Sir Adams George Archibald

Sir Adams George Archibald was born in 1814 in Truro, Nova Scotia. He was the seconds son of his parents Samuel Archibald and Elizabeth Archibald. Adams Started his euducation with one of his relatives in Truro and showed some skill in math & science.

 

He began studying medicine in Halifax, but was not fond of that profession. He later became a pupil for one of the barristers (lawyer) in the city. He was  commissioned as a notary public in 1836 and an attorney in 1838. In 1843, he married Elizabeth Burnyeat; the couple had three girls and one boy. 

 

He wanted a job in politics, becoming a Justice of the Peace in 1836 and a judge in 1848-1849. In 1849, he  was appointed to help oversee the building of the telegraph  linking to Halifax to New Brunswick. Archibald was first elected to the provincial assembly as a Liberal in 1851, one of two members for Colchester County, Nova Scotia. While in the legislature, he helped to orginize a normal school at Truro in 1854, becoming one of its directors. His first office was as olicitors general in 1856, a posting that was cut short by the collapse of the Liberal government. After the Liberals regained power in 1859, he was appointed attorney general. He was also one of the committee negotiators for the Intercolonial Railway in Archibald acted as government leader for Nova Scotia until the Conservatives won the 1863 election.

 

Archibald was invited by Charles Tupper to be one of the delegates to the Charlottetown Conference on union in September of 1864. He also participated in the conferences at Québec and London. As the financial expert of the delegation, Archibald's job was to comfirm the financial agreements of the Québec Resolutions to Nova Scotians. He was also the only Liberal in the Nova Scotia Assembly to support the Resolutions. For his efforts in promoting Confederation in the province, he was made secretary of state for the new Canadian federal government in 1867. He resigned the following spring in the face of Nova Scotian opposition to union, but returned to the federal government in 1869 after winning a by-election in Colchester County.

 

In the House of Commons, Archibald gave speeches regarding the people of the Red River area, that led George-Étienne Cartier to offer him the position of lieutenant-governor for the new province of Manitoba, and of the Northwest Territories, in 1870. Archibald accepted, on the condition that the posting only be for one year, and that he receive an appointment to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court when his term was complete.

While in Manitoba, he helped establishedfoundations for many services, such as schools and court systems, and negotiated the first two treaties with the western nations. Archibald was knighted for his work in the new province.

 

As his appointment to the court was delayed, Archibald accepted a position with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. After travelling to London on a fund-raising mission for the railway, he returned to Nova Scotia to find that his court position was ready. He was made judge in equity in 1873, but only days later was asked to accept the post of lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, after James William Johnston resigned. He held the office until 1883. While it was less eventful than his term in Manitoba, he had to meet the challenge of working with politicians still opposed to Confederation.

 

In October of 1883, Archibald participated in the inauguration of Dalhousie Law School. The following year, he was asked to lead the campaign for expansion and reorganization of the entire university, and was made chairman of its board of governors. Archibald also participated in the founding of the Nova Scotia Historical Society in 1878, serving as the organization's president from 1886 until his death (1892).

 

In 1888, John A. Macdonald asked Archibald to run in a federal by-election in Colchester County. Archibald carried the seat easily, but gave no speeches in the House of Commons, and was too sick to run again in 1891. He died at Truro in 1892.

 

Sources

https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/confederation/023001-4000.03-e.html

 

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-adams-george-archibald/

 

House of Commons

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_Canada