James Charles McKeagney (1815 – 14 September 1879) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and judge. Born in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

, Ireland, he moved to

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 ...

with his family in 1822. He was educated in

Baddeck Baddeck () is a village in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated in the centre of Cape Breton, approximately 6 km east of where the Baddeck River empties into Bras d'Or Lake. Local governance is provided by the rural municipality ...

and at McQueen's Academy in Halifax. McKeagney was called to the Nova Scotia bar in 1838. He was first elected to the

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 ...

for Richmond County in 1840 but his election was overturned on a technicality. McKeagney represented Inverness County from 1843 to 1847 and then Sydney Township from 1848 to 1851 and again from 1855 to 1859. In 1857, he was named inspector of mines and minerals. McKeagney was named

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1866. He was married twice: to Eliza Henry in 1842 and to Eliza Hearne in 1857. In 1867, 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 ...

for the Nova Scotia riding of

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

as a member of the

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- ...

. He was defeated in

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

. In 1872, he was appointed a

puisne judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the

Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba The Court of King's Bench of Manitoba (french: Cour du Banc du Roi du Manitoba)—or the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba, depending on the monarch—is the superior court of the Canadian province of Manitoba. The court is divided into tw ...

. McKeagney died in St. Andrews, New Brunswick.

Election results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKeagney, James Charles 1815 births 1879 deaths Anti-Confederation Party MPs Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Nova Scotia Judges in Manitoba Members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia People from County Tyrone People from Baddeck, Nova Scotia People from Saint Andrews, New Brunswick Canadian King's Counsel