Alexander Morris 1

Alexander Morris
The Honorable
 Alexander Morris

Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for

Toronto East
In office
December 21, 1878 – November 15, 1886

Preceded by Matthew Crooks Cameron

Succeeded by Electoral district abolished.

2nd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba

In office
December 2, 1872 – October 7, 1877

Preceded by Adams George Archibald

Succeeded by Joseph Édouard Cauchon

Member of the Canadian Parliament

for Lanark South
In office
1867–1872

Preceded by Electoral district created in 1867

Succeeded by John Graham Haggart

Born March 17, 1826

Perth, Upper Canada

Died October 28, 1889 (aged 63)

Toronto, Ontario

Political party Conservative

Other political Conservative Party of Ontario

affiliations

Relations William Morris, father

Cabinet Federal:
Minister of Inland Revenue (1869-1872)
Alexander Morris 2

Alexander Morris, PC (March 17, 1826 – October 28, 1889) was a Canadian politician. He served in the cabinet of
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald (1869-1872), and was the second Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (1872-1877).
He also served as the founder and first Lieutenant Governor of the District of Keewatin.keegov

Biography
Morris was born in Perth, Upper Canada (now Ontario), the son of William Morris, himself a prominent Canadian
businessman and Conservative politician. From this privileged social position, Morris was educated in Canada and
Scotland and worked for three years at the Montreal firm of Thorne and Heward. In 1847, he moved to Kingston,
Ontario and articled for a year under John A. Macdonald. In 1849, he became the first person to receive an arts
degree from McGill University. He would subsequently receive other degrees from McGill, including a DCL in
1862. In 1851, he was admitted to the bar in both Canada East and Canada West; he subsequently built up a
profitable legal practice.
Morris was also an author, and in 1855 published an essay entitled Canada and her resources, which called for the
development of national industry. In 1858, he predicted a coming federation of the British North American colonies
in a work entitled Nova Britannia, which sold 3,000 copies in its first ten days of publication. He also wrote on
academic matters and developments in the Presbyterian Church in Canada, of which he was a prominent member
(becoming a ruling elder of its synod in the 1850s). Morris also wrote The Treaties of Canada With The Indians of
Manitoba and The North-West Territories Including The Negotiations on Which They Were Based, and Other
Information Relating Thereto in 1880, which is generally considered "the primary source document for government's
interpretation of the treaty era in Canada."treatybook
Alexander Morris was raised for public life, and it was no surprise when he declared himself a candidate for the
Province of Canada's legislature in 1861. He ran as a Liberal-Conservative in the riding of Lanark South in Canada
West, supporting the government of George-Étienne Cartier and John A. Macdonald. Morris received 1265 votes,
against 828 for his opponent. The Cartier-Macdonald government came out of the 1861 election in a weakened
position, and Liberal John Sandfield Macdonald was able to form a ministry in 1862. Morris, accordingly, went into
the opposition. He was easily re-elected in 1863, and returned to the government side when the Étienne-Paschal
Taché-John A. Macdonald ministry was formed in 1864.
Morris's role in parliament was limited during these years, though he spoke frequently in support of confederation
and played a role in negotiating the grand coalition ministry of 1864. He also expanded his business interests in this
period, and was named to the board of the Commercial Bank of Canada in 1867. During his time in parliament, he
was responsible for introducing a bill ending public executions in Canada.
Morris was re-elected by acclamation in the federal election of 1867, the first to be held following the royal
proclamation of Confederation. He was appointed Minister of Inland Revenue on November 16, 1869, and served as
a competent if not prominent member of the Macdonald ministry for the next three years. On the advice of his
doctors, he did not seek re-election in 1872.
He was instead appointed as the first Chief Justice of Manitoba, serving in this position from July to December 1872.
He was also appointed as the acting Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories in October
1872, following the departure of Adams George Archibald. Morris maintained Archibald's policy of conciliation
among the various factions in Manitoba, and unsuccessfully attempted to establish a local police force to preserve
law and order in the region. He was formally sworn in as the official Lieutenant Governor on December 2, and
attempted to accelerate the settling of Métis land claims in the province.
Manitoba's government was still in a developing state when Morris became Lieutenant Governor, and he continued
Archibald's practice of serving as the province's de facto Premier. In 1873, he refused a request by Henry Joseph
Clarke to be recognized as Premier of the province, and continued to exercise his own authority over the province's
legislative process.
Alexander Morris 3

After the defeat of the provincial ministry in July 1874, Morris asked Marc-Amable Girard to become the province's
first Premier, thereby instituting responsible government to the province. Even after this, he continued to exert
considerable authority from behind the scenes.
Morris spoke for Manitoba on matters of federal-provincial relations, and helped to create the University of
Manitoba in 1877. He was also actively involved in treaty negotiations with aboriginal groups, signing Treaties 3, 4,
5, and 6, and revising Treaties 1 and 2. Morris seems to have been more willing to support aboriginal land title than
was his predecessor Archibald, and argued in favour of education and hunting/fishing rights for aboriginal groups.
Despite some successes, however, he was unable to prevent the withdrawal of many Métis from the province (there
were some suspicions about Morris's own speculation in land previously owned by the Métis).
Morris stepped down as Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories in 1876, after it was made a separate
jurisdiction. While losing this position, he also gained the Lieutenant Governorship of Keewatin District, a new
territory which stretched up into the Arctic. He held this position until 1877, when he resigned as Lieutenant
Governor of Manitoba and returned to Ontario.
Morris sought to return to the federal House of Commons in 1878. After losing the Conservative nomination in the
Manitoba riding of Marquette, he decided to contest nearby Selkirk instead. He was defeated by Canadian Pacific
Railway spokesman and Independent Conservative Donald A. Smith by 555 votes to 546, and subsequently returned
to Ontario again.
Later in 1878, Ontario MLA Matthew Crooks Cameron was appointed as a judge, and the provincial seat of Toronto
East became vacant. Morris contested the riding as a Conservative, and defeated his Liberal opponent J. Leys by
1891 votes to 1846. The Conservatives were in opposition to the Liberal government of Oliver Mowat in this period,
and Morris served as the opposition house leader. In the general election of 1879, he personally defeated Mowat in
Toronto East by 2132 votes to 2075 (though Mowat also contested Oxford North, which he won easily). Morris
again defeated Leys by a narrow margin in 1883, but did not seek re-election in 1886, once more for medical
reasons. The Conservatives were never able to form government in Ontario during Morris's time in the provincial
house.
Morris continued to serve as a prominent figure in the Presbyterian Church following his retirement. He died in
1889, at age 63.

References
1. Alexander Morris becomes Lieutenant Governor of District of Keewatin [1]
2. Book summary [2]

External links
• Negotiating the Numbered Treaties: An Intellectual and Political Biography of Alexander Morris by Robert J.
Talbot (2009) [3]
• Works by Alexander Morris [4] at Project Gutenberg
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online [5]
• Parliament of Canada biography [6]
Alexander Morris 4

References
[1] http:/ / books. google. ca/ books?vid=LCCN02010621& id=Vn5IbZkax2YC& q=%22District+ of+ Keewatin%22& dq=%22District+ of+
Keewatin%22& num=100& pgis=1
[2] http:/ / www. goodminds. com/ booksntoz/ Treaties-of-Canada-with-the-Indians-of-Manitoba-an. html
[3] http:/ / www. purichpublishing. com/ ?module=swm_ecommerce& page=product_detail& categoryID=4& productID=64
[4] http:/ / www. gutenberg. org/ author/ Alexander_Morris
[5] http:/ / www. biographi. ca/ 009004-119. 01-e. php?& id_nbr=5720
[6] http:/ / www2. parl. gc. ca/ parlinfo/ Files/ Parliamentarian. aspx?Item=819ea8ce-2b23-4943-80e2-9865929a4e1c& Language=E&
Section=FederalExperience
Article Sources and Contributors 5

Article Sources and Contributors

Alexander Morris  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=383681065  Contributors: Bearcat, BfDx, Big iron, CJCurrie, Chris the speller, Cloveious, Connormah, Corykoski, D. C.
Thomas, D6, Denelson83, Dl2000, Dodge rambler, Fawcett5, GoodDay, Homagetocatalonia, Indefatigable, Kbdank71, Ketiltrout, Kurieeto, MBueckert, Mackensen, Magnus Manske, Michael
Drew, Midnightdreary, Neutrality, Rich Farmbrough, Saskatchewanais, Wtshymanski, YUL89YYZ, Zoicon5, 2 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

file:AlexanderMorris23.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:AlexanderMorris23.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Big iron, Skeezix1000, YUL89YYZ

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