William Alexander Henry

William Alexander Henry

William Alexander Henry (born December 30, 1816 in Halifax , Nova Scotia , † May 3, 1888 in Ottawa ) was a Canadian politician and judge . He served in the Nova Scotia government for over a decade. As one of the fathers of the Confederation , he was one of the pioneers of the Canadian state founded in 1867. He was a Supreme Court Justice of Canada from 1875 until his death .

biography

Henry grew up in Antigonish . He studied law and received 1840 admission as a lawyer . In the same year he ran successfully in the general election of the then British colony of Nova Scotia. He lost his mandate three years later, but was re-elected to parliament in 1847. In the cabinet of James Boyle Uniacke he was minister without portfolio from 1852 . When William Young succeeded Uniacke in 1854 , he appointed Henry Solicitor General .

In 1857, Henry resigned from government ten days before a successful vote of no confidence , turned away from the Liberals, and joined the Conservatives. He was then represented in the cabinet of James William Johnston again as Attorney General. The Conservatives were in the opposition from 1860 onwards. When Johnston regained power in 1863, Henry took over his traditional ministerial post. In the cabinet of Johnston's successor Charles Tupper , he held the office of Attorney General from 1864 .

As a supporter of a Canadian confederation , Henry played an important role in the negotiations for the establishment of a Canadian state. In 1864 he took part in both the Charlottetown Conference and the Québec Conference . At the London Conference in 1866 he was one of the co-authors of the British North America Act . In the first Canadian general election in September 1867, he was defeated by Hugh McDonald of the Anti-Confederation Party , one of his former interns and later Secretary of Defense.

Henry temporarily withdrew from politics after this defeat. In 1870 he was elected Mayor of Halifax. He alienated himself from the conservatives and moved closer to the liberals again. The Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie named Henry on September 30, 1875, one of six judges in the newly created Supreme Court . He died after more than twelve years in office.

See also

• List of justices at the Supreme Court of Canada

Web links

• William Alexander Henry . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
• Supreme Court of Canada - Portrait (English)
• Short biography from Library and Archives Canada