Sir Charles Tupper
1896-1896
Conservative
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"The human mind naturally adapts itself to the position it occupies. The most gigantic intellect may be dwarfed by being cabin'd, cribbed and confined. It requires a great country and great circumstances to develop great men." Charles Tupper, 1865
- Born: July 2, 1821 in Amherst, Nova Scotia.
- Education: Horton Academy, Wolfville.
- Graduated University of Edinburgh as an MD, Scotland, 1843.
- Returned to Amherst to set up practice.
- Marriage: Frances Morse (1826-1912) in 1846.
- Three sons and three daughters.
- President of the Canadian Medical Association, 1867-1870.
- Died: October 30, 1915, in Bexley Heath, Kent, England, of heart failure. Buried in St. John's Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Tupper was the only Canadian prime minister who was a physician. In fact, he continued to practice medicine throughout his career. From 1867 to 1870, Tupper served as the first president of the Canadian Medical Association. |
- Entered politics as a Conservative in 1855.
- Defeated popular Reformer Joseph Howe to win the Cumberland riding in Nova Scotia.
- Constituencies: Cumberland, Nova Scotia, 1867-1884, 1887-1888; Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, 1896-1890.
- Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia, 1857-1860, 1863-1867.
- Premier of Nova Scotia, 1864-1867.
- Participated in the Confederation Conferences of Charlottetown, 1864.
- Participated in the Confederation Conferences of Quebec, 1864.
- Participated in the Confederation Conferences of London, 1866.
- Father of Confederation, 1867.
- Despite anti-confederation sentiments, Tupper convinced the province of Nova Scotia to join Confederation in 1867.
- Became the only member from Nova Scotia who supported Confederation to be elected for the Federal Parliament, 1867.
- Convinced anti-Confederation supporter Joseph Howe to accept the union of Canada and to join Sir John A. Macdonald's Cabinet.
- President of the Privy Council, 1870-1872.
- Minister of Inland Revenue, 1872-1873.
- Minister of Customs, 1873.
- Minister of Public Works, 1878-1879.
- Minister of Railways and Canals, 1879-1884.
- Constructed the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR), 1879-1884.
- High Commisioner to the United Kingdom, 1884-1887, 1888-1896.
- Minister of Finance, 1887-1888.
- Secretary of State, 1896.
- Appointed as Prime Minister in April 1896 by Governor-General Lord Aberdeen following the resignation of Mackenzie Bowell.
- Tories were forced to call an election following Bowell's resignation.
- Tupper led an aggressive campaign, but scandals and contentious issues (e.g. Manitoba Schools Question) enabled Liberal Sir Wilfrid Laurier to be elected.
- Tupper's duration as Prime Minister was the shortest in Canadian history.
- Conservative Party Leader, 1896-1901.
- Leader of the Opposition, 1896-1901.
- When his wife, Frances Morse died in 1912, they had been married 65 years.
*(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 |
