Richard John Cartwright
Encyclopedia
Sir Richard John Cartwright, (Canadian) PC, GCMG
, (Imperial) PC (December 4, 1835 – September 24, 1912) was a Canadian
businessman and politician. He was born and raised in Kingston, Ontario
in a United Empire Loyalist family, the son of Harriet Dobbs
Cartwright and the grandson of Richard Cartwright
. He was a major landowner in the area, and became prominent in Kingston's financial community as president of the Commercial Bank of Canada. He suffered a major blow when his bank failed in 1867.
Cartwright entered politics when he was elected as a Conservative Party member and supporter of John A. Macdonald
in the Province of Canada's legislative assembly
in 1863. In 1867, the Province of Canada became part of the new Canadian confederation
. Cartwright was elected
to the newly formed Canadian House of Commons
, again as a Tory. In 1869, he broke with the Conservatives over Macdonald's appointment of Sir Francis Hincks
as Minister of Finance
, and crossed the floor
to join the Liberal Party of Canada
.
With the Liberal party's victory in the 1874 election
, Cartwright was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Minister
Alexander Mackenzie
. He supported free trade
, but sought limited tariffs as a means of government revenue. Cartwright returned to the opposition bench when the Liberals were defeated in the 1878 election
. In recognition of his service, he was awarded a knighthood in 1879. From the 1887 election
, he represented the ridings of Oxford South
.
In the 1890s, the Liberals moved away from support for unrestricted reciprocity
with the United States
, and Cartwright's influence in the party diminished.
With the victory of Wilfrid Laurier
's Liberals in the 1896 election
, Cartwright returned to Cabinet. Laurier denied Cartwright the finance ministry as a way of assuring Canada's business community that the government was not going to adopt free trade. Instead, he appointed Cartwright Minister of Trade and Commerce. He also served as a Canadian member of the Anglo-American Joint High Commission to resolve diplomatic problems between Canada and the US in 1898. Cartwright was appointed to the Imperial Privy Council in 1902.
In 1904, he was elevated to the Canadian Senate
, but remained Trade and Commerce minister until the fall of the Laurier government in the 1911 election
. In this position he introduced, in 1908, a limited system of old age annuities. Additionally, he served as Leader of the Government in the Senate from 1909 until 1911, and as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1911 until his death in 1912.
Cartwright served in the Canadian Parliament for a total of 43 years, 4 months and 30 days. He was a vigorous and trenchant orator, and was known as 'the Rupert of debate'. In particular, his debates with his Conservative counterpart, Sir George Eulas Foster
, are the stuff of Canadian Parliamentary legend.
In the Kingston, Ontario
area, Cartwright Street and Cartwright Point are named for him and his family, in recognition of their longstanding contributions to the region.
in Kingston, Ontario
from 1878 to 1881, where he won several academic prizes. He was a railway engineer in Manitoba. He served in the 1885 campaign and in South Africa, where he was mentioned in dispatches four times. He served as assistant adjutant-general at militia headquarters and as a musketry officer during World War I.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, (Imperial) PC (December 4, 1835 – September 24, 1912) 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...
businessman and politician. He was born and raised in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
in a United Empire Loyalist family, the son of Harriet Dobbs
Harriet Dobbs
Harriet Dobbs , a member of the family of Castle Dobbs, Co. Antrim, was from Dublin where she married her husband, Robert David Cartwright. He was the son of Richard Cartwright of Kingston, Upper Canada. The couple came to Kingston from Ireland in 1833...
Cartwright and the grandson of Richard Cartwright
Richard Cartwright (Upper Canada politician)
The Hon. Richard Cartwright was a businessman, judge and political figure in Upper Canada.-Early life:Born at Albany, New York in 1759, his father, Richard Cartwright, had come there from England in 1742...
. He was a major landowner in the area, and became prominent in Kingston's financial community as president of the Commercial Bank of Canada. He suffered a major blow when his bank failed in 1867.
Cartwright entered politics when he was elected as a Conservative Party member and supporter of John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...
in the Province of Canada's legislative assembly
Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the...
in 1863. In 1867, the Province of Canada became part of the new Canadian confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
. Cartwright was elected
Canadian federal election, 1867
The Canadian federal election of 1867, held from August 7 to September 20, was the first election for the new nation of Canada. It was held to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons, representing electoral districts in the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec in the...
to the newly formed 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...
, again as a Tory. In 1869, he broke with the Conservatives over Macdonald's appointment of Sir Francis Hincks
Francis Hincks
Sir Francis Hincks, KCMG, PC was a Canadian politician.Born in Cork, Ireland, he was the son of Thomas Dix Hincks an orientalist, naturalist and Presbyterian minister and the brother of Edward Hincks orientalist, naturalist and clergyman.He moved to York in 1832 and set up an importing business...
as Minister of Finance
Minister of Finance (Canada)
The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...
, and crossed the floor
Crossing the floor
In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...
to join the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
.
With the Liberal party's victory in the 1874 election
Canadian federal election, 1874
The Canadian federal election of 1874 was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 3rd Parliament of Canada. Sir John A...
, Cartwright was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Alexander Mackenzie
Alexander Mackenzie
Alexander Mackenzie, PC , a building contractor and newspaper editor, was the second Prime Minister of Canada from November 7, 1873 to October 8, 1878.-Biography:...
. He supported free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
, but sought limited tariffs as a means of government revenue. Cartwright returned to the opposition bench when the Liberals were defeated in the 1878 election
Canadian federal election, 1878
The Canadian federal election of 1878 was held on September 17 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 4th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the end of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government after only one term in office. Canada suffered an economic depression...
. In recognition of his service, he was awarded a knighthood in 1879. From the 1887 election
Canadian federal election, 1887
The Canadian federal election of 1887 was held on February 22, 1887 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Canada.The Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A...
, he represented the ridings of Oxford South
Oxford South
Oxford South was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1935. It was located in the province of Ontario...
.
In the 1890s, the Liberals moved away from support for unrestricted reciprocity
Reciprocity (Canadian politics)
In nineteenth and early twentieth century Canadian politics, the term reciprocity was used to describe the concept of free trade with the United States of America...
with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and Cartwright's influence in the party diminished.
With the victory of Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....
's Liberals in the 1896 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...
, Cartwright returned to Cabinet. Laurier denied Cartwright the finance ministry as a way of assuring Canada's business community that the government was not going to adopt free trade. Instead, he appointed Cartwright Minister of Trade and Commerce. He also served as a Canadian member of the Anglo-American Joint High Commission to resolve diplomatic problems between Canada and the US in 1898. Cartwright was appointed to the Imperial Privy Council in 1902.
In 1904, he was elevated to the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
, but remained Trade and Commerce minister until the fall of the Laurier government in the 1911 election
Canadian federal election, 1911
The Canadian federal election of 1911 was held on September 21 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Canada.-Summary:...
. In this position he introduced, in 1908, a limited system of old age annuities. Additionally, he served as Leader of the Government in the Senate from 1909 until 1911, and as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1911 until his death in 1912.
Cartwright served in the Canadian Parliament for a total of 43 years, 4 months and 30 days. He was a vigorous and trenchant orator, and was known as 'the Rupert of debate'. In particular, his debates with his Conservative counterpart, Sir George Eulas Foster
George Eulas Foster
Sir George Eulas Foster, PC, PC, GCMG was a Canadian politician and academic. He coined the phrase "splendid isolation" to describe British foreign policy in the late 19th century....
, are the stuff of Canadian Parliamentary legend.
In the Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
area, Cartwright Street and Cartwright Point are named for him and his family, in recognition of their longstanding contributions to the region.
Family
Sir Richard Cartwright's eldest son, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cartwright studied at the Royal Military College of CanadaRoyal Military College of Canada
The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
from 1878 to 1881, where he won several academic prizes. He was a railway engineer in Manitoba. He served in the 1885 campaign and in South Africa, where he was mentioned in dispatches four times. He served as assistant adjutant-general at militia headquarters and as a musketry officer during World War I.