John Hamilton Gray (politician, 1814)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Hamilton Gray

John Hamilton Gray , QC (* 1814 in Saint George’s , Bermuda ; † June 5, 1889 in Victoria , British Columbia ) was a Canadian politician and officer . From 1856 to 1857 he was Prime Minister of the then colony of New Brunswick . As one of the fathers of the Confederation , he was one of the pioneers of the Canadian state founded in 1867. From 1867 to 1872 he was a Conservative member of the lower house .

biography

Gray, the son of a Royal Navy administrator and later British consul in Virginia , grew up in Halifax . He studied law at King's College in Windsor and received 1836 admission as a lawyer , and he in Saint John opened a law firm. In addition to his professional activities, he was also the commandant of a cavalry regiment in the New Brunswick Militia. By 1854 he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel .

Gray's political career began in 1849 when he joined the reformist New Brunswick Colonial Association . This liberal association rejected his proposal for a federal state in British North America , but put Gray as a candidate for election to the legislative assembly in 1850 . He was elected and soon took a leading role in the opposition, as he was considered an excellent speaker. In 1851, Gray joined the Conservatives after Governor Edmund Walker Head offered him and Robert Duncan Wilmot a seat in government. On June 21, 1856 he took over the office of Prime Minister. After he had pushed through his main concern, the lifting of alcohol prohibition , he expressed increasing difficulty in finding stable majorities and had to resign as head of government in May 1857.

In the 1861 election, Gray lost his seat in parliament. Three years later he won a by-election . Prime Minister Samuel Leonard Tilley appointed him a delegate at the Charlottetown Conference and at the Québec Conference , where the merger of the North American colonies was discussed. The proposed Canadian Confederation met fierce opposition in New Brunswick. The new Anti-Confederation Party won the election in March 1865, while those in favor of the Confederation suffered a heavy defeat; Gray also lost his seat.

But just a year later, the political situation changed again fundamentally, as the Anti-Confederation Party broke up. Gray moved back into parliament and was appointed speaker . In the first Canadian general election in September 1867, he won in the constituency of Saint John. Since he could not exercise any influence at the federal level, he resigned in July 1872. He then moved to British Columbia because he was appointed to the Supreme Court of that province. In 1878 he invalidated a law directed against Chinese immigrants. He held the office of judge until his death.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gray, John Hamilton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician, Prime Minister of New Brunswick
DATE OF BIRTH 1814
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint George's (Bermuda)
DATE OF DEATH June 5, 1889
Place of death Victoria (British Columbia)