Our Fathers of Confederation

Sir Charles Tupper

Sir. Charles Tupper was born on July 2, 1821 in Amherst, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia to Reverand Charles Tupper DD and Miriam Lockhart.  His mother's brother, Timothy Lockhart was married to Elizabeth Teed, daughter of our Loyalist ancestor, Daniel Teed.  Tupper trained as a doctor but spent most of his life in the political sphere.  Prior to Confederation, in 1867 he was Prime Minister of Nova Scotia and went on to become a minister in Sir John A. MacDonald's cabinet.  Over his career, he served as Minister of Inland Revenue, Customs, Public Works, Railways and Canals. He oversaw the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway.  He served as High Commissioner to Great Britain and finally served a short term as Prime Minister in 1896.  He was created a baronet in 1888. He retired to Bexley, Heath, County Kent where he died in 1915.  He is buried in Saint John's Cemetery, Halifax.  Interestingly enough, it was Sir Charles Tupper who appointed our great great grandfather as Justice of the Peace in Cumberland County.  It would be in another generation before the family connection would be established.

Sir Leonard Tilley

Sir. Samuel Leonard Tilley was born on May 18, 1818 in Gagetown, New Brunswick.  His nephew, Samuel Leonard Tilley was married to the widow of William Ellis Bragg our great uncle who was the son of Charles Bragg and Matilda Swallow.  Leonard Tilley was an affluent New Brunswick apothecary and temperance advocate who became premier and led his province into confederation. In fact, it was Tilley, inspired by reading Psalm 72, who suggested the title Dominion of Canada. When the British North America Act came into force by royal proclamation on July 1, 1867, MacDonald was the first to lay his hand upon a Bible and be sworn in as a member of the Privy Council, followed by George-Étienne Cartier. Tilley was next, and he became the minister of customs in Canada's inaugural federal government.

Tilley's impeccable character and reputation remained intact even when others around him fell. When charges of corruption were brought against MacDonald's government in connection with the Canadian Pacific Railway, Tilley was not among the guilty. Prior to that government's resignation in 1873, the fifty-five-year-old Tilley was thus appointed the lieutenant governor of New Brunswick. He became a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George under the reign of Queen Victoria.

In 1896, Sir Leonard, contracted blood poisoning as the result of a minor cut, an died at the age of 78.

Sir Adams Archibald

Sir Adams George Archibald was born in Truro, Nova Scotia on March 3, 1814.  He was the first cousin  of Ruth Fisher, wife of Matthew Johnson, son of James Johnson and Elizabeth Patterson, our Cobequid Planter ancestors.  Sir Adams Archibald studied science and medicine for a few years, subsequently articled in law, and was called to the Nova Scotia bar in January 1839. He held a number of local offices over the next decade, and was appointed a probate judge in 1848. Archibald was elected to the Nova Scotia legislature in 1851 as a supporter of Joseph Howe's governing Reformers, topping the poll in the two-member riding of Colchester County.  When Nova Scotia joined the new nation of Canada on July 1, 1867, Archibald was appointed Secretary of State for the Provinces in the cabinet of John A. Macdonald. Nova Scotia's political system was transformed by the debate on Confederation, and its concurrent provincial and federal elections in September 1867 were fought by Confederation and anti-Confederation parties, rather than by Liberals and Conservatives. The Confederation Party suffered a massive defeat, and Archibald (despite spending a very large sum of money) was defeated by Archibald McLellan in the riding of Colchester.


Archibald was by this time a Liberal-Conservative, and continued to support the Macdonald government in parliament (though he was not re-appointed to cabinet). In 1870, Archibald gave a speech in favour of conciliation towards the leaders of the Red River Rebellion in Manitoba. This was noticed by George-Étienne Cartier, who was the de facto leader of the Canadian government while Macdonald was recovering from a serious illness.

Cartier asked Archibald to become the first Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. Although he had little interest in the region, he agreed on condition that he be appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia after serving a single term.   He died back in Nova Scotia in 1888.