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SIR JOHN SPARROW THOMPSON (1844-1894)

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 870 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIR See also:JOHN See also:SPARROW See also:THOMPSON (1844-1894)  , See also:Canadian jurist and statesman, was See also:born at See also:Halifax, Nova See also:Scotia, on the loth of See also:November 1844, of Irish descent . At fifteen he entered a lawyer's See also:office, and in 1865 was called to the provincial See also:bar: In 1871 he incurred much odium by leaving the Methodist See also:Church, in which he had been prominent, and becoming a See also:Roman See also:Catholic, a See also:change dictated solely by religious motives . In 1877 he was elected to the See also:local legislature for Antigonish as a Conservative, and in 1878 became See also:attorney-See also:general . In May 1882 he became premier, but in See also:June was defeated at the general See also:election, though retaining his own seat, and in See also:July was made a See also:judge of the provincial Supreme See also:Court . In See also:September 1885, he was appointed See also:minister of See also:justice in the Federal See also:cabinet, and soon after was elected member for Antigonish . In 1886 he successfully defended in the Federal See also:parliament the See also:hanging of See also:Louis See also:Riel (q.v.), which had greatly angered the See also:French Roman Catholics; in 1887-'888, together with Mr See also:Joseph See also:Chamberlain and See also:Sir See also:Charles See also:Tupper, he arranged a See also:Fisheries Treaty with the See also:American commissioners, which was afterwards thrown out by the See also:United States See also:Senate . During the following years he defended the See also:government with See also:great skill in various politico-religious disputes, and in November 1892 succeeded Sir See also:John See also:Abbott as premier of See also:Canada . The length of See also:time during which the Conservatives had held office had gathered around many parasites, and See also:Thompson was compelled to See also:face charges, some of them true, against prominent Conservatives . He promptly announced his intention to lop the mouldering branches away," and would probably have reorganized his party, but on the See also:lath of See also:December 1894 he dropped dead at See also:Windsor See also:Castle, a few minutes after having been sworn in by See also:Queen See also:Victoria as a member of the privy See also:council . Though a quiet See also:man who did not advertise, few Canadian statesmen have done so much honest and solid See also:work . In 1892 he finished the codification of the Canadian criminal See also:code; in 1893 his firmness and knowledge as See also:British arbitrator at See also:Paris on the See also:Bering See also:Sea dispute between Great See also:Britain and the United States were of great service . His See also:Life has been written by J .

C . See also:

Hopkins (See also:Toronto, 1895) .

End of Article: SIR JOHN SPARROW THOMPSON (1844-1894)
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