St. John County & City
M.L.A.
Elder, William (Hon)(Rev.) (1822 – 1883)
Born, July 22nd, 1822, at Malin, County Donegal, Ireland. Of Irish ancestry. Son of _____________
Educated at the public school; Belfast College; University of Glasgow; and the University of Edinburgh. Studied Theology and, for a number of years, was a clergyman in the Presbyterian Church, distinguishing himself as a writer and speaker.
Emigrated to N.B. and settled in St. John. Edited the Colonial Presbyterian, and the Morning Journal. Became Chief Editor and Proprietor of the St. John Daily Telegraph. Was a member of the School Board; the Council of the Dominion Board of Trade. Held degrees of M.A. and L.L.D.
Married, ________, to Sarah C., widow of Samuel Gilmor, Esq., St. Stephen, N.B. and daughter of ___________. Family of two daughters.
Unsuccessfully contested St. John Co. for House of Commons, at the G.E. of 1872.
First elected to the House of Assembly, as one of the members for St. John City and County, at a bye-election held March 6th, 1875, to fill the vacancy created by the death of the sitting member, Joseph Coran (q.v.), and sat the remainder of that Legislature. Re-elected at the G.E.s of 1878, 1882, and at a bye-election held March 1883. Sat as a member until his sudden death.
On March 3rd, 1883, he was sworn in as a member of the Executive Council of N.B. and received the appointment of Provincial Secretary in the Adm. of the Hon. Andrew G. Blair (q.v.), and held that appointment until his death.
He died suddenly, July 23rd, 1883, at his residence, St. John, N.B., aged sixty-one years. Survived by his widow and two daughters. Buried in Fernhill Cemetery, St. John. Mrs. Elder died in 1890, aged sixty-nine years.
In Politics: a Liberal In Religion: a Presbyterian
FAMILY:
- Dau: Mary – Mar. Jeremy Taylor
- Dau: Edith A. (1870 – 1889)
Step-dau: Marriett A. Gilmor, Mar. in 1868, William A. Lockhart
