Robert Atkinson Davis
Robert Atkinson Davis ( born March 9, 1841 in Dudswell, Lower Canada, † January 7, 1903 in Phoenix, Arizona) was a Canadian politician and businessman. He was Prime Minister of the Province of Manitoba and ruled on 2 December 1874 to 16 October 1878.
Biography
After finishing school, Davis, who had a twin brother named Thomas worked as a teacher at his birthplace. A study of law at McGill University, he dropped out after a few months. After the end of the Civil War, the brothers moved to the U.S. Rocky Mountains and made their money transport services for prospectors. 1870 by Robert Davis settled in Winnipeg. He bought a hotel which turned out to be very profitable.
Davis expanded his business activities and was involved after the death of his first wife in the politics of the province of Manitoba. In 1873 he was elected to the Protestant School Board and the Chamber of Commerce of Winnipeg. In April 1874, the election was followed in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. Prime Minister Marc- Amable Girard appointed him on 8 July 1874 as Treasurer in the government. Davis sought to reduce the debt burden of the province and negotiate greater financial assistance with the federal government. Due to tensions between English-and French-speaking ministers Girard's government fell apart after only a few months.
Davis was the only minister who is not resigned during the crisis and received on December 2, 1874 order, to form a new government. As prime minister, he pursued a policy of equalization between the language groups. Against the opposition of the allies of John Christian Schultz, the government held in the dual education system and limited the speculation of land that belonged to the Métis, a. Davis was able to achieve that the Canadian Pacific Railway built their transcontinental railroad initially planned through Winnipeg instead by Selkirk.
On October 16, 1878 Davis resigned as Prime Minister and then moved to Illinois to his second wife, who had never taken up residence in Manitoba. From 1880 he was successful in Chicago as a real estate broker. On one of his many trips, he died in 1903 in Phoenix from a kidney disease.