Stewart Campbell (politician)

Stewart Campbell (May 5, 1812 – February 20, 1885) was a Canadian lawyer and politician and a member of the Anti-Confederation Party.

Stewart Campbell
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Guysborough
In office
1867–1874
Succeeded byJohn Angus Kirk
MLA for Guysborough County
In office
1851–1867
Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
In office
1854–1863
Preceded byWilliam Young
Succeeded byJohn Chipman Wade
Personal details
Born(1812-05-05)May 5, 1812
Jamaica
DiedFebruary 20, 1885(1885-02-20) (aged 72)
Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada
Political partyAnti-Confederate, Liberal-Conservative
Occupationlawyer

Born in Jamaica, he studied law in England and completed his legal training in Halifax, Nova Scotia, studying with William Young. He practiced law in Halifax and then, some time before 1842, moved to Guysborough, where he also served as a surrogate judge. Campbell represented Guysborough County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1851 to 1867. He was speaker for the assembly from 1856 to 1863. From 1863 to 1865, Campbell served on a commission to consolidate the statutes for Nova Scotia. On September 20, 1867, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as the first member to represent the riding of Guysborough. He was re-elected for a second term on October 12, 1872, but was defeated in an election on January 22, 1874.[1]

Having been opposed to Nova Scotia's entry into the Confederation of Canada in 1860s debates, he remained a member of the Anti-Confederation Party through his first year in office, which was in favour of reversing the decision to join the Confederation. In September 1868 he joined the Liberal-Conservative Party when the Anti-Confederation Party began to collapse, the first MP in Canadian history to cross the floor of Parliament.[2] Spending his last years as a court county judge, he died on February 20, 1885.

Electoral record

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1867 Canadian federal election: Guysborough
Party Candidate Votes
Anti-Confederation Stewart Campbell acclaimed
Source: Canadian Elections Database[3]
1872 Canadian federal election: Guysborough
Party Candidate Votes
Liberal–Conservative Stewart Campbell acclaimed
Source: Canadian Elections Database[4]
1874 Canadian federal election: Guysborough
Party Candidate Votes
Liberal John Angus Kirk 759
Liberal–Conservative Stewart Campbell 544
lop.parl.ca

References

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  1. ^ "Biography – CAMPBELL, STEWART – Volume XI (1881-1890) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
  2. ^ "A brief history of floor crossing in Ottawa". Global News. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
  3. ^ Sayers, Anthony M. "1867 Federal Election". Canadian Elections Database. Archived from the original on 22 January 2024.
  4. ^ Sayers, Anthony M. "1872 Federal Election". Canadian Elections Database. Archived from the original on 3 February 2024.
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