Читать книгу A Cyclopædia of Canadian Biography - Various - Страница 174

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Fraser, Hon. Judge John James, Q.C., Fredericton, New Brunswick, was born in Nelson, Northumberland county, N.B., on the 1st of August, 1829. His father, John Fraser, was a native of Inverness, Scotland, who emigrated to New Brunswick in 1803. He first settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and remained there until 1812, when he moved to Miramichi, New Brunswick, where he went into business as a lumber merchant and shipbuilder on Beanbear’s Island, and carried on these branches of trade for a number of years. He was also extensively engaged in the exportation of salmon, which at that time was a very profitable enterprise. John James Fraser received his early educational training at the Newcastle Grammar School, and adopted law as his profession. In October, 1845, he entered the office of the late Hon. John Ambroise Street, and in 1850 passed his examination as an attorney. In January, 1851, on the appointment of the Hon. Mr. Street to the office of attorney-general, Mr. Fraser removed to Fredericton, and remained with that gentleman until 1854. He was admitted to the bar in 1852, and made a Queen’s counsel in 1873. Mr. Fraser devoted his attention closely to his profession until 1865, when he entered the political arena, and was returned to the Provincial parliament as representative for York county, in conjunction with Messrs. Allen, Hatheway, and Needham, as champions of the anti-confederation movement, confederation being the then burning question of the day. In 1866, the Smith government having been compelled to resign, a general election ensued, and on Mr. Fraser presenting himself for re-election, a strong feeling was manifested against him, and at the close of the poll he found that his opponent had carried the day. In June, 1871, he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council and president of the Executive Council in the Hatheway-King administration, and held both positions until the death of the Hon. Mr. Hatheway in 1872, when he resigned. He was afterwards offered the position of provincial secretary to the government led by the Hon. Mr. King, and this he accepted. He then again appeared before his constituents, and was re-elected by acclamation, and the county of York he continued to represent until May, 1878, when the Hon. Mr. King retired from provincial politics. Hon. Mr. Fraser then became attorney-general and leader of the government, and this position he held until the 24th May, 1882, when he resigned, and offered himself as a candidate for the representation of York in the House of Commons, but was defeated. In December, 1882, he was, on the decease of Mr. Justice Duff, appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. He was married in September, 1867, to Martha, eldest daughter of the late Alexander Cumming, a merchant of Fredericton, and had by her two children, both of whom are dead. Mrs. Fraser died in March, 1871. In May, 1884, he was married to Jane M. P., daughter of the late Mr. Justice Fisher, of Fredericton.