John Abbott

Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott PC, KCMG, QC ( born March 12, 1821 in St. Andrews, Quebec, † October 30, 1893 in Montreal) was a Canadian lawyer, entrepreneur, professor and politician. In the years 1887/88 he was the mayor of Montreal. From June 16 1891 to 24 November 1892 he was the third Prime Minister of Canada. Abbott is the great-grandfather of actor Christopher Plummer.

Family

Abbott was born as the eldest son of Joseph Abbott and his wife Harriet Bradford. His father served as pastor of the Church of England in the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. In 1818 he emigrated with his brother from Westmorland by Kanda. There he ordered, in addition to his duties as a pastor, an approximately 120 -acre farm. On August 10, 1820 Abbott's parents were married at Christ Church Cathedral in Montreal. His mother was the eldest daughter of Richard Bradford, an Anglican missionary in the valley of the Ottawa River. Abbott's maternal grandfather was also come as part of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1805 to Chatham in New Brunswick. Through him, Abbott could trace his family roots to William Bradford, one of the first settlers on the territory of the United States. His maternal grandmother, Sarah Jefferys, was maid of Sophie Charlotte of Mecklenburg -Strelitz.

Abbott had eight younger siblings, three sisters and five brothers. However, three of his brothers died as an infant and one of his sisters died at the age of twelve years. His second cousin was Maude Abbott, one of the first female doctors in Canada. He married on 26 July 1849 in the same church like his parents, Mary Bethume, the daughter of the Chief Administrative Officer of the McGill University John Bethune and niece of the fur trader and chief factor of the Hudson 's Bay Company Angus Bethune. The couple had twelve children, of whom only ten survived infancy.

Youth and Education

His childhood and youth spent Abbott in different rural areas of Lower Canada. So the family moved in April 1825 from St. Andrews to Yamaska ​​. There, the father ordered a farm. In June 1831 took this a pastorate in Grenville and the family moved again. There the father supervised the building of the new church. His education was first at the Abbott St Andrews Academy, the elementary school in St. Andrews, and in which he was later given to a private school, teaching both in mathematics, astronomy and ancient languages ​​. In addition, he took over as the eldest son early on responsible tasks on the family farm and was taught by his father. In his spare time, Abbott learned wrestling and later took part in tournaments.

1838 Abbott traveled with a friend to Montreal in order there to take a job as a retail merchant. But a year later he returned, after a serious illness, returned to his parents' home and was eventually hired at a company in Gananoque. 1843 Abbott moved again to Montreal to study at the newly opened Faculty of Arts at McGill University. In addition, he worked in the university administration. There he was promoted to Assistant Treasurer. In 1845 he worked as a law clerk at the law firm of Strachan Bethune in Montreal. Two years later he was admitted to the bar in Lower Canada. His doctorate from Abbott joined only in 1867.

Professional activity

1849 Abbott opened with the law professor William Badgley own law firm and was involved in the Bar Association. In the same year he joined the Freemasons. He, too, was one of the signatories of the published in October and December 1849 the Montreal Annexation Manifesto, which he considered later as youthful indiscretion. Already in 1847 he had volunteered for the militia and attained the rank of ensign. He was fired for his involvement in the annexation movement, but resumed in the wake of the reorganization of the militia and was promoted to captain.

From 1853 onwards Abbott worked as a professor at McGill University, where he also initially lived with his wife and his parents. In 1855 he was appointed professor of commercial and criminal law and took over at the same time the post of Dean of the Faculty of Law. He had the latter, held in addition to his work as a lawyer and political engagement, until 1876, when he became professor emeritus in 1879. Among his students was one among others Wilfrid Laurier. After his partner Badgley had been appointed as a judge in 1855, Abbott took over the firm and very quickly developed into one of the most famous lawyers of Business Law in Montreal. Among his clients were about Hugh Allan and Baron Strathcona. To cope with the work, he was soon established lawyers.

At the same time, Abbott successfully participated with his brothers at numerous railway companies. But the brothers were extremely successful in the speculation in land. So they bought about 28,000 acres of land in the region Estrie where they IMAC 1853 slate to sell him, among others, the Grand Trunk Railway. Abbott was also CEO of several companies, including various banks and insurance companies. He also held a large herd of Ayrshire cattle. As part of the Trent affair in 1861 he commanded a regiment and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. 1862 Queen Victoria appointed him to the Attorney-General.

Despite its specialization in business law cases gave Abbott his criminal activity to never quite. He also gained international recognition as one of the defenders of the 14 involved in the St. Albans incident accused. He argued that the defendants had acted as combatants on the side of the Confederate States of America, thus preventing their extradition to the United States. In his capacity as general counsel for the Canada Pacific Railway Abbott was solely responsible for creating the Articles of Association of the company. After his election as mayor of Montreal, he retired as General Counsel of Canda Pacific Railway and also as a lawyer from active daily business of his office in order to concentrate fully on his political responsibilities.

Political Activities

Initially attracted by the Liberal Party program, Abbott joined the Conservative party later on. From 1860 he was a member as a Liberal for the electoral district of Argenteuil the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. In the elections in 1858, first his opponent Sydney Robert Bellingham was declared elected. After an objection Abbott's choice, however, was declared invalid because Bellingham's followers had falsified the election results. After an investigation Abbott was declared in March 1860 to the election winner. Until the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly in 1866, he represented the interests of his constituency. During this time he successfully lobbied for the reform of the jury system, and supported legislation to simplify the payment of court fees.

From 1862 to 1863 Abbott was in the reign of John Sandfield Macdonald and Louis Victor Sicotte Attorney General for Lower Canada. After the failure of this government, he resigned from his post as Attorney General and worked in the sequence on the design of a new bankruptcy law. As a parliamentarian, he was a member of the parliamentary committee on railways, shipping channels and telegraph lines. The committee's work, he sat as a Member of the House of Commons continued as chairman of the Banking Committee. There he represented according to the Confederacy 1867-1874 and 1880-1886 also the electoral district of Argenteuil.

In addition to his work as a lawyer for Hugh Allan and his company Abbott was also politically closely linked to the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. After a syndicate to Allan was awarded the contract to build the railway, Abbott was part of a four-member group of politicians who traveled to London in 1873 to campaign for the financing of the project. The announcement of these negotiations led to the Pacific scandal, in consequence of Sir John A. Macdonald was forced to resign because of illegal campaign contributions Allans to the Conservative Party by the Office of the Prime Minister. Abbott played a significant role in this scandal, but it had been a secret agreement on the donations between him and Allan. Despite his involvement in this scandal Abbott managed to defend in the general election in 1874, first his seat in Parliament, but in 1875 had to finally resign. At the general election in 1878 Abbott initially lost against the candidate of the Liberal Party, but was declared the winner grabbing lawsuit after a stir and attracted so again in parliament. His seat he gave in 1886 on the grounds of age.

A year later, offered him a seat in the Senate to Macdonald, took what Abbott. With his appointment as senator, he was also Leader of the Conservative Party in the Senate. In addition, he took over the post of minister without portfolio in the government of MacDonald. In March of the same year he was appointed a member of the Canadian Privy Council. Also in 1887 he successfully ran for the office of mayor of Montreal. He held this office for two terms, that is held until 1889. A third term, he finally refused. After the death of John Macdonald in 1891 turned to Lord Stanley, the Governor General of Canada, first at John Thompson and asked him to form a government. Thompson refused, however, and struck Abbott as the new prime minister before. Since his health was not stable, but this hesitated long before he took up the position and was finally sworn in in June 1891.

Besides Mackenzie Bowell Abbott is the only Canadian Prime Minister who did not belong to the House of Commons during his tenure. The cabinet remains unchanged at first. Soon after taking office, Abbott saw with the first scandal in his cabinet faced. Hector -Louis Langevin, Minister for construction projects, was forced to resign on August 11, 1891 by bribery allegations. The following year, the first Canadian Criminal Code was adopted. In the summer of 1892, shortly after the end of the second session of Parliament, ill Abbott heavy. He traveled to England, where doctors diagnosed cancer in him. After a short stay in Italy, brought no improvement in his health, he returned to Canada and entered into force on December 5, 1892 back by the Office of the Prime Minister. The Governor General certain John Thompson to succeed him.

Last month, death and legacy

The last months of his life spent Abbott at his home in Boisbriand. He died on the morning of October 30, 1893 of complications from cancer. The funeral service was held at the Christ Church Cathedral held in Montreal and Abbott was buried in the cemetery of Mont -Royal. There is an obelisk erected in his honor. As an expression of its association with McGill University was named after him, the John Abbott College in Sainte -Anne -de- Bellevue. Abbott is today, because of its use in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway as one of the most important people in the union of Canada.