Alexander Campbell (politician, 1822)

Alexander Campbell

Sir Alexander Campbell , PC , KCMG , QC (March 9, 1822 in Hedon , Yorkshire , † May 24, 1892 in Toronto ) was a Canadian politician . As one of the fathers of the Confederation , he was one of the pioneers of the Canadian state founded in 1867. From 1867 to 1887 he was a senator , after which he served as Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Ontario until his death .

biography

The English- born doctor's son Campbell came to Canada with his parents at the age of one. The family lived first in Montreal , later in Lachine and finally in Kingston . Campbell spent part of his youth at the seminary at Saint-Hyacinthe , where he learned French . After graduating from high school in Kingston, he studied law and worked in the law firm of John Macdonald . He was admitted to the bar in 1843 and was Macdonald's partner for the next six years.

Campbell's political career began in 1850 with an election to Kingston City Council, of which he was a member until 1852. In 1858 he was elected to the lower house of the Province of Canada . In 1863 he was a speaker , from 1864 he was a member of the government as commissioner for crown lands . In 1864 he took part in the Charlottetown Conference and the Québec Conference , where the unification of the colonies in British North America was discussed. In September 1873, two months after the founding of the Canadian state, his former law firm partner Macdonald appointed him a senator .

In Macdonald's cabinet, Campbell held various ministerial posts: Minister of Post (1867–1873, 1879–1881, 1885–1887), Minister of Domestic Taxes (1868–1869), Secretary of the Interior (1873), Treasurer (1878–1879), Secretary of Defense (1880), Minister of Justice (1881–1885). After resigning as Senator, Governor General Lord Lansdowne Campbell sworn in as Lieutenant Governor of Ontario . He held this representative office for almost five years until his death.

His eldest son, Charles Sandwith Campbell , later became governor of McGill University .

Web links

Commons : Alexander Campbell (Canadian senator)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Alexander Campbell . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
• Alexander Campbell - biographical information on the website of the Canadian Parliament (English)
• Short biography from Library and Archives Canada