Alexander Bannerman Warburton

WARBURTON, K.C., D.C.L, ALEXANDER BANNERMANN, lawyer, judge, and author; b. 4 April 1852 in St. Eleanors, son of lames Warburton and Martha Compton Green; m. first 23 August 1883 Helen Margaret Davies of St. Eleanors, and there were no children; m. secondly 25 October 1889 Isabella Cogswell Longworth of Charlottetown, and they had three children, Olga, Mrs. J. Holroyd, and Morah Frances; Anglican; d. 14 January 1929 in Charlottetown. Warburton, a Liberal, was first elected to the House of Assembly in a by-election held 29 May 1891 for 1st Queens. He was defeated in the general election of 1890 for Charlottetown Royalty. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the general elections of 1893 and 1897. Following the unexpected resignation of Frederick Peters* in 1897, Warburton became premier in October of that year. On 1 August 1898, he resigned as premier and as a Member of the Legislative Assembly to accept a judicial appointment to the Court of Kings County. As a result of urging from members of the Liberal party, on 21 October 1904, Warburton resigned from the Bench to become a candidate in that year's federal election for Queen's. Despite being defeated, he re-offered in the 1908 federal election and was elected. Warburton was defeated in the 1911 and 1917 federal elections. He served as Mayor of Charlottetown from 1901 to 1904. Warburton was born in Summerside and attended public school there. He attended St. Dunstan's for two years. Later he attended King's College in Windsor, Nova Scotia, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree. While at King's College, he won the Williams Engineering Prize and the Welsford Scholarship for ranking first in the first- year class. In 1876 Warburton was awarded a Bachelor of Law degree, and he received a Doctor of Law degree in 1897, both from King's College. Warburton also studied at the University of Edinburgh for one year, concentrating on Arts and Classics. Warburton began law studies in London, England, where he was tutored by the famous instructor, Walter Wren, as well as by M. G. Baugh, noted special pleader at the Inner Temple. Later, upon his return to the Island, he continued his studies with L. H. Davies'''. On 6 July 1878, Warburton was admitted to the Bar and established a law practice in Charlottetown. In 1882 Warburton and Francis Conroy became law partners. He later became a partner with C. R. Smallwood, at another period a partner with Donald A. MacKinnon*, and later with D. Edgar Shaw. Following a career in provincial politics, in 1898 Warburton was appointed as a judge with the Kings County Court where he served until resigning in 1904. In 1920 he returned to the Bench when he was appointed Judge of Probate, and remained there until his death. Warburton was also an author and lecturer. He wrote A History of Prince Edward Island 1534-1831, and was an editor with D. A. MacKinnon and one of the authors of Past and Present. For a number of years he was one of the chief political editorial writers for the Patriot. Warburton was among the first Islanders to promote school consolidation and wrote a series of provocative essays to point out its advantages. He was a director of Patriot Publishing Co. and Eastern Assurance, a member of the Charlottetown school board, secretary of the Prince Edward Island Exhibition Association. and a vice-president of the Dominion Forestry Association. Warburton was also a central figure in the campaign to plant trees in the city of Charlottetown. As a result of his efforts and those of his colleagues, over 800 trees were planted, beginning in 1884. Alexander Warburton died 14 January 1929. Warburton's father came to the Island in 1834 from Garry Hinch, Portartington, in Queens County, Ireland. He, too, was a public figure in the province, serving as Treasurer and in 1851 as Colonial Secretary. A prominent Reform (Liberal) politician in the mid-1800s, James Warburton was one ofthe leading proponents in the campaign for responsible government for Prince Edward Island. Helen Warburton, the daughter of Daniel and Catherine Davies, died 22 July 1884. Isabella Warburton, the daughter of John Longworth and Elizabeth Tremaine, was born 11 July 1859 and died 28 November 1945.