James Layton Ralston (September 27, 1881 – May 22, 1948) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer, soldier and politician.

Biography

Born in

Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...

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 En ...

, Ralston graduated from

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus in Saint John, New Brunswick. Dalhousie offer ...

in 1903 and practised law in Amherst. Ralston was the federal Liberal candidate for Cumberland in the 1908 federal election but was unsuccessful in being elected. He subsequently entered public life when he ran as the provincial Liberal candidate for Cumberland and was elected in the 1911 provincial election. He was re-elected in 1916. Ralston served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

as an officer in the 85th Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders), rising to the rank of

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in 1918, and was decorated for bravery. He was promoted to commanding officer of the Nova Scotia Highlanders and pursued a career as a professional soldier in Canada's post-war army, rising to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

in 1924. Ralston left the military and entered federal politics once again when he was unsuccessful as the Liberal candidate for Halifax in the 1926 federal election, held September 14. Despite losing the general election, Ralston was appointed to the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...

and became the Minister of National Defence on October 8. Prime Minister King created a seat for Ralston by appointing the MP for Shelburne—Yarmouth, Paul Lacombe Hatfield, to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

, thus opening the riding for a

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 use ...

. Ralston won by acclamation on November 2, 1926, entering the 16th Parliament. Ralston served as Minister of National Defence until the defeat of King's government in the 1930 federal election but was re-elected and remained the MP for Shelburne-Yarmouth through the 17th Parliament, serving in His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The riding of Shelburne-Yarmouth was consolidated into the new riding of

Shelburne—Yarmouth—Clare Shelburne—Yarmouth—Clare was a federal electoral district in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1949 and from 1953 to 1968. This riding was created in 1933 from parts of Dig ...

in 1935 and Ralston opted to not run again, returning to the legal profession, despite the Liberal party regaining power. Ralston was appointed the Canadian delegate to the London Naval Conference 1935 that December, and he later sat on several Royal Commissions. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 and Canada's entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

was seen as inevitable. The ensuing international crisis saw Prime Minister King court Ralston's military and cabinet experience. Ralston re-entered active public service and he was subsequently appointed as Minister of Finance on September 6, 1939, replacing

Charles Dunning Charles Avery Dunning (July 31, 1885 – October 1, 1958) was the third premier of Saskatchewan. Born in England, he emigrated to Canada at the age of 16. By the age of 36, he was premier. He had a successful career as a farmer, business ...

who was in ill-health. Canada declared war on

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

on September 10 and Ralston participated in the King government's revamping of Canada's two-decade-long neglected military. The death of Alfred Edgar MacLean, MP for

Prince A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

on October 28 opened up the opportunity for Prime Minister King to declare a by-election in a Liberal-friendly riding that Ralston could run in. Ralston was subsequently elected by acclamation on January 2, 1940 and entered the 18th Parliament. He was re-elected several months later on March 26 and continued into the 19th Parliament. In the political tradition of the era, as a federal minister, Ralston brought government patronage to the impoverished rural riding in

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, largely through military spending. On June 10, 1940 the Minister of National Defence, Norman McLeod Rogers, was killed when his VIP airplane crashed in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Prime Minister King subsequently shuffled the cabinet and gave Ralston the National Defence portfolio on July 5. Despite not being from Prince Edward Island, Ralston continued his support to that province as political minister by authorizing the establishment of RCAF Station Mount Pleasant, RCAF Station Summerside (both in his riding) and RCAF Station Charlottetown, as well as a radar station in Tignish (also in his riding). Ralston supported conscription for overseas service during

, and in 1942 offered to resign when

's government would not introduce it.Campbell, John Robinson (1984).
James Layton Ralston and manpower for the Canadian army
' (M.A. thesis)

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campus ...

The resignation issue was dropped, but after visiting Canadian troops in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

in 1944, he argued again that conscription was necessary, and a schism developed in King's cabinet (see Conscription Crisis of 1944). King forced him to resign, replacing him with Andrew McNaughton on November 1, 1944. Ralston left politics the following year and died in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

in 1948.

Legacy

The Colonel James L. Ralston Armoury in Amherst, Nova Scotia is named in his honour and is the historic home of the

Nova Scotia Highlanders , identification_symbol = MacDonald, Clan Donald , identification_symbol_label = Tartan , nickname = North Novies, North Novas , battles = Second Boer WarFirst World WarSecond World WarWar i ...

Regiment. A large

tern schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

was named in his honour in 1919 at Eatonville, Nova Scotia. Ralston, Alberta and the Ralston Residence at the

Canadian Forces College The Canadian Forces College (CFC) is a military school for senior and general officers of the Canadian Armed Forces. The college provides graduate-level military education courses to enable officers to develop their leadership quality within the ...

in Toronto was completed in October 1999, and was named after him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ralston, James 1881 births 1948 deaths Canadian military personnel from Nova Scotia Canadian Baptists Canadian Ministers of Finance Canadian people of Scottish descent Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Prince Edward Island Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Amherst, Nova Scotia Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Canadian people of World War II 20th-century Baptists Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Canadian Militia officers

Biography

Legacy

Archives

References

External links