Benjamin Wier (August 9, 1805 – April 14, 1868) was a Canadian businessman and politician.

Early life

Hants County, Nova Scotia Hants County is an historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the West Hants Regional Municipality, and the Municipality of the District of East Hants. History Formation The county of Hants ...

, the son of Benjamin Weir. He married Phoebe Wier, a cousin, and opened a store near

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. He moved to Halifax in 1830.

Career

He established himself in the wholesale trade, operating a fleet of schooners that traded goods between Nova Scotia and

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

. Prior to

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...

in 1867, Wier represented Halifax township from 1851 to 1859 and Lunenburg County from 1859 to 1863 in the colonial

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

. During that period, he served in the province's Executive Council from 1855 to 1856 and from 1859 to 1863. After losing his seat in the

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 ...

election of 1863, he turned his attention to his many business interests. He was president of the Dartmouth Marine Railway and of the Salt Works Company. Weir was also a director of the People's Bank, the Union Marine Insurance Company, the Sydney Marine Railway and the Nova Scotian Telegraph Company. He also served as an alderman for the city of Halifax. Following Confederation, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada on October 23, 1867 by

royal proclamation A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...

. He represented the senatorial division of Nova Scotia until his death in Ottawa at the age of 62.

References

* *
''The Canadian parliamentary companion'', HJ Morgan (1867)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wier, Benjamin 1805 births 1868 deaths Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs Canadian senators from Nova Scotia Canadian people of Scottish descent People from Hants County, Nova Scotia Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople Colony of Nova Scotia people Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia