Alexander Bannerman

Sir Alexander Bannerman (7 October 1788 – 30 December 1864) was a British merchant, vintner, politician and colonial governor.

Known as "Sandy", he was the son of Thomas Bannerman. He was a prominent businessman in his hometown of Aberdeen, Scotland managing the family wine business as well as having a hand in trading and whaling. Bannerman served as the city's provost and in 1837, was elected dean of Marischal College, Aberdeen.

In 1832 he became Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen in the British House of Commons, sitting as a Radical, and remained an MP until his retirement in 1847. Together with his wife, Margaret Gordon the grand daughter of former Governor Walter Patterson, Bannerman returned to the colony of her birth, when he took up the appointment in 1851 as governor of Prince Edward Island. On this occasion he was made a Knight Bachelor. Bannerman instituted responsible government on the island but was removed in 1854 due to political unrest in which he favoured the Reformers. Subsequently, he was governor of the Bahamas until 1857, when he returned north to become governor of Newfoundland, the second governor since responsible government had been granted.

He clashed with John Kent, the premier of Newfoundland, who he felt was corrupt. Bannerman accused Kent's government, as did Bishop Mullock, of using relief aid as patronage, and also accused Kent of being unreasonable in negotiations with France over the French Shore. In 1861, after Kent had accused Bannerman of conspiring with the courts and opposition Conservative Party of Newfoundland against a proposal to reduce the salaries of judges, Bannerman dismissed the Kent government and appointed the leader of the opposition, Hugh Hoyles as the new Premier.

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