Charles Tupper

Charles Tupper

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Rank:	6th (1896)
Date of Birth:	July 2, 1821
Place of Birth:	Amherst, Nova Scotia
Spouse:	Francis Morse
Profession:	Doctor
Political Party:	Conservative

Sir Charles Tupper (July 2, 1821 - October 30, 1915) was the sixth Prime Minister of Canada.

Born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Tupper studied at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, becoming a doctor upon his graduation in 1843. In 1846 he married Frances Morse (1826-1912), with whom he had three sons and three daughters.

He entered Nova Scotia politics in 1855 and became premier in 1864. As a delegate to the Charlottetown, Quebec, and London conferences, Tupper guided his province into Confederation. Sir Charles Tupper's public career was long and successful. He was Canada's High Commissioner to Great Britain from 1884 to 1887, and later served as one of Sir John A. Macdonald's key lieutenants. In 1895, he returned from service as Canada's representative in Britain to take over the leadership of the Conservative party, replacing Mackenzie Bowell, in whose leadership the party was "dissatisfied" because of the controversial Manitoba Schools Question. Despite these successes he was Prime Minister of Canada for just 69 days in 1896, the shortest term ever for a Canadian Prime Minister.

Tupper led the Conservatives into the 1896 election; however, the question of the educational rights of French-speaking Manitobans turned voters, especially in Quebec, towards the Liberals under Wilfrid Laurier, and Tupper's Conservatives were defeated. He retired from politics in 1901, after thirty years in national politics.

Sir Charles Tupper died in Bexleyheath, Kent, England at the age of 94, and was brought home to be buried in St. John's Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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