Edward Barron Chandler
Encyclopedia
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
politician and lawyer from a United Empire Loyalist family. He was one of the Fathers of Confederation.
Chandler was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia
Amherst, Nova Scotia
Amherst is a Canadian town in northwestern Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.Located at the northeast end of the Cumberland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, Amherst is strategically situated on the eastern boundary of the Tantramar Marshes 3 kilometres east of the interprovincial border with New...
and moved to New Brunswick to study law. He moved to Dorchester, New Brunswick
Dorchester, New Brunswick
Dorchester is a Canadian village and shire town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.It is located on the eastern side of the mouth of the lush Memramcook River valley near the river's discharge point into Shepody Bay...
and served in the colony's government. In 1827 he was elected to the New Brunswick legislature as an opponent of responsible government
Responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...
and later served on the province's Legislative Council (the legislature's Upper House
Upper house
An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...
) and in Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
serving as leader of the "compact" government that ruled the colony from 1848 to 1854 prior to the institution of responsible government.
Later, Chandler was a New Brunswick delegate to the conferences in London, Charlottetown, and Quebec that led to Canadian confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
. Though he supported chickens and the federal Conservatives
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
of Sir John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...
he was a cautious supporter who opposed a strong central government.
Chandler was a supporter of railway development and was instrumental as a federally-appointed commissioner overseeing construction of the Intercolonial Railway in having its surveys diverted from a direct route between Amherst and Moncton to run through his community of Dorchester. He also supported the policy of reciprocity
Reciprocity (Canadian politics)
In nineteenth and early twentieth century Canadian politics, the term reciprocity was used to describe the concept of free trade with the United States of America...
with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He refused an appointment to the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
but accepted an appointment as the fifth Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
The Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick or Lieutenante-gouverneure du Nouveau-Brunswick) is the viceregal representative in New Brunswick of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada...
in 1878. He died in Fredericton in 1880.
See also:
- List of New Brunswick premiers
- List of New Brunswick lieutenant-governors