George Luther Hathaway (August 4, 1813 – July 5, 1872) was a politician in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada. His surname also appears as Hatheway. He was born in Musquash, New Brunswick, the son of Calvin Luther Hatheway and Sarah Harrison. He entered politics as a reformer and advocate of responsible government. Hathaway was a noted drinker, and often sipped brandy while campaigning. He was elected to the

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

's legislative assembly in 1850, and re-elected in 1854 and 1856, but lost his seat in 1857. He returned to the house in 1861, and became chief commissioner of public works. In 1865, Hathaway objected to the terms of

Canadian confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...

and resigned from his government position when the terms were accepted by the government of

Samuel Leonard Tilley Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley (May 8, 1818June 25, 1896) was a Canadian politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. Tilley was descended from United Empire Loyalists on both sides of his family. As a pharmacist, he went into business as a ...

. Hathaway's resignation helped defeat the government, and he was re-elected as an Anti-Confederate candidate later that year. He rejected Lieutenant Governor Arthur H. Gordon's invitation to form a new government. Hathaway instead became chief commissioner of public works in the government of

Albert James Smith Sir Albert James Smith (March 12, 1822 – June 30, 1883) was a New Brunswick politician and opponent of Canadian confederation. Smith's grandfather was a United Empire Loyalist who left Massachusetts to settle in New Brunswick after the Am ...

. He did not run in the 1866 election won by the

Confederation Party ''Confederation Party'' was a term for the parties supporting Canadian confederation in the British colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland in the 1860s when politics became polarised between supporters and opponents of Confederati ...

, but ran in 1870, three years after New Brunswick became a Canadian province. He was elected to the provincial legislature as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate. Party loyalties were weak during this period, however, and in February 1871, he helped depose the government of Conservative Premier George E. King, who was considered to be too close to the federal

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Hathaway became the leader of a new Conservative government. Hathaway's government passed the

Common Schools Act The ''Common Schools Act of 1871'' (the Act) was legislation of the Canadian Province of New Brunswick, passed by the 22nd New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, which replaced the ''Parish Schools Act'' of 1858. The legislation aimed to abolish chur ...

which had been drawn up by his predecessor. The legislation implemented a single, tax supported public school system based on the principle of

Separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

that would have enacted direct taxation for education. He had run on this issue in the 1871 election and won. The school act called for "free, tax supported, non-sectarian schools" and was opposed both by opponents of direct taxation and by the

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clergy who saw the bill as a threat to Catholic schools. On June 25, 1872, Hathaway's hand was seriously injured when he jumped from a moving train. He died in Fredericton as a result of blood poisoning from this incident.

References

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Government of New Brunswick profile for Premier Hathaway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hathaway, George Luther 1813 births 1872 deaths Canadian farmers Businesspeople from New Brunswick Businesspeople in timber Premiers of New Brunswick People from Sunbury County, New Brunswick