Thompson Sir John Sparrow David 1844-1894 Born In Halifax Nova
Scotia. Educated at Free Church Academy, Halifax. In 1859 a reporter in
the House of Assembly. In 1865 called to the bar and practised in
Halifax. In 1877 member for Antigonish, in the Assembly; and in 1878
attorney-general in the Holmes-Thompson government. On the retirement of
Holmes in 1882, became premier, but being defeated in the House,
resigned two months later. In 1882 appointed a judge of the Supreme
Court. In
1885 minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada, in
Sir John A. Macdonald's government, being elected for Antigonish to the
House of Commons. Appointed legal adviser to the British
plenipotentiaries who arranged the Fishery Treaty with the United States
in 1888, and knighted for his services. In 1892 premier, on the
retirement of Sir John Abbott. In 1893 went to Paris as one of the
arbitrators upon the Bering Sea fisheries dispute. In 1894, while on a
visit to England, and soon after being sworn in as a member of the
Imperial Privy Council, died suddenly at Windsor Castle. =Index=: (Sir John A Macdonald era)
Minister of justice, 254; his address when unveiling statue of John A.
Macdonald at Hamilton, 332. =Bib.=: Morgan, Can. Men; Dict. Nat.
Biog.; Hopkins, Life of Sir John Thompson.