Thane Alexander Campbell, (July 7, 1895 – September 28, 1978) was a

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, 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 seve ...

politician and jurist, who served as the 19th

premier of Prince Edward Island The premier of Prince Edward Island is the first minister and head of government for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. The current premier of Prince Edward Island is Dennis King (politician), Den ...

from 1936 to 1943.

Early life

Born in

Summerside, Prince Edward Island Summerside is a Canadian city in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. It is the second largest city in the province and the primary service centre for the western part of the island. History Summerside was officially incorporated as a town on ...

, the son of Alexander and Clara (Muttart) Campbell, Campbell was educated at Summerside Public School and

Prince of Wales College Prince of Wales College (PWC) is a former university college, which was located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. PWC merged with St. Dunstan's University in 1969 to form the University of Prince Edward Island. PWC traces its hist ...

. He received a Bachelor of Arts from

Saint Dunstan's University :''St. Andrew's College, Prince Edward Island'' redirects to here. St. Dunstan's University (SDU) is a former university which was located on the northern outskirts of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. SDU merged with Prince of Wales ...

and Master of Arts from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in 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 fou ...

. A

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

, he received a Master of Arts degree from

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

. Returning to PEI in 1922, he read law with A. C. Saunders in Summerside.

Politics

Campbell first ran 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

Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island (french: Assemblée législative de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard) is the sole chamber of the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The Legislative Assembly meets at Province House, which is locate ...

in a 1930 by-election as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate in

2nd Prince 2nd Prince was an electoral district in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, which elected two members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1873 to 1993. The district comprised the western central portion of Prince C ...

but lost. In 1930, he was appointed Attorney General of Prince Edward Island. He was elected for 1st Prince in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and re-elected in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

and was appointed Attorney and Advocate General in Premier

Walter Lea Walter Maxfield Lea (February 10, 1874 – January 10, 1936) was a Prince Edward Island politician. A farmer and livestock breeder by profession, Lea was born in Tryon, the son of William C. Lea and Annie Murphy. He was elected to the pr ...

's cabinet. When Premier Lea died in 1936, Campbell succeeded him. Campbell's government organised the provincial police, passed the province's first law governing the

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

and established a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

. With the beginning of

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Campbell's government committed itself to organising the province for the war effort.

Judicial career

In 1943, Campbell left politics to become Chief Justice on the island's

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and, in 1970, became head of the Foreign Claims Commission. While Chief Justice he saw his son,

Alexander B. Campbell Alexander Bradshaw Campbell (born December 1, 1933) is a former politician of Prince Edward Island, Canada. He is the son of former premier Thane A. Campbell and Cecilia L. Bradshaw. He entered politics by winning a seat in the legislature th ...

, sworn in as premier in 1966.

Curling

A curler, he joined the Summerside Curling Club in 1928. He was President of the PEI Curling Association in 1936. He served as President of the Dominion Curling Association from 1941 to 1942. In 2007, he was posthumously inducted into the Prince Edward Island Curling Hall of Fame and Museum. In 1974, he was inducted into the

Canadian Curling Hall of Fame The Canadian Curling Hall of Fame was established with its first inductees in 1973. It is operated by Curling Canada, the governing body for curling in Canada, in Orleans, Ontario. The Hall of Fame selection committee meets annually to choose induc ...

in the builder category.

Honours

In 1973 he was made a Companion of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

Family life

He married Cecilia Bradshaw (1906–1968) on 28 February 1930. They had four children: Virginia; Alex; Harriet; and J. Melville.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Thane 1895 births 1978 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Canadian Rhodes Scholars Companions of the Order of Canada Curling Canada presidents Members of the United Church of Canada People from Summerside, Prince Edward Island Premiers of Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island Liberal Party MLAs Prince Edward Island Liberal Party leaders Prince of Wales College alumni Saint Dunstan's University alumni Dalhousie University alumni