John Lemuel Bethune was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 physician and politician in the province of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

.

Born in Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond, Nova Scotia

Loch Lomond is a community located in Richmond County, Nova Scotia. It is named after Loch Lomond in Dunbartonshire, Scotland....

, Nova Scotia, the son of Roderick and Mary B. Bethune, Bethune received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Dalhousie College

Dalhousie University

Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...

 in 1875. From 1886 to 1896, he was the Nova Scotia Conservative member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly

Nova Scotia House of Assembly

The Nova Scotia Legislature, consisting of Her Majesty The Queen represented by the Lieutenant Governor and the House of Assembly, is the legislative branch of the provincial government of Nova Scotia, Canada...

 for the electoral district of Victoria County. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 for the electoral district of Victoria

Victoria (Nova Scotia electoral district)

Victoria was a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1904. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867. It consisted of the County of Victoria...

 in the 1896 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1896

The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the...

. A Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada (historical)

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...

, he did not run in 1900

Canadian federal election, 1900

The Canadian federal election of 1900 was held on November 7 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Canada. As a result of the election, the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, was re-elected to a second majority government, defeating the...

. In 1881, he was a captain and paymaster for the 94th Battalion, Argyle Highlanders Volunteer Militia. In 1893, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel.