William Henry Steeves (May 20, 1814 – December 9, 1873) was a merchant, lumberman, politician and Father of Canadian Confederation.

Early life and education

William Henry Steeves was born on May 20, 1814, in Hillsborough,

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 ...

, the eldest son born to parents Joseph Steeves and Martha Gross. His great-grandparents, Heinrich and Regina Stief, were German immigrants who settled in the area after initially migrating to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

; they founded the surname " Steeves" in North America. Steeves was educated in public school, where he later recounted receiving "much more education than was usually acquired in New Brunswick by persons attending only public school," which he attributed to being as a result of being taught by Duncan Shaw, a Scottish-born

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

alumnus.

Business career

Steeves initially ran a small store before joining his brothers, James and Gilbert, in their Hillsborough-based

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

exporting business partnership known as Steeves Brothers. After moving to Saint John, Steeves furthered the business and established himself as a prominent figure in the city's financial community. Gilbert, his brother, also expanded business operations in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Political career

In 1846, Albert County was created; this saw the additional creation of its corresponding

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

, Albert, and Steeves was elected to the New Brunswick assembly as one of the district's first representatives. During his second term, he attended just one session after his re-election in 1850. Steeves supported government reform as well as requirements for

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 ...

members to be elected rather than appointed; he voted to pass a bill for such legislation in 1851, though it did not pass. In December 1851, he was appointed to the position. Given his location in Saint John, he may have been sought the following year by Sir Edmund Walker Head, the Lieutenant Governor, to serve as Surveyor General, which was ultimately taken by Robert Duncan Wilmot after Steeves chose not to take the position. In 1854, the compact government that had ruled the colony was finally defeated by a reform administration and Steeves became Surveyor General in the new government. He resigned the appointment later that year due to opposition to an unelected person from the Legislative Council being appointed rather than an elected member of the House of Assembly. In 1855, Steeves became the first chairman of the Department of Public Works. He left government in 1856 when the reform administration of Samuel Leonard Tilley was defeated over

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, but he returned to office with Tilley in 1857 and remained commissioner of public works until 1861. He continued in Tilley's government as

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

until 1865 when the government fell due to its support for

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 ...

. Steeves was a representative for New Brunswick at the Charlottetown Conference and Quebec Conference in 1864 to discuss the merging of the eastern British colonies of North America into a

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 ...

of Canada. As a result of participating in these conferences, he holds the status of being one of the Fathers of Confederation. Steeves was not recorded making any significant speeches during these conferences, though he did support Samuel Leonard Tilley. Following the July 1867 creation of the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

, Steeves was appointed for New Brunswick as a Liberal. In that body, he acted as an advocate for the better care of the mentally ill. He served in the Senate until his death.

Personal life and death

Steeves married his second cousin, Mary Steeves, in his early 20s; they had seven children, six of whom survived to adulthood. In his later years, Steeves had worked as a ship broker and managed various ships, and had spent time in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, c ...

. He died in his home in Saint John on December 9, 1873, and his funeral was held three days later. He was buried at Fernhill Cemetery; his grave bears a plaque, given his designation as a National Historic Person. Steeves is also the maternal great-granduncle of Jack Layton, a prominent

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

academic and politician who led the New Democratic Party to its most successful point in the party's history.

References

Citations

Works cited

External links

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Steeves Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steeves, William 1814 births 1873 deaths 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Canadian senators from New Brunswick Fathers of Confederation Liberal Party of Canada senators People from Hillsborough, New Brunswick Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Canadian people of German descent William Steeves Colony of New Brunswick people 19th-century members of the Senate of Canada