John James Fraser (August 1, 1829 – November 24, 1896) was a

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

(Canada)

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, and

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. John Fraser was born at Beaubears Island, New Brunswick. He married twice, the first time in 1867 to Martha Cumming. She died in 1871 and in 1884 he married Jane Maria Paulette Fisher, eldest daughter of former Premier, Charles Fisher. In 1865 he won a seat in the colonial

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

as an

Anti-Confederation Party ''Anti-Confederation'' was the name used in what is now the Maritimes by several parties opposed to Canadian Confederation. The Anti-Confederation parties were accordingly opposed by the Confederation Party, that is, the Conservative and Libera ...

MLA but lost his

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the next year. After

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () 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 Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

he ultimately joined the government and was appointed to the

legislative council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

serving as president of the Executive Council from 1871 to 1872. That year he won a seat in the legislature and served as Provincial Secretary from 1872 to 1878 when he succeeded George E. King as

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Fraser was the first premier to give both the

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and the Irish sections of the

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community effective representation in cabinet.

Pierre-Amand Landry Sir Pierre-Amand Landry, (May 1, 1846 – July 28, 1916) was an Acadian lawyer, judge and political figure in New Brunswick. He represented Westmorland County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1870 to 1874 and from 1878 to ...

was made commissioner of public works, while Michael Adams became a surveyor-general with responsibility for administering crown lands. In 1882, after running unsuccessfully for a seat in the federal parliament, Fraser left politics and was appointed to the provincial

supreme court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and from 1893 to 1896 he served as the

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

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 ...

of the province. John Fraser died in 1896 in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, Italy.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''Government of New Brunswick profile of Premier Fraser
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, John James 1829 births 1896 deaths Colony of New Brunswick people Lawyers in New Brunswick Judges in New Brunswick Premiers of New Brunswick Lieutenant governors of New Brunswick Canadian people of Scottish descent 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick