John Wimburn Laurie
Encyclopedia
John Wimburn Laurie was a soldier and political figure in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, Canada and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. He represented Shelburne
Shelburne (federal electoral district)
Shelburne was a federal electoral district in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1896.It was created by the British North America Act of 1867. It consisted of the County of Shelburne...

 in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 from 1887 to 1891 as a Conservative
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...

 member and was a member of the British House of Commons representing Pembroke and Haverfordwest
Pembroke and Haverfordwest (UK Parliament constituency)
Pembroke and Haverfordwest was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Pembroke and Haverfordwest in West Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.- History :The constituency...

 from 1895 to 1905.

He was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England, the son of John Laurie and Eliza Helen Collett, and educated at Harrow
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...

, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

 and Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...

. He entered the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 in 1853 and served in the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

 and in the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny. Laurie also served during the North-West Rebellion
North-West Rebellion
The North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada...

 of 1885. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant General in 1887. In 1863, he married Frances R. Collins. Laurie was warden for Halifax County
Halifax County, Nova Scotia
Halifax County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.The Municipality of the County of Halifax was the municipal government of Halifax County, apart from the separately incorporated towns and cities therein...

 in 1880. He was defeated by Thomas Robertson
Thomas Robertson (Nova Scotia politician)
Thomas Robertson was a Canadian civil servant, entrepreneur and politician. Robertson was a Liberal member of Parliament for the electoral district of Shelburne in the Canadian House of Commons from 1878 to 1887, a Nova Scotia Liberal member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1894 to 1902,...

 in the 1887 general election
Canadian federal election, 1887
The Canadian federal election of 1887 was held on February 22, 1887 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Canada.The Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A...

; Robertson's election was overturned on appeal and Laurie won the subsequent by-election later the same year. That election was declared void but Laurie was elected again in 1888. He returned to England and was an unsuccessful candidate for a seat in the British House of Commons in 1892.

Laurie was a prominent freemason, serving as Grand Master for Nova Scotia and provincial grand master for South Wales. During his time in Nova Scotia, he served as president of the Central Board of Agriculture. Laurie was chairman of the Canadian trade section of the London Chamber of Commerce. He was named a knight of the Order of St. Sava
Order of St. Sava
The Order of St. Sava was a decoration instituted by the order King Milan I of Serbia in 1883. The Order of Saint Sava originally was established to recognize civilians for meritorious achievements in the arts and sciences. In 1914 a change was made permitting military personnel to receive the...

and of the Order of the Red Cross of Servia.
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