Frederick W. A. G. Haultain

Coordinates: 52°7′45.7″N 106°38′34.5″W / 52.129361°N 106.642917°W / 52.129361; -106.642917
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Sir
Frederick W. A. G. Haultain
1916 painting by V.A. Long
1st Premier of the Northwest Territories
In office
October 7, 1897 – September 1, 1905
Lieutenant GovernorCharles H. Mackintosh
Malcolm Colin Cameron
Amédée E. Forget
Preceded byoffice created
Succeeded byGeorge Braden
Chairman of the Executive Committee
In office
November 7, 1891 – August 1, 1892
MonarchVictoria
Lieutenant GovernorJoseph Royal
Charles H. Mackintosh
Preceded byRobert Brett
Succeeded byHugh Cayley
In office
December 1, 1892 – October 7, 1897
MonarchVictoria
Lieutenant GovernorCharles H. Mackintosh
Preceded byHugh Cayley
Succeeded byhimself as Premier of the Northwest Territories
MLA for Macleod
In office
September 5, 1887 – September 1, 1905
Preceded byRichard Henry Boyle
Succeeded byDistrict abolished
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan for Lumsden
In office
December 13, 1905 – July 11, 1912
Preceded bynone
Succeeded byJoseph Glenn
Chief Justice of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal
In office
1912–1938
Preceded byE. L. Wetmore
Succeeded byWilliam F. A. Turgeon
1st Leader of the Opposition of Saskatchewan
In office
March 29, 1906 – June 15, 1912
Preceded bynone
Succeeded byWellington Willoughby
Personal details
BornNovember 25, 1857
Woolwich, England
DiedJanuary 30, 1942(1942-01-30) (aged 84)
Montreal, Quebec[1]
Resting placeMemorial Gates (University of Saskatchewan)
52°7′45.7″N 106°38′34.5″W / 52.129361°N 106.642917°W / 52.129361; -106.642917
Political partyLiberal-Conservative
SpouseMarion St Clair Castellain née Mackintosh
EducationUniversity of Toronto
Osgoode Hall
Signature

Sir Frederick William Alpin Gordon Haultain (November 25, 1857 – January 30, 1942) was a lawyer and a long-serving Canadian politician and judge. His career in provincial and territorial legislatures stretched into four decades. He served as the first premier of the Northwest Territories from 1897 to 1905 as is recognized as having a significant contribution towards the creation of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. From 1905 on he served as Leader of the Official Opposition in Saskatchewan as well as Leader of the Provincial Rights Party. His legislative career ended when he was appointed to the judiciary in 1912.

Early life[edit]

He was born in Woolwich, England in 1857, the son of Frederick W. Haultain (1821–1882) and Lucinde Helen Gordon (1828–1915),[2] and came to Peterborough, Canada West, with his family in 1860. He grew up in Peterborough and Montreal, where he was educated at the High School of Montreal, later receiving a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto. He later studied law at Osgoode Hall and was called to the bar in Ontario in 1882 and in the North-West Territories in 1884.[3]

Northwest Territories politics[edit]

Haultain in 1884

In 1884, Haultain opened a law practice in Fort Macleod. He also served as Crown Prosecutor there for several years, and also was an editor for newspapers in Fort Macleod and Lethbridge. Haultain was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in a by-election held on September 5, 1887. He defeated Charles Conybeare by a large margin. Representing the electoral district of Macleod in the North-West Territories Council from 1887 to 1888. Haultain would win his next five elections by acclamation.[4]

The editor of the Calgary Herald once wrote of him saying that "He is a man of academic training and large, clear perception; straightforward and manly even towards his enemies. In some respects, he is the most finished debater ever heard on a Western platform, arraying his Facts in crisp, clear-cut sentences, and then pressing home his argument with logic and Force?"[5]

Premier[edit]

Hault was appointed premier of the Northwest Territories on October 7, 1897. Haultain also served as Attorney General and Commissioner of Education.[6] As premier, Haultain led negotiations for the granting of provincial status. He argued for Alberta and Saskatchewan to be admitted as a single province named Buffalo,[7] and wanted the new province to be governed by non-partisan governments. The federal Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, however, decided that such a province would challenge the power of Ontario, and Quebec. Instead wanting to carve up the province to create, Alberta and Saskatchewan, in 1905.

Haultain in 1941

Frustrated in negotiations with the federal Liberal government, Haultain became increasingly identified with the Conservative Party and campaigned for it in the 1904 federal election. Laurier's Liberals were re-elected.

Saskatchewan politics[edit]

Haultain led the Provincial Rights Party in the 1905 Saskatchewan provincial election, which was won by the Liberal Party of Saskatchewan. From 1905 to 1912, Haultain sat in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as leader of the Opposition.

Later life[edit]

In 1912, the newly elected Conservative federal government of Sir Robert Borden made Haultain Chief Justice of Saskatchewan's superior court. Haultain was knighted in 1916. The next year, he became Chief Justice of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, a position that he held until his retirement in 1938.

Haultain died on January 30, 1942, at Montreal.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Perry, Craig 2006, pg. 184
  2. ^ Perry, Craig 2006, pg. 161
  3. ^ 'HAULTAIN, Frederick William Gordon', in The Canadian Who's Who (1909)
  4. ^ "The Honourable Frederick Haultain, 1897 - 1905". AB heritage. Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 8 Dec 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ THOMAS/THOMAS/OWRAM/MACLEOD, DOUGLAS (1979). THE FORMATION OF ALBERTA A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY (PDF). Historical Society of Alberta. p. 25. ISBN 0-88864-987-8. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  6. ^ "The Honourable Frederick Haultain, 1897 - 1905". AB heritage. Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 8 Dec 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ Spencer 2007, p. 4.
  8. ^ "The Honourable Frederick Haultain, 1897 - 1905". AB heritage. Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 8 Dec 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
Preceded by
New District
MLA South Qu'Appelle
1905–1912
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Chief Justice of Saskatchewan
1912–1938
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan
1917–1940
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