John Thompson (politician, 1845)

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Sir John Sparrow David Thompson , KCMG , PC , QC , (born November 10, 1845 in Halifax , Nova Scotia , †  December 12, 1894 in Windsor Castle , Berkshire , England ) was a Canadian lawyer , judge and politician . He was a member of the Conservative Party and the fourth Prime Minister of Canada . Thompson ruled from December 5, 1892, until the day of his death, and was the first Catholic to serve. In 1882 he had been Prime Minister of the Province of Nova Scotia.

biography

The youngest of seven children of John Sparrow Thompson and Charlotte Pottinger graduated from the Royal Acadian School and the Free Church Academy in Halifax. After completing his training, he worked as a lawyer from 1865. From 1868 to 1873 he also worked as a court and parliamentary reporter. In 1870 he married Annie Affleck; the couple had nine children, four of whom died in infancy. Thompson, originally a Methodist , converted to his wife's Roman Catholic denomination in 1871.

In 1871 Thompson was elected to Halifax City Council, which he served until 1877. In the same year he ran as a member of the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia in a by-election in the constituency of Antigonish for a seat in the House of Representatives of Nova Scotia and won, although he was almost unknown there. Prime Minister Simon Hugh Holmes appointed him Attorney General , chief legal advisor to the provincial government, in September 1878 . After the unpopular and authoritarian Holmes was forced to resign in May 1882, Thompson took over the office of provincial prime minister. He only practiced this until July 1882, when the Conservative Party suffered a defeat in the elections.

The Canadian Prime Minister John Macdonald then called him to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. In 1883 Thompson helped found the law school at Dalhousie University ; He also worked as a lecturer and, on behalf of the liberal provincial government, worked out a new procedural order in 1884, which remained practically unchanged until the 1950s. Macdonald appointed him Canadian Justice Minister in September 1885, and a month later Thompson won the Antigonish House of Commons in a by- election . As Attorney General, he was responsible for drafting Canada's first criminal code.

After Macdonald's death in June 1891, Governor General Lord Stanley appointed him to form a new government. But Thompson declined because he feared anti-Catholic resentment. Instead, John Abbott became the new Prime Minister. Abbott, however, resigned after only a year for health reasons and Thompson became the new head of government on December 5, 1892.

Two years after taking office, Thompson was on a state visit to Great Britain in December 1894 . Shortly after Queen Victoria made him a member of the Privy Council , he suddenly suffered a heart attack at Windsor Castle and died at the age of 49. He was buried in Halifax on January 3, 1895. Thompson left little fortune and Parliament set up a fund to help financially the widow and children.

See also

Web links

Commons : John Thompson  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Thompson, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thompson, John Sparrow David (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian lawyer, judge and politician
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Halifax , Nova Scotia
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 1894
Place of death Windsor Castle , Berkshire , England