Alexander Laird was a Scottish-born

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 farmer and political figure in Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

. He represented 1st Queens

1st Queens

1st Queens was an electoral district in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, which elected two members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1873 to 1993.The district comprised the westernmost portion of Queens County....

 from 1850 to 1853 and from 1854 to 1859 as a Conservative

Prince Edward Island Progressive Conservative Party

The Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island is one of two major political parties on Prince Edward Island. It and its rival, the Liberals have alternated in power since responsible government was granted in 1851 and are the only two parties represented in the PEI Legislative...

 and 2nd Queens

2nd Queens

2nd Queens was an electoral district in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, which elected two members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1873 to 1993.The district comprised the western central portion of Queens County....

 from 1859 to 1866 as a Liberal

Prince Edward Island Liberal Party

The Prince Edward Island Liberal Party is a major political party in the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada. The PEI Liberals are aligned with the federal Liberal Party of Canada. The party is led by Robert Ghiz, a former member of the staff of the Prime Minister's Office under Prime Minister...

 in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island

Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island

The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island, along with the Lieutenant-Governor, forms the parliament of the province. The General Assembly meets at Province House, which is located at the intersection of Richmond and Great George Streets in Charlottetown....

.

A native of Kilmacolm

Kilmacolm

Kilmacolm is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley south-east of Greenock and around west of the city of Glasgow...

, he came to Prince Edward Island in 1819 and married Janet Orr in the same year. They settled at New Glasgow

New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island

New Glasgow is an unincorporated area located in Queens County in the central portion of Prince Edward Island, south-west of North Rustico. It is situated on the Hunter River.-Climate:-External links:*...

. He was elected in 1850 but defeated when he ran for reelection in 1853; Laird was elected again in 1854. He was originally a supporter of the Liberals, but later ran as a Tory in 1859 after he split from his former party over the issue of the place of the Bible in schools. Laird served in the provincial Executive Council in the government of Edward Palmer from 1859 to 1863. He retired from politics in 1866. Laird died on his farm in New Glasgow in 1873.

His sons Alexander

Alexander Laird, Jr.

Alexander Laird was a farmer and political figure in Prince Edward Island. He represented 4th Prince in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1867 to 1870 and served in the Legislative Council from 1874 to 1882 and from 1886 to 1896 as a Liberal member.He was born in New Glasgow,...

 and William

William Laird (Canadian politician)

William Laird was a farmer and political figure on Prince Edward Island. He represented 2nd Queens in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1908 to 1911 as a Liberal....

 served in the province's legisslative assembly, Alexander also serving in the legislative council, and his son David was a member of the House of Commons and Lieutenant-Governor for the Northwest Territories.