Samuel Leonard Tilley

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KCMG CB PC
4th & 7th Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
In office
11 November 1885 – 21 September 1893
MonarchVictoria
PremierAndrew George Blair
Preceded byRobert Duncan Wilmot
Succeeded byJohn Boyd
In office
15 November 1873 – 11 July 1878
MonarchVictoria
PremierGeorge Edwin King
John James Fraser
Preceded byLemuel Allan Wilmot
Succeeded byEdward Barron Chandler
Premier of the Colony of New Brunswick
In office
19 March 1861 – 21 September 1865
MonarchVictoria
GovernorJohn Manners-Sutton
Arthur Hamilton-Gordon
Preceded byCharles Fisher
Succeeded byAlbert James Smith
Personal details
Born8 May 1818
Gagetown, New Brunswick
Died25 June 1896(1896-06-25) (aged 78)
Saint John, New Brunswick
Political partyConservative
Spouses
  • Julia Hanford (1843–1862, her death
  • Alice Chipman (1867–1896, his death)
Children10, including Leonard Percy de Wolfe Tilley

Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley

druggist
.

Personal life

Born in

widower. On October 22, 1867, he married Alice Starr Chipman in St. Stephen, New Brunswick; they had two children, including future New Brunswick Premier Leonard Percy de Wolfe Tilley. Samuel Leonard Tilley died in 1896 on June 25.[2]

Political career

Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley and his first wife Julia Ann Hanford, circa 1843

Samuel Leonard Tilley entered politics as an activist in the

public school system, government control of public works
, and "honest government" in general.

Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, 1869

First elected to the

Provincial Secretary in the government of Charles Fisher. In 1855 he persuaded the assembly to pass a prohibition law, but that proved a failure and was later repealed.[3]

He attended each of the Charlottetown, London, and Quebec City Conferences as a supporter of Canadian Confederation. He served as premier of the colony of New Brunswick from 1861 until his government was defeated in the election of 1865. As premier, he supported the New Brunswick's entry into Confederation and the construction of an intercolonial railway.

A common tale states that Tilley was the originator of the word "Dominion" in

St Lawrence River to the North Pole
. "Dominion" had been used before, but Tilley pushed hard for it to be adopted in reference to Canada, despite Macdonald's preference.

The term led to the naming of the July 1 national holiday; however, the reference to a unique Canadian historical development was discarded in 1982 when "Canada Day", which had already been in use by most Canadians, was made official by an act of Parliament. In French, the date had long been known as la fête nationale (national feast or national birthday), a date which is often now applied to June 24 in Quebec, a date officially known as Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day.

Tilley entered federal politics with Confederation in 1867 and served in the federal cabinet as Minister of Customs. He became

Minister of Finance in 1873 and served until the defeat of the government later that year. He was appointed the fourth Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick in 1873 and served until 1878. When Macdonald's Tories returned to power in 1878, Tilley was elected member for Saint John and again became minister of finance; while in that office he introduced protective tariffs which became the basis of Canadian financial policy.[3] He served in cabinet until his retirement from politics in 1885, when he was again appointed the seventh Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
.

The Sir Leonard Tilley Building was named in his honour. He is interred in the Fernhill Cemetery in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Family

Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley`s second wife Lady Alice Tilley by William James Topley

Hon. Samuel Leonard Tilley, C.B., then Minister of Customs, married his second wife on October 20, 1867. Alice Starr Chipman was the daughter of ship owner (The Cedars) Zachariah Chipman and his wife Mary Eliza. The couple had two sons Herbert Chipman Tilley, born September 6, 1868, and Leonard Percy DeWolfe Tilley, born May 21, 1870. In July 1884, he and his wife were presented to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, at Osborne, by the Princess Louise. The couple were activists in the

Fredericton, New Brunswick. She helped found the Industrial School for Boys, the Nurses`Home, the Seamen`s Mission and the Home for Consumptives at Saint John, New Brunswick. The Chipman homestead in St. Stephen, New Brunswick was donated by the heirs of the estate in 1902 to found the Chipman Memorial Hospital. Alice was a founding member of the National Council of Women and served as President of the St John Local Council of Women.[4]

Archives

There is a Samuel Leonard Tilley fonds at Library and Archives Canada.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ "TILLEY, The Hon. Sir Samuel Leonard, P.C." www.parl.gc.ca. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  2. ^ Wallace 1990.
  3. ^ a b Chisholm 1911.
  4. ^ Morgan, Henry James, ed. (1903). Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada. Toronto: Williams Briggs. p. 333.
  5. ^ "Finding aid to Samuel Leonard Tilley fonds, Library and Archives Canada" (PDF).

References

Further reading

External links

Parliament of Canada
Preceded by
None
 Member of Parliament from City of St. John
1867–1873 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament from City of St. John
1878–1885 		Succeeded by
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