William Wilfred Sullivan

SULLIVAN, Q.C., HONOURABLE SIR WILLIAM WILFRED, journalist, lawyer, and judge; b. 6 December 1843 in New London, son of William Sullivan and Mary McArthy, both of County Kerry, Ireland; m. 13 August 1872 Alice Maud Mary Newberry, and they had six children, Adele M. M„ Alice M. M„ W. F. Cleaver. WilfredC. P., Faustina M. L., and Louis Arthur; Roman Catholic; d. 30 September 1920 in Memramcook, New Brunswick, and was buried in Charlottetown. Sullivan, predominantly a Conservative, but a Liberal during his early career, was first elected to the House of Assembly in the 1872 general election for 1st Kings. He was re-elected in the general elections of 1873, 1876, 1879, 1883, and 1886. He was defeated in an 1869 by-election for 1st Kings, in the 1870 general election for 3,d Queens, and in another by-election for 1" Kings in 1871. He served on Executive Council in Premier Robert Poore Haythorne's Administration from April to June of 1872, until resigning over a disagreement about the provincial railway. In 1873 he was appointed Solicitor-General in the coalition government of Conservative James C. Pope . When Pope's Denominationalists were defeated in the 1876 general election by the Free School Party of L. H. Davies*, Sullivan continued to oppose the Public Schools Act of 1877. From 1876 to 1879, he served as Leader of the Opposition. In the general election of 1879, Sullivan defeated Davies and became Premier and Attorney-General, a position he held until 1889. Sullivan was the first Island premier to win three consecutive elections. His 10-year term as premier was a record until Alex Campbell's 12-year stint in the 1960s and 70s. Premier Sullivan was concerned primarily with provincial finances. The Davies government had been unable to balance the budget and, when it attempted to impose taxation through the Assessment Act of 1877, the electorate reacted angrily. Having joined Confederation for the financial stability and security it offered, Islanders were indignant at the possibility of direct taxation by the provincial government. In the 1879 campaign, Sullivan promised to do away with direct taxation and to deal with the province's financial problems by requesting more support from the Federal government. This effort would allow him to balance the budget and eliminate the need for direct taxation in the province. His plan pleased the electorate, and Sullivan was elected with the largest majority ever recorded in the Assembly to that time. The Sullivan Administration made many changes to provincial spending patterns. Sullivan eliminated the secret ballot, reverted to statutory labour (compulsory) on the roads, cut the pay of Members of the Assembly, reduced the number of offices and the salaries in the civil service, eliminated some of the jurors on civil cases, and amalgamated the institutions of higher learning in the province. Despite his repeated appeals to the federal government for revenue supplements after he abolished the direct tax in 1882, Sullivan was unable to balance the budget. Unwilling to reintroduce the direct tax and unable to secure adequate funds from the federal government, the Sullivan Administration was forced to borrow large sums of money to cover the cost of its operations. Ultimately, Sullivan was able to gain an increased subsidy to the province from the federal government. In 1889 Sullivan left office to accept the appointment of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island on 13 November 1889. His brother John Sullivan* served in the House of Assembly from 1890 to 1893. Sullivan was educated at Central Academy in Charlottetown and at St. Dunstan's College. Following his schooling, Sullivan was one of the editors at the Charlottetown Herald, and continued to w'rite for the newspaper in the early years of his law career. He completed his law apprenticeship with Joseph Hensley and was admitted to the Bar on 29 June 1867. He was a partner in the law firm of Sullivan and McNeill. He was also a partner in Sullivan and Morson. In 1876 Sullivan was designated as Queen's Counsel. On 29 June 1914 Sullivan was appointed a Knight Bachelor. In 1917 he resigned his judicial positions due to ill health. William Sullivan died30 September 1920, while residing with one of his daughters. Alice Sullivan, the daughter of John Fenton Newberry and Adelia Travaglini of London, England, and Sienna, Italy, was born in 1846 and died in November 1908.