Alexander Bannerman Warburton (April 5, 1852 – January 14, 1929) was a politician, jurist and author, who served as the seventh

premier of Prince Edward Island The premier of Prince Edward Island is the first minister and head of government for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. The current premier of Prince Edward Island is Dennis King (politician), Den ...

, Canada. Alexander was born in Summerside, the son of James Warburton, who was a member of the provincial assembly. Named after Lieut. Governor, Sir

Alexander Bannerman Sir Alexander Bannerman (7 October 1788 – 30 December 1864) was a Scottish merchant, vintner, politician and British colonial governor. Early life Known as "Sandy", he was born on 7 October 1788 in Scotland. He was the eldest son of merchant ...

, he was educated in Summerside, at

St. Dunstan's College ) , type = Public SchoolIndependent day school , chair_label = Chairman of Governors , chair = Paul Durgan , head_label = Head , head = Nicholas Hewlett , address = Stanstead Road, Catford , city = London Bo ...

, King's College in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He was called to the bar in 1879. He was a director for the ''Patriot'' Publishing Company and the Eastern Assurance Company of Canada. Warburton was first elected to the province's

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

in 1891 as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

, and was re-elected in 1893 and 1897. He became

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

of the province on October 27, 1897, when his predecessor resigned to move to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Warburton only served in the position for eight months until resigning in June 1898 to accept a judicial appointment. In the 1908 federal election, he was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP), but lost his

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in the 1911 election that defeated the

Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minist ...

Liberals. He attempted to return to the House but was again defeated in the 1917 election. In 1920, Warburton returned to the bench as a judge on

probate court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the Administration of an estate on death, administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts ma ...

and held that position until his death. Warburton wrote two books on the history of the island, ''Prince Edward Island, Past and Present'' in 1905, and ''A History of Prince Edward Island'' which was published posthumously in 1923. Prior to entering politics, Warburton started a movement to beautify

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

which resulting in the planting of more than 800 trees along main thoroughfares and in public squares, many of which stand to this day.

References

*
''The Canadian parliamentary companion, 1891'', JA Gemmill''Past and Present of Prince Edward Island ...'', DA MacKinnon & AB Warburton (1906)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warburton, Alexander 1852 births 1929 deaths Politicians from Summerside, Prince Edward Island Canadian Anglicans Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Prince Edward Island Premiers of Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island Liberal Party MLAs Prince Edward Island Liberal Party leaders