Sir John Joseph
Caldwell Abbott
1891-1892
Conservative
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"I hate politics, and what are considered their appropriate methods. I hate notoriety, public meetings, public speeches, caucuses, and everything that I know of that is apparently the necessary incident of politics - except doing public work to the best of my ability." Sir John J.C Abbott, June 4, 1891
- Born: March 12, 1821 in St. Andrews, Lower Canada (Québec).
- Education: Abbott's Anglican missionary father.
- Learned accounting and bookkeeping in the dry-goods business.
- Graduated from University of McGill College, B.C.L., 1854.
- Marriage: Mary Bethune (1823-1898) in 1849.
- Four sons and four daughters born.
Did You Know? Film and theatre actor, Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music) is a descendant of John Abbott.
- Called to the Bar of Canada East in 1847.
- Professor of Law at McGill University, 1853-1876. (Future PM Wilfred Laurier was one of Abbott's students.)
- Dean of Law, McGill, 1855-1880.
- Became President of Canada Central Railway, 1862.
- Died: October 30, 1893, in Montréal Québec, of cancer. Buried in Mont-Royal Cemetery, Montréal, Québec.
One of Abbot's hobbies was growing orchids and his collection was claimed by many to have been one of the best collections in Canada. |
- Constituencies: Argenteuil, Québec, 1967-1874, 1881-1887.
- Elected M.P for Argenteuil and was integral in the Pacific Scandal, 1873, when incriminating documents were stolen from his office and handed over to the newly-formed Liberal Party (formerly the Reform Party).
- Lost seat in parliament in 1874 as a result of the Scandal, but was re-elected in 1881
- Became a member of the Board of Directors, Canadian Pacific Railway, 1885-1891
- Appointed to the Senate in 1887.
- Elected Mayor of Montréal, Québec, 1887-1888.
- Elected Prime Minister in 1891 following the death of Sir John A. MacDonald.
- Reformed the civil service.
- Revised the criminal code.
- Signed a reciprocity treaty with the United states.
- Failing health forced Abbott to resign in November, 1892.
- Abbott was the first Prime Minister to lead the country from the Senate.
*(Progressive) Conservative *Liberal *Unionist/Conservative
| * Macdonald | * Mackenzie | * Abbott | * Thompson | * Bowell |
| * Tupper | * Laurier | * Borden | * Meighen | * King |
| * Bennett | * St. Laurent | * Diefenbaker | * Pearson | * Trudeau |
| * Clark | * Turner | * Mulroney | * Campbell | * Chrétien |
