confederation buried west of Ontario. John Hamilton Gray – Parliament of Canada biography
John Hamilton Gray (New Brunswick)
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John Hamilton Gray
27.
Thomas Heath Haviland
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Thomas Heath Haviland was a Canadian lawyer, politician and father of Canadian Confederation. He was born in, and died in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and he was appointed to the Canadian Senate on 18 October 1873, and represented Prince Edward Island as a Conservative until his resignation on 1 July 1879. He was born in Charlottetown, the son of Thomas Heath Haviland Sr. and was educated in Belgium, on his return, he studied law and was called to the bar in 1846. In 1847, he married Anne Elizabeth Grubbe and he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island for Georgetown and Royalty in 1846 and served until 1876. Haviland served in the provincial Executive Council from 1859 to 1862, from 1865 to 1867, from 1863 to 1864, he was speaker for the assembly. He was also a colonel in the local militia, Haviland served as the third Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island from 1879 to 1884. In 1886, he became mayor of Charlottetown after the death of Henry Beer, Haviland died in Charlottetown two years later. Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online Thomas Heath Haviland – Parliament of Canada biography Government of Prince Edward Island - Thomas Heath Haviland article
Thomas Heath Haviland
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Thomas Heath Haviland
28.
William Alexander Henry
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William Alexander Henry was a Canadian lawyer, politician, judge. He was one of the Fathers of Confederation and one of the first judges of the Supreme Court of Canada, Henry was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Shortly afterward, his family moved to Antigonish and he attended Halifax High School then studied law and was admitted to the bar. His two sons were William Alexander Henry Jr. a successful Halifax lawyer and Hugh MacD Henry, the elder W. A. Henry served as a cabinet minister in Nova Scotia in governments led by both the Liberals and the Conservatives. He represented the Antigonish region almost continuously from 1840 to 1867 and was appointed general in 1864. Henry was a believer in the benefits that could be derived from a British American union such as free trade. The Nova Scotia delegates voted to accept the Québec Resolutions into the British North America Act and he also supported the unsuccessful efforts to have the existence of Roman Catholic separate schools entrenched in the Act. He was one of the general who helped frame the language. However, it is a tradition that he drafted the BNA Act. After Confederation, Henry suffered defeat in his own district for the first time in 24 years and he returned to private practice in Halifax and was elected mayor of the city in 1870. Although he was denied a judgeship in Nova Scotia, Henry was one of the first appointed to the newly created Supreme Court of Canada in 1875. Henry House in Halifax, which served as Henrys residence from 1854 to 1864, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1969 due in part to its association with Henry
William Alexander Henry
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William Alexander Henry
29.
William Pearce Howland
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Sir William Pearce Howland KCMG CB PC, served as the second Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, from 1868 to 1873. He was one of the Fathers of Confederation, born in 1811 in Pawling, New York, William Howland was educated at Kinderhook Academy. In 1830 he settled in Cooksville, Upper Canada, and became a naturalised British subject in 1841 and he operated Lambton Mills and later a grocery business in Toronto. In 1852 he acquired a grist mill, sawmill, and general store in Kleinburg and he became a Member of Parliament in 1867 and was Minister of Inland Revenue from 1867 to 1868. He was created a C. B.1867, Howland was appointed Ontarios second Lieutenant Governor in 1868 and served until 1873. He was knighted in 1879 and died in Toronto in 1907 and he is buried in Torontos St. James Cemetery. Sir William Pearce Howland, then a Minister of the Crown in Canada married Susannah Julia, daughter of Shrewsbury, Esquire and she was born in London, England,4,1 May 1830, and educated there. She was a widow, who had accompanied her first husband Philip Hunt, of the Military Store Department, to the Mauritius, lady Howland was presented to Queen Victoria in 1866, on the occasion of the London Conference on Confederation. In 1875, she presented her step-daughter, Miss Howland to Her Majesty, lady Howland died in Toronto, February 2ist,1886, and was buried in St. Jamess Cemetery. His sons, William Holmes Howland and Oliver Aiken Howland, served as mayors of Toronto, William Pearce Howland – Parliament of Canada biography
William Pearce Howland
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The Hon. Sir William Pearce Howland
30.
John Mercer Johnson
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John Mercer Johnson was a politician in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada and a Father of Confederation. He represented Northumberland in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1868 as a Liberal member and he represented Northumberland County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1850 to 1865 and from 1866 to 1867. Johnson was Solicitor General from 1854 to 1856, postmaster general from 1857 to 1859, speaker for the house from 1859 to 1862 and he was delegated to the Quebec Conference in 1864 and that of London in 1866. After Confederation in 1867, Johnson was elected to the new Canadian House of Commons of the federal Parliament, Johnson was educated at a grammar school in Northumberland before he studied law. In 1840, he was called to the bar of New Brunswick, in 1850 he became a liberal member for his county and later in 1854 when his party came to power under Fisher his name appeared among those in the Smashers administration. He died in office at Chatham, New Brunswick at the age of 50, john Mercer Johnson – Parliament of Canada biography
John Mercer Johnson
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John Mercer Johnson
31.
Hector-Louis Langevin
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Sir Hector-Louis Langevin, PC KCMG CB QC was a Canadian lawyer, politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. He also had an important role to play in the establishment of the Canadian Indian residential school system, Langevin was born in Quebec City in 1826. He studied law and was called to the bar in 1850, in 1856, he was elected to the municipal council of Quebec City and was mayor from 1858 to 1861. In 1857, he was elected Member of Parliament for Dorchester in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada as a member of the Conservative Party. He held various positions in Cabinet, including Solicitor General, Postmaster General, Secretary of State for Canada, Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, Langevin also attended all three conferences leading up to Confederation. He left politics in 1873 due to his role in the Pacific Scandal, in 1871 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in the provincial electoral district of Québec-Centre. At the time, dual mandates were still allowed and he served one term, until 1874. In 1876, he was re-elected in the riding of Charlevoix and his opponent contested the election and it was declared invalid, but he won the subsequent by-election in 1877. He was defeated in Rimouski in 1878 but elected by acclamation in the riding of Trois-Rivières in the same year, Langevin became Minister of Public Works again in 1879. He lobbied behind the scenes against the hanging of Louis Riel in 1885 and was one of the few Conservatives Members of Parliament to survive the resulting backlash in the province of Quebec in 1887. He was promised the post of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec by the new Conservative Prime Minister John Abbott if he resigned as Minister of Public Works, Langevin stepped down in 1891 but Abbott appointed Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau instead. He retired to the backbenches and then left politics in 1896, outside politics he was previously a newspaper editor. The Langevin Block on Parliament Hill was named in his honour, langevins group of medals were sold at auction in Ottawa on 18 May 2010 for $8000.00 His brother, Jean Langevin was a Roman Catholic bishop. As Secretary of State for the Provinces Langevin made it clear to Parliament in 1883 that day schools would be insufficient in assimilating Aboriginal children. ”Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours, Hector-Louis Langevin – Parliament of Canada biography National Library of Canada biography
Hector-Louis Langevin
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Sir Hector-Louis Langevin
32.
Andrew Archibald Macdonald
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Andrew Archibald Macdonald, PC, served as the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island from 1 August 1884 to 2 September 1889, and was one of the fathers of Canadian Confederation. He was educated at a county grammar school and by private tutor and also became a merchant, in 1863, he married Elizabeth, the third daughter of Hon. Thomas Owen and they had four sons. He was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1853 to 1858 and he sat as representative for Georgetown in the House of Assembly from 1854 until 1870. When the Legislative Council became elective in 1863, he was returned as a representative of 2nd Kings District in the Legislative Council, Andrew Macdonald was a member of the Executive Council from 1867 to 1872 and again from 18 April 1872 until Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1873. He was leader of the Government Party in Legislative Council for some years and he first returned as a representative of the Liberal Party in carrying out Responsible Government and extending the Electoral Franchise. In June 1873 he was appointed Postmaster General of the Province, in 1891 MacDonald was appointed to the Senate of Canada where he remained until his death. He died at Ottawa, on 21 March 1912, Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online Andrew Archibald Macdonald – Parliament of Canada biography
Andrew Archibald Macdonald
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Andrew Archibald Macdonald
33.
John A. Macdonald
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Sir John Alexander Macdonald GCB KCMG PC PC QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a career which spanned almost half a century. He drank heavily, and in 1873 was voted out during the Pacific Scandal, economic growth was slow during his years in office, as Canada verged on stagnation, many residents migrated to the fast-growing United States. He fought to block efforts to take power back from Ottawa. His most controversial move was to approve the execution of Métis leader Louis Riel for treason in 1885, Macdonald was born in Scotland, when he was a boy his family immigrated to Kingston in the colony of Upper Canada. As a lawyer he was involved in several cases and quickly became prominent in Kingston. By 1857, had become premier under the unstable political system. Macdonald was the figure in the subsequent discussions and conferences, which resulted in the British North America Act. Macdonald was the first Prime Minister of the new nation, and served 19 years, John Alexander Macdonald was born in Ramshorn parish in Glasgow, Scotland, on January 11,1815. His father was Hugh Macdonald, a merchant, who had married Johns mother, Helen Shaw. John Alexander Macdonald was the third of five children, after Hugh Macdonalds business ventures left him in debt, the family immigrated to Kingston, in Upper Canada, in 1820, where there were already a number of Macdonald relatives and connections. The Macdonalds initially lived with family, but then resided over a store which Hugh Macdonald ran. Soon after their arrival, Johns younger brother James died from a blow to the head by a servant who was supposed to look after the boys, after Hughs store failed, the family moved to Hay Bay, west of Kingston, where Hugh unsuccessfully ran another shop. His father, in 1829, was appointed a magistrate for the Midland District, John Macdonalds mother was a lifelong influence on her son, helping him in his difficult first marriage and remaining a force in his life until her 1862 death. When he was aged 10, his family scraped together the money to him to Midland District Grammar School in Kingston. Macdonalds formal schooling ended at 15, a common school-leaving age at a time when children from the most prosperous families were able to attend university. Nevertheless, Macdonald later regretted leaving school when he did, remarking to his secretary Joseph Pope that if he had attended university, Macdonalds parents decided he should become a lawyer after leaving school. As Donald Creighton wrote, law was a broad, well-trodden path to comfort, influence and it was also the obvious choice for a boy who seemed as attracted to study as he was uninterested in trade
John A. Macdonald
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The Right Honourable Sir John A. Macdonald
GCB KCMG PC PC QC
John A. Macdonald
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Battle of the Windmill, near Prescott, Upper Canada, 13 November 1838
John A. Macdonald
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Portrait of Isabella Clark Macdonald, artist unknown.
John A. Macdonald
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John A. Macdonald in 1858
34.
Jonathan McCully
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Jonathan McCully was a participant at the Confederation conferences at Charlottetown, Quebec City, and in London, and is thus considered one of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation. He did much to promote union through newspaper editorials, for his efforts, he received a Senate appointment. He later became a judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, McCully was born at his familys farm in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. He attended various schools before going to work on the family farm. From 1828 to 1830, he taught school in order to fund his legal studies, one of his pupils was Sir Charles Tupper. He was called to the Nova Scotia bar in 1837, in 1842 he married Eliza Creed. A confirmed Liberal by 1837, he expressed his views in frequent contributions to the Acadian Recorder, in addition, he was a contributor to the Halifax Morning Chronicle, the major Liberal newspaper of the province of Nova Scotia. After the passage of the resolution in 1866 McCully eased this newspaper crusade. His support of Joseph Howe during the 1847 election earned him an appointment to the Legislative Council where he held various offices, when the Liberals were re-elected in 1860 he became solicitor general and railway commissioner. His policy of cost cutting over efficiency, and his lack of personal popularity, despite being the Liberal leader in the Legislative Council in 1864 Jonathan McCullys name was not on the initial list of delegates to the Charlottetown Conference. After one of the other delegates withdrew Charles Tupper picked McCully as a replacement, although Jonathan McCully was not previously a strong supporter of union he was converted at the Charlottetown meeting. He was a delegate to the London Conference but made few contributions to the proceedings, for his support of Confederation, McCully was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1867. He was soon overshadowed by his more prominent colleagues Charles Tupper, Adams George Archibald and he supported the better terms offered to Nova Scotia in 1869. He resigned the Senate of Canada when he was appointed judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in 1870. While his taste for efficiency was unpopular with lawyers, his popularity amongst Nova Scotians rose for the first time. He died at his home in Halifax, Nova Scotia on January 2,1877 and was buried in city at Camp Hill Cemetery. His Halifax residence was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1975, Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online Jonathan McCully – Parliament of Canada biography
Jonathan McCully
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The Honourable Jonathan McCully
Jonathan McCully
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Jonathan McCully By Peter Bustin, Founders Square, Halifax, NovaScotia
35.
William McDougall (politician)
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Sir William McDougall PC CB was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and one of the Fathers of Confederation. William McDougall was born near York, Upper Canada to Daniel McDougall, William was the third generation of United Empire Loyalists to settle in York. In 1793, his paternal grandparents were among the first twelve families to move to York along with 450 British troops. Those soldiers then built Fort York to protect against American invasion, McDougall received his education at Victoria College in Cobourg, Upper Canada, and in 1847, began practicing law as an attorney and solicitor in Upper Canada. In 1862, he was called to the Upper Canada Bar, in 1849, William McDougalls office in Toronto was the meeting place for the Clear Grit political movement. Other Clear Grit supporters included Peter Perry, David Christie, Charles Clarke, Charles Lindsay, in 1850, he started The North American, a liberal newspaper. He was elected as a member of the assembly in 1858 and served as Commissioner of Crown Lands. In 1863, Along with Alexander Tilloch Galt, McDougall went to Washington D. C. to meet with President Abraham Lincoln in order to renegotiate the Reciprocity Treaty, during the visit, Lincoln explained that he had an important event to attend and had to travel to Pennsylvania. The President had then invited McDougall to accompany him on his trip by train and they stayed the night at the private home of David Wills, a wealthy 32-year-old Gettysburg attorney. On the following day, November 19, a ceremony took place at the new Gettysburg cemetery. While many orators spoke for hours, Lincoln spoke briefly, presenting the Gettysburg Address, even though the Canadian and British press wrote positively about Lincolns speech, the American press condemned it for its lack of length. In the 1950s, then United States President Dwight D and it can be found in The Hansard, the official publication containing the transcripts of the Parliament of Canada. A copy of The Hansard containing President Eisenhowers speech was autographed and commented by then-Prime Minister of Canada John G. Diefenbaker and it can be found in the Baldwin Room - a secured archives area - of the Main Library of the City of Toronto. McDougall is considered a father of Canadian confederation as he attended all three Confederation conferences, once the country formed, he served as Minister of Public Works in the Macdonald government. As he had begun as Liberal and now served under Macdonalds Conservatives, in the federal election of 1867 he was elected in the district of Lanark North, for the Liberal-Conservative party. McDougall was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ruperts Land and the North-Western Territory in 1869, the only travel route at the time was through the United States with the permission of U. S. President Grant. Dispatches on microfiche at the Main Library of the City of Toronto include his request for 1,000 British troops to be sent on the authority of Queen Victoria and she responded that she would prefer a more amicable settlement of the jurisdiction issue. He returned to Ottawa, and campaigned against Manitoba becoming a province because of its few inhabitants at that time
William McDougall (politician)
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The Honourable William McDougall
William McDougall (politician)
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Mrs. William McDougall
36.
Peter Mitchell (politician)
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Peter Mitchell, PC was a Canadian politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. He was born of Scottish parents at Newcastle in the county of Northumberland, New Brunswick and he was educated at the Quebec grammar school, he studied law and was called to the bar of the province of New Brunswick in 1848. He practised his profession for four years, and then entered into partnership with a Mr. Hawe in the business of lumbering and shipbuilding, Mitchell ran again in 1856 as an opponent of prohibition, which had been proposed by the government. He carried a pistol for protection during the campaign and rum for his supporters and he was successful in this election. In the legislature, Mitchell opposed denominational schools and supported the creation of municipal government and he became a member of the Executive Council in 1859, and introduced the colonys first bankruptcy act in order to make things easier for debtors. Mitchell did not run for re-election in 1861, but was appointed to the Legislative Council. While attending the Quebec Conference of 1864, Peter Mitchell was a supporter of Canadian confederation. Gordon appointed Mitchell as the new premier, Mitchell asked Gordon to call an election, and he and his Confederation Party were returned with a majority that approved the participation of the colony in the Canadian confederation in 1867. Mitchell attended the London Conference, which drafted the British North America Act and he was appointed to the new Canadian Senate for its inaugural session in July 1867. Mitchell became a member of Sir John A. Macdonalds first cabinet as minister of marine and he was an aggressive defender of Canadian interests, and contested foreign fishing in Canadian waters to the extent of using gunboats to seize American vessels. Mitchell resigned from the Senate in 1872 to run for a seat in the Canadian House of Commons where he felt he would have more influence and he was acclaimed in a by-election, but in 1873 the Macdonald government fell due to the Pacific Scandal. Mitchell abandoned the Liberal-Conservative Party of Macdonald and declared himself an independent Member of Parliament and he had little influence as an independent, and was distrusted by both Conservatives and Liberals. Mitchell resigned his seat in 1878 after being accused of violating the Independence of Parliament Act by leasing a building to the government while he was a senator and he re-offered in the subsequent by-election and was returned to parliament. He ran in the 1878 federal election as an Independent Liberal who supported Macdonalds National Policy, Mitchell was defeated by independent candidate Jabez Bunting Snowball. Mitchell returned to the Commons in the 1882 election and was re-elected in the 1887 election as an independent Liberal, in 1885, Mitchell purchased the Montreal Herald and Daily Commercial Gazette, and used it to attack the policies of both Liberals and Conservatives. He also called for mercy for Louis Riel, and blamed Macdonald for causing the Riel Rebellion by not dealing with Métis complaints and he became a supporter of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and ran as a Liberal in the 1896 election but lost. Laurier made him inspector of fisheries for Quebec and the Maritime provinces. In July 1899, as he was leaving the buildings, Ottawa
Peter Mitchell (politician)
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The Hon. Peter Mitchell
37.
Oliver Mowat
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Sir Oliver Mowat, GCMG PC QC was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Liberal Party leader. He served as the third Premier of Ontario for nearly 24 years and he was the eighth Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and one of the Fathers of Confederation. This longevity and power was due to his political maneuvering, in terms of building a political base around Liberals, Catholics, trade unions. Mowat was born in Kingston, Upper Canada, to John Mowat, as a youth, he had taken up arms with the loyalists during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, which suggested a conservative inclination in politics. However, he did not trust the politics of John A. Macdonald, George-Étienne Cartier, or the leaders of the Conservative Party. On January 27,1836, Mowat, not yet sixteen years old, articled in the law office of John A. Macdonald, early in their work relationship, Mowat and Macdonald were close friends, and worked successfully to build the legal practice. But they grew apart over time, as Mowat matured into a rival of the older Macdonald. Mowat was mostly even-tempered and moderate in his behaviour, in sharp contrast to the firebrand Macdonald, as a young man, Mowat moved away from Kingston, eventually settling in Toronto, to develop his own career and life away from Macdonalds prominence. Mowat was called to the bar of Upper Canada on November 5,1841, in 1846, he married Jane Ewart, a daughter of John Ewart of Toronto. Mowat and his wife had three sons and four daughters, in 1856 Mowat was appointed Queens Counsel. He was known to be a legal practitioner, with two of his cases being upheld by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. In the 1858 case Bowes v. Afterwards, Mowat admitted that I cannot speak with much force unless I have an opponent and he first entered politics as an alderman of the City of Toronto in 1857. From there, he became a member of the Legislative Assembly for South Ontario, as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1858 to 1864, he was closely associated with George Brown. Mowat served as Provincial Secretary and Postmaster-General in pre-Confederation government, and was also a supporter of representation by population. With Brown, he helped create what became the Ontario Liberal Party as well as the Liberal Party of Canada. On November 14,1864, he was appointed to the judiciary as Vice-Chancellor of the Court of Chancery of Upper Canada, Mowat served as provincial member for the riding of Oxford North, about 150 km west of Toronto, for his entire term as premier. In 1890, it was said, These court battles resulted in a weakening of the power of the government in provincial matters. Although Macdonald had dismissed him as Blakes jackal, Mowats battles with the government greatly decentralized Canada
Oliver Mowat
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The Hon. Sir Oliver Mowat
Oliver Mowat
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Walter Seymour Allward 's statue of Oliver Mowat on the lawn of
Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario Canada
38.
Edward Palmer (Canadian politician)
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Edward Palmer was a Canadian politician born at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and resided in Prince Edward Island until his death. He is considered one of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation, despite his opposition to Confederation, Edward Palmer was the son of James Bardin Palmer, an Irish barrister who had come to the Island at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and Millicent Jones. He attended grammar school before becoming a law clerk in his fathers law firm and he was called to the bar in 1830 and thereafter he worked as a lawyer, land agent, land proprietor, politician, a judge, being appointed Queens Counsel in 1873. He was an active politician and later a judge. He married Isabella Tremain in 1846 and he acted as a land agent and was a landed proprietor but, after experiencing long term conflict with his tenant farmers, he sold his substantial landholdings in 1870. He was elected as member of the Prince Edward Island House of Assembly for Charlottetown and he soon established himself as one of the leading Conservatives. He was often viewed as a champion of the status quo, being against responsible government, against union of the colonies of British North America and he was also much given to conflict in the assembly, frequently arguing with both George Coles and Edward Whelan. In 1849, Palmer became the leader of the Tories in the provincial assembly, in 1859, he became premier, only to be pushed from office by his colleague John Hamilton Gray in 1863. He was first appointed to the Legislative Council in 1860 and when that body became elective he retained his seat and his views against Confederation placed him in direct opposition to John Hamilton Gray. Their conflict fractured the Tory party and damaged the union cause, Palmer, however, retained his position as attorney general. Palmer remained ardently opposed to Confederation after 1864 and he also opposed the Better Terms offer made by Canada in 1869. Instead, he favoured a free trade deal between Prince Edward Island and the United States, in 1872, Palmer changed parties and joined the Liberal, anti-Confederation government of Robert Poore Haythorne. After Prince Edward Island joined the Confederation, Palmer became a Queens County judge and was elevated to Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island. Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Edward Palmer (Canadian politician)
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Edward Palmer
39.
William Henry Pope (Canadian politician)
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William Henry Pope was a Canadian lawyer, politician, judge and one of the Fathers of Confederation. He was born in Bedeque, P. E. I, the son of Joseph Pope and Lucy Colledge. He was educated in England, but returned to Charlottetown where he studied law at the office of Edward Palmer and he became a lawyer in 1847. The editor of Prince Edward Islands main Tory newspaper, The Islander, from 1859 to 1872 and he was named Colonial Secretary in 1859 even though he was not a part of the legislature because of a government experiment of having civil servants head the government departments. When he became a representative for the constituency of Belfast in 1863 and he was one of the hosts of the Charlottetown Conference in 1864. An enthusiastic supporter of Canadian Confederation, he left the PEI cabinet in 1864 when the government rejected Confederation outright, after this was accomplished in 1873 under the leadership of his brother, PEI Premier James Colledge Pope, he was appointed a county court judge. Ardgowan, Popes residence, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1966, during the Charlottetown Conference, the Popes billetted George Brown and hosted a luncheon for delegates at Ardgowan
William Henry Pope (Canadian politician)
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William Henry Pope
40.
John William Ritchie
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John William Ritchie was a Canadian lawyer and politician from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Ritchie was the son of Thomas Ritchie and Elizabeth Wildman Johnston and he studied law with his uncle James William Johnston and was admitted to the bar in 1831. Appointed to the Canadian Senate in 1867, he was a judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia from 1873 to 1882 and his younger brother, William Johnstone Ritchie, was Chief Justice of Canada. Ritchie died at his estate in the Northwest Arm of Halifax and is buried at St. Johns Cemetery, john William Ritchie – Parliament of Canada biography
John William Ritchie
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Hon. John William Ritchie, Q.C. (Senator), April 1868
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