Article

George Edwin King

Published Online February 14, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2013

George Edwin King, lawyer, politician, judge, premier of NB 1872-78 (b at Saint John 8 Oct 1839; d at Ottawa 7 May 1901). First elected MLA for Saint John in 1867, he was minister without portfolio in the Confederation Cabinet of A.R. WETMORE.

King, George Edwin

George Edwin King, lawyer, politician, judge, premier of NB 1872-78 (b at Saint John 8 Oct 1839; d at Ottawa 7 May 1901). First elected MLA for Saint John in 1867, he was minister without portfolio in the Confederation Cabinet of A.R. WETMORE. In 1870 he won the election as government leader but resigned to a stronger leader, G.L. HATHEWAY.

As attorney general, King was chief architect of the NB Common Schools Act of 1871, which aroused religious and cultural animosity (seeNEW BRUNSWICK SCHOOL QUESTION). In 1872 he was chosen Liberal-Conservative premier, retiring in 1878. He was appointed judge of the NB Supreme Court in 1880 and was raised to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1893.