Alexander Campbell (Canadian senator)

For other Canadian politicians of the same name, see Alexander Campbell (disambiguation).

Sir Alexander Campbell PC KCMG QC (March 9, 1822 – May 24, 1892) was an Upper Canadian statesman and a father of Canadian Confederation.^[2][3]

The Honourable Sir Alexander Campbell PC KCMG QC
6th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
In office June 1, 1887 – May 24, 1892
Monarch	Victoria
Governors General	The Marquess of Lansdowne The Lord Stanley of Preston
Premier	Oliver Mowat
Preceded by	John Beverley Robinson
Succeeded by	George Airey Kirkpatrick
Senator for Cataraqui, Ontario[1]
In office October 23, 1867 – February 7, 1887
Member of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada for Cataraqui
In office 1858–1867
Personal details
Born	(1822-03-09)March 9, 1822 Hedon, Yorkshire, England
Died	May 24, 1892(1892-05-24) (aged 70) Toronto, Ontario
Resting place	Cataraqui Cemetery, Kingston, Ontario
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Conservative
Cabinet	Postmaster General (1885–1887) Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (1881–1885) Postmaster General (1880–1881) Minister of Militia and Defence (1880) Postmaster General (1879–1880) Receiver General (1878–1879) Minister of the Interior (1873) Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs (1873) Minister of Inland Revenue (Acting) (1868–1869) Postmaster General (1867–1873) Commissioner of Crown Lands (Province of Canada) (1864–1867)
Signature
• Father of Confederation •

Life

Born in Hedon, Yorkshire, he was brought to Canada by his father, James Campbell who was a doctor, when he was one year old. He was educated in French at St. Hyacinthe in Quebec and in the grammar school at Kingston, Ontario. Campbell studied law and was called to the bar in 1843. He became a partner in John A. Macdonald's law office.^[4]

Campbell was a Freemason of St. John's Lodge, No. 3 (Ontario) of Kingston (now The Ancient St. John's No. 3). When the government was moved to Quebec in 1858, Campbell resigned.^[5]

He was elected to the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada in 1858 and 1864, and served as the last Commissioner of Crown Lands 30 March 1864 – 30 June 1867. He attended the Charlottetown Conference and the Quebec City Conference in 1864, and at Confederation was appointed to the Senate of Canada. He later held a number of ministerial posts in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and was the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1887 to 1892.^[6]

Historian Ged Martin discussed the reasons why Campbell never achieved first rank as a politician; he was lame and suffered from epileptic seizures, and his estranged wife was a certified lunatic (see Family section below).

In 1883, he built his home on Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, now known as "Campbell House".

Campbell House, 236 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa

He died in office in Toronto in 1892, and was buried at Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston, Ontario.^[7]

Campbell Crescent in Kingston, a street in the Portsmouth municipal district, is named in his honour.

Family

In 1855, Campbell married Georgina Frederica Locke, daughter of Thomas Sandwith of Beverley, Yorkshire, and a niece of Humphrey Sandwith III (1792–1874) of Bridlington.^[7] As Ged Martin has detailed in an article on Campbell's private life, the marriage was a failure and his estranged wife spent time in asylums as a certified lunatic. He left two sons (the eldest was Charles Sandwith Campbell) and three daughters.^[8]