Sir John Abbott | |
|---|---|
 Abbott in 1892 | |
| 3rd Prime Minister of Canada | |
| In office June 16, 1891 – November 24, 1892 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor General | Lord Stanley of Preston |
| Preceded by | John A. Macdonald |
| Succeeded by | John Thompson |
| 19thMayor of Montreal | |
| In office 1887–1889 | |
| Preceded by | Honoré Beaugrand |
| Succeeded by | Jacques Grenier |
| Canadian Senator fromQuebec | |
| In office May 12, 1887 – October 30, 1893 | |
| Appointed by | John A. Macdonald |
| Constituency | Inkerman |
| Member of Parliament forArgenteuil | |
| In office February 12, 1880 – 1887 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Christie |
| Succeeded by | James Crocket Wilson |
| In office September 20, 1867 – 1874 | |
| Preceded by | Riding established |
| Succeeded by | Lemuel Cushing, Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (1821-03-12)March 12, 1821 St. Andrews East, Lower Canada |
| Died | October 30, 1893(1893-10-30) (aged 72) |
| Resting place | Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 8 |
| Parent(s) | Joseph Abbott Harriet Bradford |
| Education | McGill University (1847) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Province of Canada Dominion of Canada |
| Branch/service | Canadian Militia |
| Years of service | 1847–1884 |
| Rank | Captain Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Unit | 2nd Montreal Militia Battalion 4th Montreal Militia Battalion 11th Argenteuil Rangers |
| Commands | 11th Argenteuil Rangers (1862-1884) |
| Battles/wars | Fenian Raids |
Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (March 12, 1821 – October 30, 1893) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the thirdprime minister of Canada from 1891 to 1892. He held office as the leader of theConservative Party.
Abbott was born in what is nowSaint-André-d'Argenteuil, Quebec. He studied law atMcGill University and became one ofMontreal's best-known lawyers, later returning to McGill as a professor of law and earning aDoctor of Civil Law degree. He was perhaps best known for his successful defence of the perpetrators of theSt. Albans Raid. Abbott involved himself in politics from a young age, signing theMontreal Annexation Manifesto in 1849 – which he later regretted – and winning election to theLegislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1860. In the lead-up toConfederation he was a prominent advocate for the rights ofEnglish-speaking Quebecers.
In the1867 federal election, Abbott was elected to the newHouse of Commons of Canada as a member of theConservative Party. A telegram leaked from his office played a key part in thePacific Scandal of 1873, which led to the downfall ofJohn A. Macdonald's first government. Abbott was appointed to theSenate in 1887, in order to becomeleader of the Government in the Senate. He became prime minister in June 1891 following Macdonald's death in office. He was the first native-born Canadian prime minister, both Macdonald andAlexander Mackenzie having been born in Scotland, and the first to serve as Prime Minister while sitting in the Senate rather than the House of Commons. Abbott was 70 years old at the time, and served only until November 1892 when he retired due to ill health. He died the following year.[1]
Abbott was born in St. Andrews,Lower Canada (nowSaint-André-d'Argenteuil, Quebec), to Harriet (née Bradford) and the Rev.Joseph Abbott, anAnglicanmissionary fromLittle Strickland, England. In 1849, Abbott marriedMary Martha Bethune (1823–1898), a relative of Dr.Norman Bethune, a daughter ofAnglicanclergyman andMcGill acting presidentJohn Bethune, and a granddaughter of thePresbyterian ministerJohn Bethune.[2][3] The couple had four sons and four daughters, many of whom died without descendants. Their eldest surviving son, William Abbott, married the daughter of ColonelJohn Hamilton Gray, aFather of Confederation andpremier ofPrince Edward Island. Abbott was also the great-grandfather ofCanadian actorChristopher Plummer and the first cousin (once removed) ofMaude Abbott, one ofCanada's earliest female medical graduates and an expert on congenital heart disease.
Abbott was anOrangeman andFreemason.[4]
Abbott had served in the local militia “since boyhood”, being appointed an Ensign in the 2nd Montreal Militia Battalion in 1847.[5] In 1849 he was a signatory to theMontreal Annexation Manifesto, calling for union of the Canadas with the United States, resulting in the withdrawal of his commission in the militia. By 1850 however, he was reinstated and appointed a Captain in the 4th Montreal Militia Battalion.[5]
His recruitment of a battalion of 300 men, known as the11th Argenteuil Rangers, during theTrent Affair of 1861 may have been designed to atone for what he later described as the “sins of youth” and to enhance his political credentials, as much as to express his concern for his country's safety. On March 14, 1862, he was appointed Major in the11th (Argenteuil Rifles) Volunteer Militia, being promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on March 21.[6]
He commanded the regiment on the border multiple times throughout theFenian Raids, on March 8, 1866, they were called out for active service and were stationed in various villages throughoutArgenteuil.[7] On June 11, 1866, the Rangers were called out to serve atCornwall, and thenSaint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and a reporter from Montreal stated:
"I learned on Sunday afternoon that troops were to be sent to St. Johns [Saint-Jean] by special train; and managed to procure permission to come out with them. The troops sent forward were a part of the force recently garrisoning Cornwall, a portion of the 25th Regt. under Col. Fan, and the Argenteuil Rangers under Lieut. Col. The Hon. J.J.C. Abbott."[8]
Abbott retired from the militia as a Lieutenant Colonel, commanding the 11th Battalion, on June 22, 1883.
Taunted by his political opponents in March 1889 for his “disloyalty” in 1849, he explained that he considered his military service, and his commission as an officer and later commanding officer of the 11th Argenteuil Battalion of militia, to be evidence that his youthful error had been forgiven.[9]
Abbott graduated as aBachelor of Civil Law from McGill College (nowMcGill University) inMontreal in 1847,[10] and in the same year was initiated in the St. Paul'sMasonic Lodge, No. 374, E.R., inMontreal.[11] In 1867, he graduated as aDoctor of Civil Law (DCL). Most of his legal practice was incorporate law; however, his most celebrated court case was the defence of at first fourteen, then upon release and recapture, four of those fourteenConfederate agents who hadraided St. Albans, Vermont, from Canadian soil during theAmerican Civil War. Abbott successfully argued that the Confederates were belligerents rather than criminals and therefore should not be extradited. He began lecturing incommercial andcriminal law atMcGill in 1853, and in 1855 he became a professor anddean of its Faculty of Law, whereWilfrid Laurier, a future prime minister ofCanada, was among his students. He continued in this position until 1880.[10] In 1862, he was madeQueen's Counsel.[10] Upon his retirement,McGill named him emeritus professor, and in 1881 appointed him to its Board of Governors.
In 1849, he signed theMontreal Annexation Manifesto calling forCanada to join theUnited States, an action which he regretted later as a youthful error. He eventually joined theLoyal Orange Lodge ofBritish North America, well known as a pro-British organization. Abbott first ran forCanada's Legislative Assembly in 1857 in theArgenteuil district, northwest ofMontreal.[10] Defeated, he challenged the election results on the grounds of voting list irregularities and was eventually awarded the seat in 1860. He served as solicitor general forLower Canada (Quebec) representing the liberal administration ofJohn Sandfield Macdonald andLouis Sicotte, from 1862 until 1863.[10] He reluctantly supported Canada's confederation, fearing the reduction of the political power ofLower Canada's English-speaking minority. In 1865, he converted to a conservative.[10] His proposal to protect the electoral borders of 12 English Quebec constituencies was eventually incorporated into theBritish North America Act, 1867.[citation needed]
Abbott was elected to theHouse of Commons in 1867 as member for Argenteuil. He was removed from his seat by petition in 1874 following his involvement in thePacific Scandal. He narrowly lost the1878 election, then won in February 1880, only to have his victory declared void because of bribery allegations. He was, however, subsequently elected in a by-election in August 1881. In 1887,Macdonald appointed him to theSenate.[10] He served asLeader of the Government in the Senate from May 12, 1887, to October 30, 1893 (including his term as prime minister) and asMinister without Portfolio inMacdonald's cabinet. He also served two one-year terms asmayor of Montreal from 1887 to 1889.
Abbott was involved in the promotion of several railway projects, including theCanadian Pacific Railway (CPR) (of which he served as president). He worked to incorporate and arrange financing for the first CPR syndicate. As legal advisor to its main financier, SirHugh Allan, Abbott was the recipient of the infamous telegram from Prime Minister Macdonald during the1872 Canadian federal election campaign which read "I must have another ten thousand; will be the last time of calling; do not fail me; answer today." This telegram was stolen from Abbott's office and published, breaking the 1873Pacific Scandal which brought down Macdonald's government. Abbott was subsequently a key organizer of a second syndicate which eventually completed the construction of Canada's first transcontinental railway in 1885, serving as its solicitor from 1880 to 1887 and as a director from 1885 to 1891.
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When Prime Minister Macdonald died in office, Abbott supportedJohn Thompson to succeed him, but reluctantly accepted the plea of the dividedConservative party that he should lead the government, though he considered himself acaretaker prime minister for his seventeen months in office. He was one of just two Canadian Prime Ministers, the other beingMackenzie Bowell, to have held the office while serving in the Senate rather than the House of Commons.[12]
Soon after Abbott assumed office in 1891, Canada was plunged into an economic recession; later that same year he faced another challenge as the McGreevy-Langevin scandal came to light, revealing thatHector-Louis Langevin, former Minister of Public Works in the Conservative government, had conspired with contractorThomas McGreevy to defraud the government.
Despite the political toll on his party, Abbott dealt with the backlog of government business awaiting him after Macdonald's death, including reform of the civil service and revisions of the criminal code. He attempted in 1892 to negotiate a new treaty of reciprocity with the United States, but failed to reach an agreement.
During his term, there were 52 by-elections, 42 of which were won by the Conservatives, increasing their majority by 13 seats—evidence of Abbott's effectiveness as prime minister. One year into his time as prime minister, Abbott attempted to turn the office over to Thompson, but this was rejected due to anti-Catholic sentiment in the Tory caucus.[10]
Suffering from the early stages of cancer of the brain, Abbott's health failed in 1892 and he retired to private life, whereuponSir John Thompson finally became prime minister. Abbott died less than a year later at the age of 72.
Sir John Abbott is buried in theMount Royal Cemetery,Montreal,Quebec.[13]
John Abbott College inSainte-Anne-de-Bellevue,Quebec, near Abbott's 300-acre (1.2 km2) country estate (Boisbriant), is named after him.
He was named aPerson of National Historic Significance by theGovernment of Canada in 1938.[14]
His "most memorable" political comment is "I hate politics."[15] The full quote was "I hate politics and what are considered their appropriate measures. I hate notoriety, public meetings, public speeches, caucuses and everything that I know of which is apparently the necessary incident of politics—except doing public work to the best of my ability."[16]
In their 1999 look at theCanadian prime ministers throughJean Chrétien,J.L. Granatstein andNorman Hillmer included a survey of Canadian historians ranking the prime ministers. Abbott's term of service was considered below par and was ranked #17 out of 20 (up to then).[17] When the survey was repeated in 2016, Abbott was ranked 7th out of ten "short-term" prime ministers with a score of 1.8 out of 5.[18]
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