William Alexander Henry (December 30, 1816 – May 3, 1888) 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. He was 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 ...

and one of the first judges of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

. Henry was born in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

. Shortly afterward, his family moved to Antigonish. He attended Halifax High School then studied law and was admitted to the bar. He was married twice (1840 and 1850). His two sons were William Alexander Henry Jr., a successful Halifax lawyer and Hugh MacD Henry. The elder W. A. Henry served as a cabinet minister 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 four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

in governments led by both the Liberals and the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

. He represented the

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

region almost continuously from 1840 to 1867 and was appointed attorney general in 1864. Henry was a strong believer in the benefits that could be derived from a British American union such as free trade and the construction of the Intercontinental Railway. Henry was a delegate to all three

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Conferences, and upon approval by the union in the Spring of 1866, he travelled to the London Conference as part of the delegation mandated to compose the legislation. The Nova Scotia delegates voted to accept the Quebec Resolutions into the

British North America Act, 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...

but Henry objected to the limitation on the number of Senate seats. He also supported the unsuccessful efforts to have the existence of Roman Catholic separate schools entrenched in the Act. He was one of the attorneys general who helped frame the language. However, it is an unproved tradition that he drafted the BNA Act. After Confederation, Henry suffered defeat in his own district for the first time in 24 years. He returned to private practice in Halifax and was elected mayor of the city in 1870. Although he was denied a judgeship in Nova Scotia, Henry was one of the first appointed to the newly created

in 1875. He died in Ottawa, Ontario. Henry was a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

of St. John’s Lodge, No. 161 (England) in Halifax, and affiliated with Civil Service Lodge No. 148 (Ontario) of Ottawa on March 13, 1883. Henry House in Halifax, which served as Henry's residence from 1854 to 1864, was designated a National Historic Site in 1969 due in part to its association with Henry.

Election results

Footnotes

External links

Supreme Court of Canada Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, William Alexander 1816 births 1888 deaths Canadian Presbyterians Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent Fathers of Confederation Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada Mayors of Halifax, Nova Scotia Attorneys General of the Colony of Nova Scotia People from Antigonish County, Nova Scotia Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs Canadian Freemasons