William Whiteway
Encyclopedia
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
KCMG
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....
(April 1, 1828 – June 24, 1908) was a politician and three time Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
of Newfoundland. Born in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Whiteway emigrated to the island in 1843 and entered the law in 1852. In 1859 he was elected to the House of Assembly
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level....
as a member of the Conservative Party of Newfoundland and became a supporter of 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...
. He lost his seat in the 1869 election on confederation but returned in 1874 and served as Solicitor-General
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
in the government of Sir Frederick Carter before becoming Premier in 1878 when he succeeded Carter as leader of the Conservatives. He was made a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1865.
Whiteway's major policy ambition was the construction of a railway spanning the island which was begun in 1881 and which he believed would spur economic development of the colony. In 1885 his Conservative party was destroyed by sectarian riots at Harbour Grace which resulted in several Protestants leaving the Whiteway government in protest over its conciliatory attitude towards Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
s. Leading the dissenters was James Spearman Winter
James Spearman Winter
Sir James Spearman Winter, KCMG was a Newfoundland politician and Premier. Winter served in the Conservative government of Sir William Whiteway as Solicitor-General from 1882 to 1885 when he resigned along with a number of other Protestants as a result of sectarian riots at Harbour Grace...
, Whiteway's Solicitor-General and grand master of Newfoundland's Orange Order
Orange Institution
The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...
.
The Orangemen joined with Robert Thorburn
Robert Thorburn
Sir Robert Thorburn was a Newfoundland merchant and politician who served as the colony's Premier from 1885 to 1889.Born in Scotland, Thorburn emigrated to Newfoundland in 1852 when he was sixteen...
, an opponent of Whiteway's railway who felt that the colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
should focus on the fishery, to form the Reform Party and win the 1885 election on a Protestant Rights platform.
In Opposition Whiteway founded a new Liberal Party of Newfoundland which won office in 1889 returning Whiteway as Premier on the issue of the railway. His government was forced to resign in 1894, however, due to allegations of electoral corruption in the previous year's election.
The Tories had argued that Whiteway's Liberals had promised jobs to Newfoundlanders who voted for him and filed petitions in the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
under the Corrupt Practices Act against fifteen Liberal members of the House alleging bribery and corruption. The members were tried and found guilty and their seats were declared vacant. On April 3, 1894, while the trials were still underway, Whiteway asked Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Sir Herbert Murray to dissolve the House of Assembly
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level....
for a new election. The governor refused and asked the Tory leader, Augustus F. Goodridge
Augustus F. Goodridge
Augustus Frederick Goodridge was a Newfoundland merchant and politician. Born in Devon, Goodridge arrived in Newfoundland when he was 13 and worked in his father's business and later became a fish merchant in St. John's. A Conservative, he was first elected to the House of Assembly in 1880...
to form a government despite the fact that the Tories had only 12 seats to 21 for the Liberals. As Liberal seats were declared vacant due to guilty verdicts the standings in the House at the end of the process in August were 8 Conservatives, 9 Liberals and 19 vacancies. Whiteway himself had been found guilty, his seat declared vacant, and under the provisions of the law he was barred from seeking election to the House of Assembly or sitting in government.
The Governor enabled Goodridge to remain in office by continually proroguing the House in order to prevent the government's fall through a Motion of No Confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
.
By-elections were held throughout the fall in which the Liberals retained the seats they had been disbarred from, losing just two, while picking up two from the Conservatives in return. The last by-election was held on November 12, 1894, a full year after the general election. In the interim, 21 by-elections had been held, resulting in a virtual return to the status quo.
Goodridge remained as premier until December 12, 1894, two days after the failure of two banks crippled the economy. Daniel J. Greene
Daniel J. Greene
Daniel Joseph Greene was a Newfoundland politician who briefly served as the colony's Premier.A native of St. John's, he studied law at Laval University and became a lawyer. Daniel Greene was first elected to the House of Assembly in 1875 and became Leader of the Opposition in 1887...
, acting Liberal leader, was sworn in as premier the next day.
His government passed the Disabilities Removal Act, which allowed all those members who had been disqualified to run as candidates as well as sit in government. Greene then resigned so that Whiteway could be sworn in as premier for a third time.
Whiteway's Liberals lost the 1897 election, resulting in his retirement from politics. He was succeeded as Liberal leader by Sir Robert Bond
Robert Bond
Sir Robert Bond was the Prime Minister of Newfoundland from 1900 to 1909. He was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, as the son of merchant John Bond. Bond grew up in St. John's until 1872 when his father died and left the family a good deal of money...
.
Family
The Hon. William Vallance Whiteway, Q.C., married as his second wife, October 22, 1872, Catherine Anne Davies, daughter of W. H. Davies, of Pictou, Nova ScotiaPictou, Nova Scotia
Pictou is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km north of the larger town of New Glasgow....
. The couple, who resided at Riverview, Saint John's, Newfoundland had three sons and three daughters. One daughter, Harriet Louise Whiteway, married, June 2, 1897, Peers Davidson, son of the Hon. Mr. Justice Davidson, Montreal.