Charlotte County

Senator

M.P.

M.L.A.

GILLMOR, Arthur Hill (HON) (1824-1903)

Born, March 12th, 1824, at St. George, charlotte County, N.B.  Of Irish ancestry.  Son of Daniel Gillmor, Esq., and his wife, Pamela Dowdle, both residents of that place.  (Grandfather, Arthur Hill Gillmor, was a resident of Hillsboro, County Down, Ireland, who emigrated to New Brunswick, and settled in Charlotte County.)

Educated at the St. George Public School.

Located at St. George, N.B. and engaged in the lumbering, milling, and mercantile business.  Developed an extensive and successful operation.

Married, Jan. 1846, to Miss Hannah Dawes Howe, daughter of Simon Howe, Esq., Maine, U.S.A.  By this marriage there was a family of three sons and one daughter.

First elected to the House of Assembly of N.B. as one of the members for Charlotte County, at the G.E. of June, 1854, and sat that legislature.  Re-elected at the G.E.s of 1856,1857,1861, and 1865, the latter on the issue of Confederation to which he was opposed.  Also re-elected at a bye-election held April 1865, made necessary by his acceptance of a Portfolio.  He sat continuously as a member until the dissolution of the legislature in 1866.  At the G.E. of XX 1866, again on the issue of Confederation, he was defeated, and subsequently retired from local politics.

In April, 1865, he was sworn in as member of the Executive Council of N.B., and received the portfolio of Provincial Secretary in the Adm. of the Hon. Robert James Smith (q.v.).  He held this appointment until April 14th, 1866, when the Smith Adm. resigned following its defeat at the G.E. of that year.

Unsuccessfully contested the constituency of Charlotte in the G.E. of August, 1872, being defeated by John MacAdam (q.v.).  First elected to the House of Commons as member for Charlotte, at the G.E. of 1874.  Re-elected at the G.E.s of 1878, 1882, 1887, and 1891, and sat continuously until the dissolution of Parliament in 1896.  At the G.E. of June 22nd, 1896, he was defeated.

On April 2nd, 1900, he was called to the Senate of Canada, and continued to sit as a member in that House until his decease.

He died, April 13th, 1903, while on a train enroute to Ottawa, Ont,m aged seventy-nine years.  Buried in the St. George, N.B. burial Cemetery.  Survived by his widow, three sons, and one daughter.

Mrs. Gillmor died April 1908.

In Politics:  a Liberal                                                    In Religion:  a Baptist

FAMILY:

  1. Son: Daniel (q.v.) (1849-1918) – Senator (1907 – 1918)
  2. Son: Henry Edward (M.D.), St. Martins, NB (d. March 1926)
  3. Son: Percy – C.P.R. – Vancouver & Montreal, PQ. (d. at St. George, NB)
  4. Dau.: Delia augusta – Mar. Thomas Dick (M.D.), St. George, NB