Canadian lawyer and politician, Freemason, who serves as the third prime minister of Canada
1821 CE
to 1893 CE
Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, PC, KCMG, QC (March 12, 1821 – October 30, 1893) is a Canadian lawyer and politician, Freemason,[1] who served as the third prime minister of Canada (and its first native-born one–both Macdonald and Mackenzie having been born in Scotland), in office from 1891 to 1892.
He holds office as the leader of the Conservative Party.
Abbott was born in what is now Saint-André-d'Argenteuil, Quebec.
He studies law at McGill University and becomes one of Montreal's best-known lawyers, later returning to McGill as a professor of law and earning a Doctor of Civil Law degree.
He is perhaps best known for his successful defense of the perpetrators of the St. Albans Raid.
Abbott involves himself in politics from a young age, signing the Montreal Annexation Manifesto in 1849–which he later regrets–and winning election to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1860.
In the lead-up to Confederation he is a prominent advocate for the rights of English-speaking Quebecers.
In the 1867 federal election, Abbott is elected to the new House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Conservative Party.
A telegram leaks from his office plays a key part in the Pacific Scandal of 1873, which leads to the downfall of John A. Macdonald's first government.
Abbott is appointed to the Senate in 1887, in order to become Leader of the Government in the Senate.
He becoms prime minister in June 1891 following Macdonald's death in office.
Abbott is seventy years old at this time, and serves only until November 1892 when he retiresdue to ill health.
