Sir Adams George Archibald (May 3, 1814 – December 14, 1892) was a Canadian lawyer and politician, and a Father of
Confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
.
He was based in
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
for most of his career, though he also served as
first Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
The lieutenant governor of Manitoba (, (if male) or (if female) ) is the representative in Manitoba of the monarch, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada. The lieuten ...
from 1870 to 1872.
Archibald was born in
Truro
Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...
to a prominent family in Nova Scotian politics. He was the son of Samuel Archibald, and grandson of James Archibald, judge of the court of common pleas, Nova Scotia. He was also related to
Samuel G. W. Archibald, who had served as the province's Attorney General from 1830 to 1841. Sir Adams Archibald studied science and medicine for a few years, subsequently articled in law, and was called to the Nova Scotia bar in January 1839. He held a number of local offices over the next decade, and was appointed a probate judge in 1848.
Political career
Archibald was elected to the Nova Scotia legislature in 1851 as a supporter of Joseph Howe's governing
Reformers, topping the poll in the two-member riding of
Colchester County. Once in the legislature, Archibald frequently took positions that were opposed by other members of the Liberal caucus. He supported elected municipal governments, for instance, and was a vociferous proponent of taxation for a state-run school system (regarded by many Nova Scotia Liberals as an unnecessary expense). Archibald also supported reciprocity with the United States, and opposed any efforts to expand the province's electoral franchise.
Archibald was re-elected in 1855, and was appointed
Solicitor General of Nova Scotia on August 14, 1856. His term in office was cut short by a sectarian quarrel in the legislature, which occurred after the President of the
Charitable Irish Society was dismissed from his government job and charged with treason. The Liberal government had previously been supported by a majority of the province's
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
population, but in early 1857 eight Catholic Liberals and two Protestant Liberals from Catholic ridings defected to the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
opposition, which was then able to form government. Archibald was forced to resign his position on February 21, 1857.
In the provincial election of 1859, Howe's Liberals were returned to office on a platform of defending Protestant interests. This was essentially a cynical appeal to popular prejudice, and no significant actions were taken against the province's Catholics following the election. Archibald did not run, but was nevertheless appointed
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
in Howe's government on February 10, 1860. He returned to parliament following a by-election victory on March 8, 1860. In his new capacity, Archibald was a leading proponent of provincial railway development, even following the economic downturn of 1862.
In December 1862, Premier Howe was appointed Imperial Fisheries Commissioner by the British government. Archibald succeeded him as Liberal leader, although Howe continued to serve as Premier until the next election was called.
In early 1863, Howe's outgoing ministry passed a bill which re-introduced property qualifications for voters. The bill did not become law before the provincial election of May 1863, however, and it was largely due to the bill's unpopularity that Archibald's Liberals were dealt a crushing defeat. The party won only 14 seats out of 55, though Archibald was personally re-elected in
Colchester South.
Despite serving as leader of the opposition from 1863 to 1867, Archibald frequently sided with the Conservative ministry against his own caucus on important legislative initiatives. He supported the education tax plan put forward by
Charles Tupper
Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet (July 2, 1821 – October 30, 1915) was a Canadian Father of Confederation who served as the sixth prime minister of Canada from May 1 to July 8, 1896. As the premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led ...
's government, although it was opposed by most members of his own party. Archibald was later the Nova Scotia Liberal Party's representative to the first conference on Canadian Confederation, held at
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1864. Following the conference, he was the ''only'' member of the Liberal caucus to support Nova Scotia's entry into confederation.
Archibald faced a leadership challenge from anti-confederate
William Annand in 1866, but emerged victorious. When Nova Scotia joined the new nation of Canada on July 1, 1867, Archibald was appointed
Secretary of State for the Provinces
Secretary of State for the Provinces was an office in the Cabinet of Canada, active from 1867 to 1873. The office was superseded by the Minister of the Interior (Canada), Minister of the Interior on May 3, 1873.
The position was responsible for ...
in the cabinet of
John A. Macdonald.
Nova Scotia's political system was transformed by the debate on Confederation, and its concurrent provincial and federal elections in September 1867 were fought by Confederation and anti-Confederation parties, rather than by Liberals and Conservatives. The Confederation Party suffered a massive defeat, and Archibald (despite spending a very large sum of money) was defeated by
Archibald McLelan in the riding of
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''.
Colchester occupies the ...
. He resigned his cabinet post on April 30, 1868.
Popular opinion in Nova Scotia subsequently shifted in favour of Confederation, particularly after one-time anti-confederate Joseph Howe joined Macdonald's government in 1869. McLelan followed Howe to the Confederation side, and was appointed to the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
in August 1869. This allowed Archibald to run for the riding in a by-election, in which he defeated
Liberal Frederick Pearson, 1585 votes to 1230. Archibald was by this time a Liberal-Conservative, and continued to support the Macdonald government in parliament (though he was not re-appointed to cabinet).
In 1870, Archibald gave a speech in favour of conciliation towards the leaders of the
Red River Rebellion in Manitoba. This was noticed by
George-Étienne Cartier
Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, (pronounced ; September 6, 1814May 20, 1873) was a Canadians, Canadian statesman and Fathers of Confederation, Father of Confederation.
The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, th ...
, who was the ''de facto'' leader of the Canadian government while Macdonald was recovering from a serious illness. Cartier asked Archibald to become the first Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
. Although he had little interest in the region, he agreed on condition that he be appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia after serving a single term.
Archibald was sworn into office in August 1870, in
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...
. He then travelled to Manitoba, and began piecing together the province's first government. There was considerable antagonism between the province's
Métis
The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...
population and recently arrived soldiers from Ontario, and Archibald had difficulties finding suitable candidates to work with him. Until January 1871, the only members of his cabinet were local merchant
Alfred Boyd and
Marc-Amable Girard, a recent arrival from Quebec. Archibald himself was the province's ''de facto'' Premier, and often determined policy without consulting his ministers.
Despite opposition from many of the province's Anglophones, Archibald was able to settle the province's electoral boundaries by December 1870. Archibald himself was the leader of the government side in the election which followed; the francophone population was mostly united in support of him, while
John Christian Schultz led a group of ultra-loyalist Anglophones who opposed the conciliation policy. Archibald was successful, as Schultz's opposition won only five seats and Schultz was personally defeated in
Winnipeg and St. John.
Archibald put together a five-member cabinet in January 1871, which included Boyd, Girard,
Henry Joseph Clarke,
James Mackay and
Thomas Howard — a group which balanced the province's ethnic, religious and linguistic divisions. Archibald himself remained the real Premier.
Archibald continued to pursue a policy of conciliation with the province's Métis population, encouraging them to register their lands and even meeting with
Louis Riel
Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis in Canada, Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of ...
after an armed Métis band had defended the government against
Fenian
The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood. They were secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...
invaders from America. His real intentions were to prevent another Métis uprising in the short-term, and to allow for the gradual hegemony of new Canadian settlers in the region. Nevertheless, the specifics of his conciliation policy were opposed by Macdonald and Howe alike (Howe was by this time Macdonald's Indian Affairs minister). In the face of this opposition, Archibald submitted his resignation in late 1871. Macdonald initially had difficulty finding a replacement and asked Archibald to reconsider. The federal government chose
Francis Godschall Johnson as his replacement on April 9, 1872, but this commission was revoked before Johnson was sworn in. It was not until October 1872 that Archibald returned to
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
.
Archibald was not immediately appointed to the Nova Scotia court, and was instead made a director of the
Canadian Pacific Railway Company in February 1873. He was finally appointed to the bench in June, but withdrew days later to be appointed Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (former Conservative Premier
James W. Johnston initially received this appointment, but withdrew due to ill health). This position required less intervention than Archibald had exercised in Manitoba, although he attended cabinet meetings in 1873 and 1874. After 1876, he came to regard the position as primarily ceremonial, and above partisan concerns.
Archibald served as the 4th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia until June 1883. In 1886, he became President of the
Nova Scotia Historical Society, which he had helped to found six years earlier. He courted controversy by a public defence of the 18th-century
Acadian expulsion later in the year. Archibald was also the first historian of
Government House (Nova Scotia) and wrote an extensive monograph on the subject.
In 1888,
Archibald McLelan was appointed
Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia () is the representative in Nova Scotia of the monarch, who Monarchy in Nova Scotia, operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the Canadian federalism, ten other jurisdictions of ...
. McLelan had resigned his Senate seat in 1881 and subsequently returned to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
. His appointment meant that the riding of Colchester again became vacant, and ironically, Archibald was again prevailed upon to stand for the riding as a Liberal-Conservative candidate. He was re-elected to the Commons on August 15, 1888, 18 years after his previous departure. Archibald was little involved in the activities of the House following his return, and did not make any speeches. Due to ill health, he did not run again in 1891.
Family
Hon. Sir Adams George Archibald, K.C.M.G., Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia married Elizabeth A. Burnyeat, daughter of Rev. John Burnyeat. Their daughter Elizabeth Alice Archibald and his son Riley Robert Archibald were born and educated in
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
. they lived in
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, with their parents, while their father was a Minister of the Crown for the three years succeeding Confederation. they went with their parents, on their father's appointment as Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba. In December, 1881, Elizabeth Alice married the Right Reverend Dr.
Llewellyn Jones, Bishop of Newfoundland. After the couple's marriage, they lived at Bishopscourt in St. John's, Newfoundland.
Death
Archibald died on December 14, 1892, at the age of 78 of an unknown illness most likely derived from his old age.
[
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Awards and decorations
Electoral record
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Archibald, Adams George
1814 births
1892 deaths
Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent
Canadian Presbyterians
Fathers of Confederation
Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs
Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Lieutenant governors of Manitoba
Lieutenant governors of the Northwest Territories
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs
People from Truro, Nova Scotia
Colony of Nova Scotia judges
19th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
Nova Scotia political party leaders
19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada