Arthur Peters (August 29, 1854 – January 29, 1908) was the ninth

premier of Prince Edward Island The premier of Prince Edward Island is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. The current premier of Prince Edward Island is Rob Lantz, from the Progressive Conservative Party. See also ...

. Arthur Peters and his brother

Frederick Peters Frederick Peters (April 8, 1851 – July 29, 1919) was a lawyer and Prince Edward Island politician, who served as the sixth premier of Prince Edward Island. Early life and career Peters was born in Charlottetown and educated at King's Colleg ...

(also destined to enter political office) were born in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

. Arthur Peters was first elected to the province's legislative assembly in 1893 as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

. He became

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 1900 and was asked by the

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

to become

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

of the province on December 29, 1901, after his predecessor had resigned to enter federal politics. Peters attempted to renegotiate the rules governing the island's representation in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

as the island was losing parliamentary seats as a result of successive

censuses A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given population, usually displayed in the form of statistics. This term is used ...

. Peters argued the province's case before the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(though the matter was not resolved during his lifetime) and he also negotiated an increased federal subsidy to the province. Peters died in office on January 29, 1908, at the age of 53.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Arthur 1854 births 1908 deaths Politicians from Charlottetown Canadian Anglicans Premiers of Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island Liberal Party MLAs Prince Edward Island Liberal Party leaders 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island