Joseph Hensley (12 June 1824 – 11 May 1894) was a

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

politician. His father, Charles Hensley, had been a member of 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 ...

and colonial treasurer. Hensley served briefly as Premier of Prince Edward Island in 1869 and then as an associate justice of the province's Supreme Court for a quarter of a century.

Background

Josephy Hensley was born and educated in England. His family settled on PEI in 1841 where Hensley became a lawyer. He was appointed to the legislative council by George Coles and served as

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 ...

under Coles' various

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 ...

governments of the 1850s. In 1861, Hensley was elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

in 1861 and became Coles' lieutenant in the legislature. When Coles retired as

leader and Premier in 1869, Hensley succeeded him. Hensley only served in the office for a few months before accepting an appointment to the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island and was succeeded as premier by Robert Poore Haythorne. Prior to becoming premier, while serving as Attorney General, Hensley was the prosecutor in the 1869 murder trial of George Dowie, who was executed in Prince Edward Island's last public hanging. During his tenure as a Supreme Court associate justice, he presided over another sensational trial in the murder of Mary Tuplin, in which the defendant William Millman was convicted and hung in 1888. Hensley's death in 1894 at the age of 69 resulted from what was described as "inflammation of the brain."

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