Edgar Dewdney

Edgar Dewdney, PC (5 November 1835 – August 8, 1916) was a Canadian politician born in Devonshire, England. He served as Lieutenant-Governor of one province and one territory.

Early life and career

Following his education in Civil Engineering, he emigrated from England to British Columbia in 1859. In 1864 Dewdney married Jane Shaw Moir, the daughter of a tea plantation owner from Ceylon. This marriage was without issue.

Dewdney was originally employed as a railway surveyor, and supervised the survey of New Westminster. In 1865 Dewdney was appointed by Lieutenant Governor Frederick Seymour to oversee the construction of a trail to the East Kootenay region of the British Columbia Interior so that coastal merchants might benefit from the burgeoning trade associated with gold mining in that area. Although used for only a few years, parts of the Dewdney Trail, as it was famously known, remain to this day and are used for recreational hiking.

Entry into politics

From 1868 to 1869 Edgar Dewdney became active in Colonial politics, representing the electoral district of Kootenay in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. After B.C. joined the Canadian confederation in 1871, he served as a Conservative member of Parliament for the riding of Yale following his election in 1872. He was appointed a member of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald's cabinet in 1879, where he served as Indian commissioner for the Northwest Territories until 1888.

In 1881 Macdonald arranged Dewdney's appointment as Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West [sic] Territories, then an executive position. Dewdney resigned his seat in the Commons, but remained Indian commissioner during his term as Lieutenant-Governor, which lasted until 1888. Responsible government had not been granted to the North-West Territories, so Dewdney was the Territories' head of government. Perhaps his most notable decision in office was changing the territorial capital from Battleford to Regina in 1883 -- a featureless location without water, trees or topography, but where Dewdney had secured substantial real estate for himself adjacent to the Canadian Pacific Railway line.

After his term as Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Territories, Dewdney was again elected to Parliament and served as the member for Assiniboia East (now southeastern Saskatchewan) from 1888 to 1891. During this period he also served as minister of the Interior and superintendent of Indian Affairs.

In 1892 he was appointed to the non-executive post of Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. He served in this post until 1897.

He retired from politics in 1900 after unsuccessfully running for Parliament in New Westminster, British Columbia.

In 1909 Following the death his wife Jane, Dewdney remarried. His new wife was Blanche Kemeys-Tynte, the daughter of Colonel Charles John Kemeys-Tynte of Halswell, Somerset, England.

Honours

Dewdney had the prenomial "the Honourable" and the postnomial "PC" for life by virture of being made a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on September 25, 1888. [http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/default.asp?Language=E&Page=informationresources&Sub=PrivyCouncilMembers&doc=PCMembersHistList-A-E_e.htm]

Heritage

*A major east-west street in Regina, Dewdney Avenue, is named after him; Government House, the original Territorial government building and the local detachment of the RCMP (formerly its headquarters before these were transferred to Ottawa) and national training centre are on Dewdney Avenue.
*Dewdney, British Columbia is the name of a locality immediately east of Mission, British Columbia, located below the 920 m Dewdney Peak on the north shore of the Fraser River. The community was the namesake of the former Dewdney provincial electoral district and also of the now-dismantled Dewdney-Alouette Regional District
*The Dewdney Trunk Road was one of the earliest main roads in the Lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia, running from Port Moody to the community of Dewdney. Today it exists in sections in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam is a major thoroughfare running between Maple Ridge and Mission (where it is now officially Dewdney Street) , today ending short of Dewdney at Hatzic.

ee also

*List of Lieutenant-Governors of British Columbia
*List of Northwest Territories lieutenant-governors

References

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