Samuel Tilley

Politician

• Born: May 8, 1818
• Birthplace: Gagetown, New Brunswick
• Died: June 25, 1896
• Place of death: Saint John, New Brunswick

Contribution: Samuel Tilley was a Canadian politician from New Brunswick who started his career as a pharmacist. He was a supporter of the Confederation of British North America and served as a delegate to the three Confederation conferences. Tilley also served as minister of customs in the first federal cabinet, and later as minister of finance. He was famous for trying to bring prohibition to New Brunswick.

Early Life and Career

Samuel Leonard Tilley was born on May 8, 1818, in Gagetown, New Brunswick, to Thomas Morgan Tilley and Susan Ann Peters. After finishing school at age thirteen, Tilley moved to Portland, New Brunswick, in 1831, where he lived with relatives and worked as an apprentice pharmacist in a drugstore in nearby Saint John. In 1838, he became a certified pharmacist and opened a pharmacy called Peters and Tilley with his cousin, Thomas W. Peters. Ten years later, Peters retired and the store’s name was changed to Tilley’s Drug Store. Tilley sold the business in 1860, after he became too involved with politics.

Political Career

Before officially entering politics, Tilley was involved with the temperance movement, having been swayed by an 1839 sermon given by the Reverend William Harrison. He became a committee member of the Portland Total Abstinence Society, an organization campaigning for prohibition. Tilley was elected to the legislature of New Brunswick in 1850. From 1854 until 1856, he was the provincial secretary under the Reform government led by Charles Fisher, known as the Smashers for their unsuccessful attempts to establish prohibition in New Brunswick. In 1857, Tilley again became provincial secretary, and he served as premier of New Brunswick from 1861 until 1865. He and the Reform government were defeated in 1865 but returned to power the following year.

Tilley, a strong advocate of confederation, was a delegate to the 1864 Confederation conferences in Charlottetown and Quebec and the London conference where the British North America Act was drafted in 1867. The act created the Dominion of Canada, and it is believed to be Tilley who came up with the name “Dominion” for the new nation. He was appointed minister of customs and excise in the new government of Sir John Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister. In 1873, Tilley became minister of finance. When Macdonald’s government resigned later in 1873, Tilley served as lieutenant governor of New Brunswick, a post he held until 1878, when Macdonald regained power and Tilley resumed his role as minister of finance.

Tilley was one of the creators of the National Policy, passed in 1879, which provided tariff protection for manufacturers. He was knighted that same year. In 1885, he again became lieutenant governor of New Brunswick and stayed in office until 1893.

Personal Life

Tilley married Julia Ann Hanford on May 6, 1843. They had eight children before her death in 1862. Tilley married his second wife, Alice Starr Chipman, on October 22, 1867; they had two children. He died in Saint John, New Brunswick, on June 25, 1896.

Bibliography

Blocker, Jack S., David M. Fahey, and Ian R. Tyrrell. Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia. 2 vols. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Print.

Coucill, Irma. Canada’s Prime Ministers, Governors General and Fathers of Confederation: 83 Portraits. Markham: Pembroke, 2005. Print.

Moore, Christopher. 1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal. Toronto: McClelland, 1998. Print.

“TILLEY, The Hon. Sir Samuel Leonard, P.C.” Parliament of Canada. Lib. of Parliament, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.

Wallace, C. M. “Tilley, Sir Samuel Leonard.” Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. 12. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1990. Print.