Hiram Blanchard (January 17, 1820 – December 17, 1874) was a

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 ...

lawyer, politician, and the first

premier of Nova Scotia The premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister to the lieutenant governor of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of ...

. Blanchard won election to the Nova Scotia legislative assembly in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

in 1859 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 ...

Early life

Hiram Blanchard was born in West River, Nova Scotia on January 17, 1820 to father Jonathan Blanchard and mother Sarah Goggins. Hiram attended the same school as his brother, Jotham Blanchard,

Pictou Academy Pictou Academy (PA), founded in 1815 by Dr. Thomas McCulloch, is a secondary school in Pictou, Nova Scotia. Prior to the twentieth century, it was a grammar school; a liberal, nonsectarian degree-granting college; and then a secondary school. Picto ...

. After graduating, Blanchard began studying law at

Guysborough, Nova Scotia Guysborough, officially named the Municipality of the District of Guysborough, is a district municipality in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district. It is home to ...

with future

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 ...

member

William Frederick DesBarres William Frederick DesBarres (1800 – June 1885) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Guysborough County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1836 to 1848 as a Reformer. He was born in Elysian, ...

and was admitted to the bar as an attorney at age 21 in November 1841. Marrying Eliza Cantrell in 1842, he was admitted to the bar as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in April 1843. Shortly after his admission to the bar, Blanchard opened up a law office in the small seaside village of

Port Hood, Nova Scotia Port Hood is an unincorporated place in the Municipality of the County of Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is an administrative centre and a service centre for the surrounding area. It is also the site of a registered historic place, Peter Sm ...

, practising in the law courts of

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

and

Guysborough Guysborough (population: 397) is an unincorporated Canadian community in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. Located on the western shore of Chedabucto Bay, fronting Guysborough Harbour, it is the administrative seat of the Guysborough municip ...

. In a short time, Blanchard gained a reputation amongst those in the legal profession for his skill in examining witnesses and clear presentation of facts. In 1860, Blanchard moved to Halifax and became engaged in a partnership with

Jonathan McCully Jonathan McCully (July 25, 1809 – January 2, 1877) was a participant at the Confederation conferences at Charlottetown, Quebec City, and in London, and is thus considered one of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation. He did much to promot ...

, then Solicitor General and railway commissioner in the government of

Joseph Howe Joseph Howe (December 13, 1804 – June 1, 1873) was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, public servant, and poet. Howe is often ranked as one of Nova Scotia's most admired politicians and his considerable skills as a journalist and writer ha ...

. There, he argued against characters such as James MacDonald, the future federal Minister of Justice and Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia The Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a superior court in the province of Nova Scotia. The Supreme Court consists of 25 judicial seats including the position of Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice. At any given time there may be one or more addit ...

Charles James Townshend Sir Charles James Townshend, (22 March 1844 – 16 June 1924) was a Canadian judge and politician. Life and work He was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, son of the Rev. Canon Townshend, rector of Amherst, and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter ...

, a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, observed the courtroom encounters of McCully and Blanchard, commenting "... it was delightful and instructive to listen to

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

forensic battle. Both were men of high and honourable character, incapable of any unworthy schemes to win their cases." In 1870, Blanchard became partners with Nicholas Meagher, future Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.

Political career

In 1860, William Young left politics to become chief justice of

. Blanchard had been very reluctant to become involved in politics until up to just before this time. The 1859 Nova Scotia election was largely influenced between the ongoing squabbles between

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

populations, but Hiram Blanchard's election win for the

s in his constituency of

was based on a platform of "equal rights to all, proscription of none, favouritism to none". Blanchard rose above religious quarrels and managed to win in a

community, even though he was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

himself. In the

, Blanchard drew particular attention to the plight of the

insane Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

and the

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...

, two disadvantaged groups in Nova Scotia at the time. Although he supported the free schooling initiative of Premier

Charles Tupper Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, (July 2, 1821 – October 30, 1915) was a Canadian Father of Confederation who served as the sixth prime minister of Canada from May 1 to July 8, 1896. As the premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led N ...

, Blanchard objected to the idea that schools should be governed by a council made up of members of the

Executive Council of Nova Scotia The Executive Council of Nova Scotia (informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of Nova Scotia) is the cabinet of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Almost always made up of members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, the Cabinet is sim ...

. Blanchard supported the idea of confederation, and after

became a part of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1867, he became

attorney-general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

and leader of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

government, as the position of leader of the government had been vacated by

following his run for federal politics. However, Blanchard was in his new-found position for less than three months. In the September 1867 provincial election, the issue of Nova Scotia's entry to the confederation led to the government's demise in favour of

William Annand William Annand (April 10, 1808 – October 12, 1887) was a Nova Scotia publisher and politician. He was a member of the North British Society. Annand was born in Halifax. He was educated in Scotland and returned to Nova Scotia in the 1820 ...

Anti-Confederation Party ''Anti-Confederation'' was the name used in what is now the Maritimes by several parties opposed to Canadian Confederation. The Anti-Confederation parties were accordingly opposed by the Confederation Party, that is, the Conservative and Liberal ...

, and in the newly elected Assembly, only two members, Blanchard included, supported the idea of confederation. In 1868, Blanchard's re-election to his constituency of Inverness was declared invalid as he had recently been appointed the legal advisor for the federal government in his province. In the subsequent

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, Blanchard was defeated. In the 1871 election, he was once again elected, serving as leader of the opposition until his death on December 17, 1874 at Halifax. Blanchard was survived by his four daughters and wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Hiram 1820 births 1874 deaths Canadian Presbyterians Premiers of Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Lawyers in Nova Scotia People from Pictou County People of New England Planter descent Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs Nova Scotia political party leaders