George Wastie Deblois

DEBLOIS, GEORGE WASTIE. land agent, business person, and justice of the peace; b. 12 July 1824 in Halifax, son of Stephen Wastie and June Catherine DeBlois; m. August 1847 Sarah Frances Haviland, and they had 13 children, Stephen Haviland, Alice R., Robert Fitzgerald, Ada Maria, George Walter, Louis Heath, Elizabeth, Francis, Alfred Ernest, Mary, George Dundes, Laura, and Kathleen; Anglican; d. 14 August 1886 in Charlottetown Royalty. DeBlois, a Conservative, was first elected in the 1876 general election for the district of Charlottetown Royalty. He was re-elected in the general election of 1879. DeBlois was interested in the education debate waged in the mid-1870s. The Denominationalists or the Sectarian School Party supported government assistance to denominational schools, while the Free School Party or the NonSectarian School Party supported free non-denominational schools in the 1876 election. DeBlois was a member of a coalition party, made up of both Conservatives and Liberals, in support of the Free School Act. The 1876 election was fought on the education issue with the candidates aligning themselves as Sectarian or Non-Sectarian. DeBlois was chosen as a candidate for the Free School Party. Following the election, Premier L. H. Davies* appointed DeBlois provincial secretary and treasurer. On the acceptance of this office, DeBlois was elected in a by-election. After the Public Schools Act was passed in 1877, the coalition weakened. DeBlois and three other Conservatives resigned from Executive Council on 20 August 1878. When the House was called into session in 1879, DeBlois voted with the other Conservatives to bring Davies down. A new government formed in March 1879 under William Wilfred Sullivan". He called for dissolution, and an election w'as held in April. DeBlois ran and won as a Conservative. He remained a backbencher for the rest of his political career. Little is known about DeBlois' early life. An obituary in the Weekly Examiner and Island Argus indicates he was educated in Halifax. DeBlois lived there until May 1847, residing after that date in Charlottetown. In his early career DeBlois was a land agent. As a result of being a family friend of Samuel Cunard in Halifax, in 1853 DeBlois became land agent for the extensive Cunard holdings on Prince Edward Island, holding this position until the land was bought by the Island government in 1866. He acted as land agent for landowners Lawrence Sullivan and Lady Cecilia Georgiana Fane. Altogether, he was responsible for estates totalling more than 250,000 acres. This career ended in 1875 when the large estates were purchased with funds supplied by the federal government under terms of Confederation. DeBlois was a business agent for North British Insurance Company, a coal agent for the Sydney Mines Company and the General Mining Association, and a director of the Charlottetown Gas Light Company. DeBlois also served as a lustice of the Peace for Charlottetown and as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 6th Regiment of Queens County Militia. He was a trustee of Prince of Wales College in 1877 and 1878. George DeBlois died 14 August 1886. His daughter, Elizabeth, who was deeply attached to her father, died a few hours after viewing his remains, perhaps as a result of the impact his death had on her already weakened heart. Sarah DeBlois, the daughter of Thomas Heath Haviland, Sr., and Jane Rebecca Brecken, and the sister of Thomas Heath Haviland, Jr.*, was born 23 September 1826 and died in June 1900.