John Foster McCreight
| John Foster McCreight | |
|---|---|
Hon. John Foster McCreight
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| 1st Premier of British Columbia | |
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In office November 14, 1871 – December 23, 1872 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Lieutenant Governor | Joseph Trutch |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Amor De Cosmos |
| MLA for Victoria City | |
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In office October 16, 1871 – September 11, 1875 Serving with Robert Beaven, Simeon Duck, James Trimble |
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| Preceded by | first member |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Charles Elliott |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1827 (Bap. Sept. 3) Caledon, County Tyrone, Ireland |
| Died | November 18, 1913 (aged 86) Hastings, East Sussex, United Kingdom |
| Political party | None |
| Religion | Anglican, then Roman Catholic |
John Foster McCreight QC (1827 – November 18, 1913) was a jurist and the first Premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia.
McCreight was born in Caledon, County Tyrone, Ireland to a well-established and well-connected family. After completing law studies at Trinity College Dublin, McCreight was called to the bar in 1852. Shortly thereafter, McCreight left Ireland to establish a practice in Melbourne, Australia. For unknown reasons, McCreight left Australia in 1859 and sailed first to San Francisco, and then to Victoria, British Columbia.
At the time of McCreight's arrival in Victoria in 1860, it was the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island, which at the time was governed by the powerful and autocratic Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company, Sir James Douglas. In 1862, McCreight was called to the British Columbia bar, and opened a practice in Victoria. By all accounts, he led a quiet and solitary life in the city, his main occupations outside of his work being his involvement in the local Masonic Lodge and as an active layperson in the congregation of the local Anglican cathedral.
By 1866, the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia had merged. Although the united colony did not join the Canadian confederation when it was effected in 1867, the worrisome economic and strategic situation soon made such an arrangement attractive. British Columbia joined confederation on July 20, 1871, and McCreight joined the interim transitional cabinet as Attorney General. During the first provincial general election that October, McCreight won a seat for Victoria City in the legislature, and Sir Joseph Trutch, the Lieutenant Governor, chose him to be British Columbia’s first premier. He continued to hold the attorney-generalship as well.
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