Alfred Jones
Alfred Gilpin Jones was a prominent Canadian politician and businessman born on September 24, 1824, in Weymouth, Nova Scotia. He began his career in the shipping industry as a bookkeeper, eventually rising to partner and owner of A. G. Jones and Company after working with Thomas Clifford Kinnear. Jones became involved in politics in the mid-1860s, initially opposing Canadian Confederation and later serving as a member of the House of Commons. Throughout his political career, which included multiple terms and various roles, he was known for his vocal criticism of government actions and his founding of the Repeal League. He was appointed as Nova Scotia's lieutenant governor in 1900 and held that position until his death in 1906. Jones was married twice, fathering seven children with his first wife, one of whom was notable writer Alice Jones. Despite his reputation for being a difficult individual, he was recognized for his philanthropic efforts toward education and social causes in Halifax.
Subject Terms
Alfred Jones
Government official
- Born: September 1824
- Died: March 15, 1906
Contribution: Alfred Jones is best known for his term as the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia from 1900 to 1906. A Conservative and an openly opinionated opponent of confederation, Jones had a very rocky political career consisting of many elections.
Early Life and Education
Alfred Gilpin Jones was born in Weymouth, Nova Scotia, on September 24, 1824, to Guy Carleton Jones and Frances Jones. He was the grandson of Loyalist Stephen Jones, who worked with Jones’s father as the registrar of deeds in Sissiboo (now Weymouth) for many years. Jones received his education in Sissiboo and at Yarmouth Academy.
After completing his education, Jones moved to Halifax when he was eighteen and began working for merchant and ship owner Thomas Clifford Kinnear. Jones started as a bookkeeper and was quickly promoted to confidential clerk. In 1850, Jones became a partner, and upon Kinnear’s retirement in 1872, Jones took over the company and renamed it A. G. Jones and Company, a business that would earn him a small fortune.
During his lifetime, Jones also served as president of the Nova Scotia Marine Insurance Company and director of the Acadia Fire Insurance Company.
Political Career
Jones first arrived on the political scene in 1863, but he did not run for an elected position until 1867, and, even then, he did so grudgingly. In 1863, he was a strong voice in the protests of the British North America Act. The following year he attended an anti-confederation meeting in Halifax and was a generous supporter of the Anti-Confederation League, which was also known as the League of the Maritime Provinces.
In 1867, Jones ran as a candidate for Halifax and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons. While in office, he formed the Repeal League, another attempt to get rid of confederation. He also established a friendship with Alexander Mackenzie, who would become the second prime minister of Canada and was a strong supporter of the Liberals.
Jones was not reelected in 1872. In 1874, he again threw his hat into the political ring and won as a Liberal in the Pacific Scandal election. Throughout his term, Jones frequently spoke out about his displeasure concerning government actions and vetoed a bill that would have established supreme and exchequer (revenue collecting) courts in 1875.
In the latter part of 1877, Jones resigned due to an oversight involving government contracts. In the by-election of 1878, he was reelected and became the minister of militia and defense. He ran again in 1878 and 1882, but was not reelected. In 1887, he served another term, only to be defeated in 1891.
In 1896, Jones became a representative for Canada’s Imperial Pacific Cable Committee after refusing a federal nomination. Four years later, on July 26, 1900, he became Nova Scotia’s lieutenant governor. He remained in this position until his death in 1906.
Throughout the course of his political career, Jones ran in a total of nine elections between 1867 and 1891, four of which he won.
Personal Life
Jones was married twice. He wed his first wife, Margaret Wiseman Stairs, in Halifax on July 17, 1850. Over the course of their marriage, they had seven children, one of whom was novelist and essayist Alice Jones who sometimes wrote under the name Alix John.
Jones married his second wife, Emma Albro, on April 5, 1877. The couple had no children.
Although Jones was described as a hard man with a difficult personality and as lacking a sense of humor, he was a generous philanthropist. He gave money and time to political causes as well as to Halifax’s Dalhousie University and to the Halifax Orphans’ Home.
Alfred Gilpin Jones died on March 15, 1906, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, ending his term as lieutenant governor and giving his family control of his business.
Bibliography
Beck, J. Murray. “Jones, Alfred Gilpin.” Dictionary of Canadian Biography. University of Toronto/Université Laval, n.d. Web. 19 Aug. 2013.
“Jones, the Hon. Alfred Gilpin, P.C.” Parliament of Canada. Library of Parliament, n.d. Web. 19 Aug. 2013.
Ross, J. Andrew, and Andrew D. Smith, eds. Canada’s Entrepreneurs: From the Fur Trade to the 1929 Stock Market Crash. Toronto: U of Toronto/Université Laval, 2011. Print.
Watts, Heather, and Michèle Raymond. Halifax’s Northwest Arm: An Illustrated History. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Formac, 2003. Print.