John Herbert Turner

John Herbert Turner ( born May 7, 1834 in Claydon, Suffolk, † December 9, 1923 in Richmond upon Thames, Middlesex ) was a Canadian politician and businessman. March 4, 1895 to August 15, 1898, he was Prime Minister of the Province of British Columbia. Previously, he had been mayor of Victoria and Minister of Finance.

Biography

Turner emigrated in 1856 to Canada. He first lived in Halifax in 1858 and moved to Charlottetown, where he worked as a trader. In 1862 he learned of the Cariboo Gold Rush and decided to move to British Columbia. Originally, he had planned to pan for gold, but then he opened shortly after his arrival in Victoria a shop. In 1864 he was co-founder of Turner, Beeton and Company, the fish processing, insurance, finance, import and wholesale worked successfully in the fields. In 1868, he joined the Freemasons.

From 1876 Turner was represented in the City Council of Victoria, 1879 to 1881 he was mayor of the provincial capital. In July 1886, he was elected as MP for the constituency of Victoria in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (at that time there were no political parties ). From 1887 to 1895 Turner was finance minister in the cabinets of AEB Davie, John Robson and Theodore Davie. After Theodore Davies election to the Supreme Court of the Province Vice- Governor Edgar Dewdney Turner commissioned on March 4, 1895 the formation of a new government.

As prime minister, had Turner drawn harsh criticism since during his tenure as finance minister has increased the budget deficit many times and still no change was foreseeable. In December 1897, the newspaper Victoria Province Turner and one of his ministers described as a " political whores " because they had made highly risky speculation in Dawson City. Turner sued the newspaper for libel, but lost the case in February 1898, which damaged the credibility of his government massively.

Elections in July 1898 ended in a stalemate. Turner first refused his resignation, but finally gave up on August 15 to pressure from Vice Governor Thomas Robert McInnes after. By June 1900 he was leader of the opposition, then until September 1901 the Treasury under James Dunsmuir. Then Turner went to London and was there until 1915 and 1917/18 the official representative of the province.

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