- William Steeves
.
Born and raised in
Hillsborough, New Brunswick , Steeves was educated in public school and began his career running a small store before becoming a partner in Steeves Brothers, a family mercantile and lumber exporting business. Steeves moved toSaint John, New Brunswick in order to further the business and became a leader in the city's financial community.Steeves was elected to New Brunswick's colonial
House of Assembly in 1846 and was an advocate of governmental reform and the election of all members of theLegislative Council . He was appointed to the Legislative Council (theupper house ) in 1851. In 1854, thecompact government that had ruled the colony was finally defeated by a reform administration and Steeves became Surveyor General in the new government. He resigned the appointment later that year due to opposition to an unelected person from the Legislative Council being appointed rather than an elected member of the House of Assembly.In 1855, Steeves became the first chairman of the Department of
Public Works . He left government in 1856 when the reform administration ofSamuel Leonard Tilley was defeated overprohibition , but he returned to office with Tilley in 1857 and remained commissioner of public works until 1861. He continued in Tilley's government asminister without portfolio until 1865 when the government fell due to its support forCanadian Confederation .Steeves was a supporter of Confederation and was one of New Brunswick's delegates to the
Charlottetown Conference and theQuebec Conference of 1864 . He was appointed to theCanadian Senate as a Liberal when the chamber was created in 1867. In that body, he acted as an advocate for the better care of thementally ill . He served in the Senate until his death in 1873. He is interred in theFernhill Cemetery inSaint John, New Brunswick .Steeves was a great-great-uncle of
New Democratic Party leaderJack Layton .External links
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=5278 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
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* [http://www.steeveshousemuseum.ca/ Steeves Museum]
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