William Wilfred Sullivan
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Sir William Wilfred Sullivan (December 6, 1839 – September 30, 1920) was a Prince Edward Island journalist, politician and jurist. After a career as Assistant editor at the Charlottetown Herald and as a lawyer, Sullivan was elected to the provincial legislature in 1872 as a Liberal MLA.
A staunch Catholic, Sullivan became leader of the opposition in 1877 to the Protestant coalition government of Louis Henry Davies which had been formed to implement a public, secular school system that denied funding to Roman Catholic separate schools. Sullivan reorganised the Conservative Party and was asked by the lieutenant-governor to become premier once Davies' coaltion broke up and became unable to command a majority in the assembly.
Sullivan served as premier for ten years and fought for PEI's rights in the dominion of Canada. He protested the federal government's failure to fulfill the terms of confederation on which the island had joined the dominion in 1873. In 1886, he petitioned the Imperial government in London protesting Canada's delinquency in respect to promises to ensure communication lines between the island and the rest of the country but the problem remained unresolved until the 1900s.
In 1889, Sullivan was appointed chief justice of PEI and served in that position until his retirement in 1917. In 1914 he was knighted by King George V.
External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online (http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=41850)
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Preceded by: Louis Henry Davies 1876-1879 |
Premier of Prince Edward Island 1879-1889 |
Succeeded by: Neil McLeod 1889-1891 |