Peter Mitchell (January 4, 1824 – October 25, 1899) was a Canadian politician and one of the

Fathers of Confederation The Fathers of Confederation are the 36 people who attended at least one of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864 (23 attendees), the Quebec Conference of 1864 (33 attendees), and the London Conference of 1866 (16 attendees), preceding Canadian ...

Family

In 1853, he married Mrs. Gough, a widow of St. John, New Brunswick; she died in 1889. His nephew was

Charles R. Mitchell Charles Richmond Mitchell (November 30, 1872 – August 16, 1942) was a Canadian lawyer, judge, cabinet minister and former Leader of the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Early life Mitchell was born in Newcastle, Ne ...

a former provincial Cabinet Minister and leader of the

Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral de l'Alberta) is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election ...

Life

He was born of Scottish parents at Newcastle in the county of Northumberland, New Brunswick, on January 4, 1824. He was educated at the Quebec grammar school; he studied law and was called to the bar of the province of

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 ...

in 1848. He practised his profession for five years and then entered into a partnership with a Mr. Hawe in the business of lumbering and shipbuilding. Mitchell ran again in 1856 as an opponent of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, which had been proposed by the government. He carried a pistol for protection during the campaign and rum for his supporters. He was successful in this election. In the legislature, Mitchell opposed denominational schools and supported the creation of municipal government. He became a member of the Executive Council in 1859, and introduced the colony's first

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

act in order to make things easier for debtors. Mitchell did not run for re-election in 1861, but was soon appointed to the

Legislative Council of New Brunswick The Legislative Council of New Brunswick was the upper house of the government of the British colony and later Canadian province of New Brunswick between 1785 and 1891. Members were appointed by the New Brunswick governor. Council chambers Th ...

(the colony's

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

) and rejoined the Executive Council. While attending the Quebec Conference of 1864, Peter Mitchell was a strong supporter 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 ...

. He resigned from the Executive Council in 1865 when the pro-Confederation government of

Samuel Leonard Tilley Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley (May 8, 1818June 25, 1896) was a Canadian politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. Tilley was descended from United Empire Loyalists on both sides of his family. As a pharmacist, he went into business as a ...

was defeated, and helped

lieutenant-governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Arthur Hamilton Gordon force the resignation of the anti-Confederation government of

Albert James Smith Sir Albert James Smith (March 12, 1822 – June 30, 1883) was a New Brunswick politician and opponent of Canadian confederation. Smith's grandfather was a United Empire Loyalist who left Massachusetts to settle in New Brunswick after the Am ...

in 1866. Gordon appointed Mitchell as the new

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

. Mitchell asked Gordon to call an election, and he and his

Confederation Party ''Confederation Party'' was a term for the parties supporting Canadian confederation in the British colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland in the 1860s when politics became polarised between supporters and opponents of Confederati ...

were returned with a majority that approved the participation of the colony in the Canadian Confederation in 1867. Mitchell attended the London Conference, which drafted the British North America Act. He was appointed to the new

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

for its inaugural session in July 1867. Mitchell became a member of Sir

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

's first

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as minister of marine and fisheries. He was an aggressive defender of Canadian interests, and contested foreign fishing in Canadian waters to the extent of using gunboats to seize American vessels. Mitchell resigned from the Senate in 1872 to run for a

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

in 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 ...

where he felt he would have more influence. He was acclaimed in 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 used to f ...

, but in 1873 the Macdonald government fell due to the

Pacific Scandal The Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving bribes being accepted by 150 members of the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract. As part of British Colum ...

. Mitchell abandoned the

Liberal-Conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

Party of Macdonald and declared himself an independent

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP). He had little influence as an independent and was distrusted by both Conservatives and Liberals. Mitchell resigned his seat in 1878 after being accused of violating the Independence of Parliament Act by leasing a building to the government while he was a senator. He re-offered in the subsequent by-election and was returned to parliament. He ran in the 1878 federal election as an "

Independent Liberal Independent Liberal is a description allowed in politics to denote party affiliation. It is used to designate a politician as a liberal, yet independent of the official Liberal Party of a country. Those parties were the Liberal Party of Canada, ...

" who supported Macdonald's

National Policy The National Policy was a Canadian economic program introduced by John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party in 1876. After Macdonald led the Conservatives to victory in the 1878 Canadian federal election, he began implementing his policy in 1879. The ...

. Mitchell was defeated by independent candidate

Jabez Bunting Snowball Jabez Bunting Snowball (24 September 1837 – 24 February 1907) was a businessman, the 11th Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, Canada, and politician from the Town of Chatham, New Brunswick. He operated a number of businesses in the east ...

. Mitchell returned to the Commons in the 1882 election and was re-elected in the 1887 election as an independent Liberal, but was defeated in the 1891 election. In 1885, Mitchell purchased the ''Montreal Herald and Daily Commercial Gazette'', and used it to attack the policies of both Liberals and Conservatives. He also called for mercy for

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...

, and blamed Macdonald for causing the Riel Rebellion by not dealing with

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

complaints. He became a supporter of Sir

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...

and ran as a Liberal in the 1896 election but lost. Laurier made him general inspector of fisheries for Quebec and the Maritime provinces, and Mitchell held that position until his death in 1899. In July 1899, as he was leaving the parliamentary buildings, Ottawa, he was stricken by paralysis. He seemed to recover, but on 25 October 1899, he was found dead in his rooms in the Windsor Hotel, Montreal.

Electoral record

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Peter 1824 births 1899 deaths Fathers of Confederation Canadian Presbyterians Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) senators Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons Independent Liberal MPs in Canada Members of the House of Commons of Canada from New Brunswick Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Premiers of New Brunswick People from Miramichi, New Brunswick Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Canadian senators from New Brunswick Colony of New Brunswick people