Richard Burpee Hanson, (March 20, 1879 – July 14, 1948) was a Canadian politician who served as interim 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 ...

from May 14, 1940, until November 11, 1941.

Early life and education

Hanson was born on March 20, 1879, in Bocabec,

Charlotte County, New Brunswick Charlotte County (2016 population 25,428) is the southwest-most List of counties of New Brunswick, county of New Brunswick, Canada. It was formed in 1784 when New Brunswick was partitioned from Nova Scotia. Once a layer of local government, th ...

, to parents Richard B. and Hannah Hanson. He was educated in public schools in St. Andrews, New Brunswick,

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...

, and

Dalhousie Law School , mottoeng = "Law is the source of light" , endowment = , staff = , faculty = 119 , dean = Camille Cameron , head_label = , head = , doctoral = , students = 500 , city ...

Career

Hanson was admitted to the Bar of New Brunswick in November 1902 and was created a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

by the Government of New Brunswick in January 1917. From 1918 to 1920, he was Mayor of

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 ...

. First elected as a Conservative

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) for the New Brunswick electoral district of

York—Sunbury Fredericton (formerly Fredericton—York—Sunbury) is a federal electoral district in New Brunswick, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1988. Its population in 2021 was 87,436. Its predecessor riding, Yor ...

in the 1921 general election, Hanson served continuously 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 ...

until his defeat in the 1935 election. He 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 ...

of R. B. Bennett in 1934 as Minister of Trade and Commerce. In the 1940 election, he returned to Parliament despite the poor showing of the Conservatives in that election and the personal defeat of

Robert Manion Robert James Manion (November 19, 1881 – July 2, 1943) was a Canadian politician who led the Conservative Party of Canada from 1938 to 1940. Prior to his leadership of the party, he served in Prime Minister Arthur Meighen and R.B. Ben ...

. Since Manion resigned two months after the election, the Conservative

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

chose Hanson as interim leader and he served as Conservative Party Leader until

Arthur Meighen Arthur Meighen (; June 16, 1874 – August 5, 1960) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921 and from June to September 1926. He led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 and fro ...

was appointed the party's new leader in November 1941. As Meighen did not have a seat in the House (and then failed to win a seat through 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 ...

), Hanson continued as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

until 1943.

Death and legacy

Hanson died on July 14, 1948, due to illness. The

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

hands out the Richard Burpee Hanson Prize to a Faculty of Arts male student with the highest grades in English and History in the Sophomore level.

Electoral history

References

Bibliography