Lemuel Allan Wilmot (31 January 1809 – 20 May 1878) 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, politician, and judge. Born in Sunbury County, New Brunswick, the son of William M. Wilmot and Hannah Bliss, Wilmot was educated at the Fredericton grammar school and at King's College. He started articling law in 1825, became an attorney in 1830, and was admitted to the bar in 1832. He was created a

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 1838. From 1834 to 1851, he was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...

and was a Reformer.

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 ...

was granted in 1848 and Wilmot served as

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 ...

from 1848 to 1851. From 1851 to 1868 he was a judge but was also outspoken in his support of

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 Canada, Dom ...

which was achieved in 1867. He was the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick The lieutenant governor of New Brunswick (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''du Nouveau-Brunswick'') is the viceregal representative in New Brunswick of the , who operates distinctly wit ...

from 1868 to 1873. Wilmot had strong anti-Catholic and anti-French views once saying "

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

would otbe tranquillised and restored to a proper state, till all the French distinguishing marks were utterly abolished, and the English laws, language, and institutions, universally established throughout the Province." In 1837, James Pierce, the publisher of the paper ''The Gleaner and Northumberland Schediasma'' was arrested and jailed for printing that Wilmot had "told an untruth" in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

. He was held in York County Jail for 22 days, but he was released without charge after much criticism in other papers about

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...

. A

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

, he was the first non-conformist to serve as Attorney-General or as a judge in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) 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. It is the only province with both English and ...

. He died in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

in 1878.

References

* 1809 births 1878 deaths Lieutenant Governors of New Brunswick Members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Canadian King's Counsel Colony of New Brunswick judges Attorneys General of the Colony of New Brunswick {{NewBrunswick-MLA-stub