Date Published:
January 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

George Edwin King

King, George Edwin (1839-1901), prime minister of New Brunswick (1872-8), was born at St. John, New Brunswick, on October 8, 1839 , the second son of George King, a shipbuilder. He was educated at Mount Allison College, Sackville, New Brunswick, and at the Wesleyan University, Connecticut (B.A., 1859; M.A., 1862). In 1865 he was called to the bar of New Brunswick (Q.C., 1873), and he practised law at St. John. From 1867 to 1878 he represented St. John in the House of Assembly of New Brunswick. In 1869 he became a member of the Wetmore administration without portfolio; in 1870 he became attorney-general; and in 1872 prime minister. He retired from office in 1878, and was defeated in St. John as a candidate for election to the Canadian House of Commons. In 1880 he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick; and in 1893 a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada. He died at Ottawa on May 7, 1901. In 1866 he married Lydia, daughter of Aaron Eaton, of St. John , New Brunswick. He was .an LL.D. of the University of New Brunswick (1886), and a D.C.L. of Mount Allison University (1893).

Source : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. III, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 396p., p. 333.