Chesley Arthur "Ches" Crosbie (November 4, 1905 – December 26, 1962) was a

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

businessman and politician.

Early life

Crosbie belonged to a prominent St. John's family involved in hotels, fish exporting, insurance, shipping and manufacturing. He was the son of Mitchie Anne (Manuel) and Sir

John Chalker Crosbie Sir John Chalker Crosbie (11 September 1876 – 5 October 1932) was a Newfoundland merchant and politician. An aggressive and energetic entrepreneur, he created a fortune (which he lost) and started the Crosbie dynasty. His son, Chesley Cro ...

, the founder of Crosbie and Company Limited. His father also served in the country's government as Minister of Shipping in 1917; as Acting Prime Minister in 1918; and was Minister of Finance and Customs from 1924 until his retirement in 1928.

Career

After his father's death in 1932, Crosbie took over the family business and attempted to expand it further by investing in whaling. Crosbie was a delegate to the

Newfoundland National Convention The Newfoundland National Convention of 1946 to 1948 was a forum established to decide the constitutional future of Newfoundland. Nominations On 11 December 1945 the British Government announced that there would be an election to a national c ...

and favoured

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

. On March 20, 1948, he split with the

Responsible Government League The Responsible Government League was a political movement in the Dominion of Newfoundland. The Responsible Government League of Newfoundland, led by Peter Cashin, was formed in February 1947 by anti-Confederation delegates to the Newfoundland N ...

, the main opposition party to Joey Smallwood, and formed the

Party for Economic Union with the United States The Economic Union Party (EUP, formally the Party for Economic Union with the United States) was a political party formed in the Dominion of Newfoundland on 20 March 1948, during the first referendum campaign on the future of the country. The Briti ...

that promoted

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

with the US instead of Confederation with Canada. He and many younger convention delegates feared that the RGL was disorganized and bound to lose the referendum campaign unless a new party was formed. The divided anti-Confederation forces were defeated by Smallwood's Confederate Association in the

1948 Newfoundland referendums The Newfoundland referendums of 1948 were a series of two referendums to decide the political future of the Dominion of Newfoundland. Before the referendums, Newfoundland was in debt and went through several delegations to determine whether the co ...

. Crosbie subsequently served as a member of the seven-person delegation sent to Ottawa to negotiate the final Terms of Union with Canada. Dissatisfied with the negotiations, he refused to sign the final agreement citing objections to its financial terms and retired from public life.

Personal life

His son,

John Crosbie John Carnell Crosbie, (January 30, 1931 – January 10, 2020) was a Canadian provincial and federal politician who served as the 12th lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Prior to being lieutenant governor, he served as a p ...

, became a prominent politician serving as cabinet minister at both provincial and federal level, the latter in the government of

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

, where he fulfilled his father's dream as an architect of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. He was

Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador The lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador () is the viceregal representative in Newfoundland and Labrador of the , who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, as w ...

from 2008 to 2013. His grandson, also named Chesley but better known as Ches Crosbie, was leader of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador The Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador is a provincial political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The party was founded in 1949 and most recently formed the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador from the 20 ...

and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the

Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is the Unicameralism, unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Build ...

from 2018 until 2021."There are 3 sets of siblings running in the Newfoundland and Labrador election"
CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador, May 5, 2019.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosbie, Chesley 1905 births 1962 deaths Businesspeople from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland National Convention members