John Babington Macaulay Baxter PC KC DCL (February 16, 1868 – December 27, 1946) was a New Brunswick lawyer, jurist and the 19th premier of New Brunswick.
Baxter served in the Canadian Army and was the author of Historical Records of the New Brunswick Regiment, Royal Artillery, the unit he commanded from 1907 to 1912. He also had a keen interest in genealogy and in 1943 the New Brunswick Museum published his book titled Simon Baxter - The first United Empire Loyalist to settle in New Brunswick, (Canada).
Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, John Baxter served on the municipal council for eighteen years from 1892 to 1910. A Conservative Party member, he was elected to the 32nd New Brunswick Legislative Assembly in 1911. He was appointed Attorney-General of the province, holding that office from 1915 to 1917. He entered federal politics and served as Minister of Customs and Excise under Prime Minister Arthur Meighen in 1921 before taking over the leadership of the provincial Conservative party and leading it to victory in 1925.
Baxter was a leader of the Maritime Rights Movement which expressed the discontent felt by the maritime provinces concerning their loss of influence in the Canadian confederation dominated by the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
He left politics in 1931 and was appointed Chief Justice of the New Brunswick Supreme Court in 1935, which he would serve for the remainder of his life. Additionally, Baxter was a Freemason and served as the Grand Master for the Grand Lodge of New Brunswick, holding meetings at the Saint John Masonic Temple.[1][2]
His son, John B. M. Baxter, Jr., later served in the cabinet of Richard Hatfield. He is the great grandfather of Luke Macaulay Baxter, the son of Kirk Macaulay Baxter.
He died in West Saint John in 1946 at 78.[3]
References
- ^ "MASONIC GRAND LODGE MEETING IN SAINT JOHN". The Daily Mail. Fredericton, New Brunswick. 23 August 1934. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
- ^ "JUDGE BAXTER AGAIN CHOSEN GRAND MASTER". The Daily Mail. Fredericton, New Brunswick. 25 August 1933. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
- ^ "Hon. J. B. M. Baxter Dies at Saint John". The Ottawa Journal. 27 December 1946. pp. 1, 12. Retrieved 24 December 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
Further reading
- Arthur T. Doyle, Front Benches and Back Rooms: A story of corruption, muckraking, raw partisanship and political intrigue in New Brunswick, Toronto: Green Tree Publishing, 1976.
External links
- John Babington Macaulay Baxter – Parliament of Canada biography
- Government of New Brunswick biography
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