As we delve into the first five premiers of New Brunswick, we begin with Andrew Rainsford Wetmore.
Wetmore was born on Aug. 16, 1820 in Fredericton. His family was one of the most prominent in New Brunswick. His grandfather and great-grandfather were prominent lawyers who established a law firm on Saint John in 1788. His grandfather, Thomas Wetmore, served as attorney general of New Brunswick for 19 years.
Andrew Wetmore’s father was George Ludlow Wetmore, who was also a lawyer in Fredericton. During one particular case, he got into an argument with lawyer George Frederick Street. The two men began to fight each other outside the courthouse and were broken up by George’s father Thomas.
Still angry, George Wetmore went home and asked a friend to go to Street’s house to challenge him to a duel of honour. Street agreed to this. On Oct. 2, 1821, when Andrew Wetmore was only one-year-old, his father walked 15 paces away from Street, turned and shot. Both missed the other man. They then agreed to a second duel. This time, Wetmore’s bullet missed Street but Street shot Wetmore’s wrist and the bullet deflected to his head.
Wetmore died that night at a farmhouse. His wife Harriet, Andrew’s mother, pledged to name her unborn child George in his honour and to never speak or have anything to do with the Street family. She kept that promise until the day she died at 94 in 1885.
As for Street, he went on trial for murder but was acquitted.
On Oct. 29, 1821, Andrew Wetmore’s sister was born and was named George Ludlow Harriet Wetmore. She too shunned the Street family her entire life until she died in 1909.
The bad blood between the families lasted for generations but was put to rest on June 27, 1994 when the two families unveiled a plaque honouring the site of the duel. Members on each side of the family shook hands to end the feud.
Following in the footsteps of his ancestors, Wetmore pursued a law degree. He became an attorney on Oct. 14, 1841 and was admitted to the New Brunswick Bar on Oct. 21, 1843. Wetmore practiced law at Oromocto until 1847, after which he moved to Saint John where he maintained a law practice for the next two decades.
In 1848, Wetmore married Louisa Elizabeth Lansdowne, with whom he had nine children.
Wetmore was described as a man who was tall and imposing with a distinguished face that helped him win many friends through charm.
When Wetmore was 45, he entered politics as an Anti-Confederate in the colonial legislature in 1865. His move into politics came after the party approached him to run.
While he was part of the Anti-Confederation Party, Wetmore was not completely opposed to joining Canadian Confederation. His issue with Confederation were the terms offered to the province to join Canada.
After he won his election on March 4, 1865, he sat as a backbencher in the legislature.
Wetmore hoped to be appointed as the attorney general when the Anti-Confederation Party was elected to the Legislature. When that didn’t happen, he abandoned his opposition to Canadian confederation.
The Kingston Whig-Standard wrote,
“Mr. Wetmore is about to change sides in politics in accordance with the more recent views of his constituents and come out in favour of Confederation.”
He crossed the floor and joined the Confederation Party. This move was criticized by many, but Wetmore simply stated that he wanted to be certain to have been right at least once.
The Confederation Party formed government in 1866 and when New Brunswick joined Canada in 1867, many within the provincial government were given positions in the House of Commons, courts and other federal offices. In all,16 of the 41 members of the Legislature left provincial politics for federal positions.
With so many party members leaving provincial politics, Wetmore was appointed as the new leader of the party.
As the leader of the Confederation Party, he became the first premier of New Brunswick on Aug. 16, 1867.
As premier, Wetmore brought in financing for rail lines in the province. Throughout the winter of 1868-69, Wetmore negotiated with the federal government to acquire the assets of the eastern part of the Intercolonial Railway.
The Hamilton Times wrote,
“Wetmore is pressing the government to assume the International Contract Company’s Railway in New Brunswick as part of the Intercolonial Railway. If this is done, the sum of over $300,000 aid given to the company by New Brunswick would, of course, be refunded to that province.”
His government also incorporated the College of Saint Joseph.
In 1868, provincial revenue fell to $400,000 a year, forcing Wetmore to control costs by reducing the membership of the Legislative Council to 18. He also abolished the solicitor general office.
That same year, he exempted all family homesteads valued at less than $600 from sale on execution. This protected small farmers from creditors.
One of his government’s most notable achievements was granting full property rights to all married women living apart from, or deserted by, their husbands.
He was also heavily opposed the anti-confederates, which he had been part of only a few years previous. In 1869, when John Cudlip gave a notice of a resolution that called for the province to join the United States, Wetmore became enraged.
Wetmore screamed that Cudlip was a traitor and then chased him around the chamber. He then had Cudlip’s motion expunged from the notice book. When George Botsford, who was a clerk with the Legislative Council, stated later that the province should join the United States, Wetmore had him removed.
On Jan. 7, 1870, hoping to improve the finances of the province, Wetmore proposed establishing a large capitalist association. The Hamilton Spectator wrote,
“The object of which is to encourage the more rapid development of the natural resources of the province, by aiding individuals and companies engaged in mining and manufacturing. The Association ask from localities wherein they intend to operate, for such assistance as will be a fair equivalent for the advantages which such localities will receive through the impetus given to the branches of industry named.”
On May 25, 1870, Wetmore retired from politics to take a position with the New Brunswick Supreme Court.
In 1880, he was appointed to the New Brunswick divorce court, and remained there until just before his death on March 7, 1892.
His funeral notice said,
“In the great political struggle . . . he was not as consistent as some other public men of that day but he was nonetheless an important factor in the political battles then going on.”
The Montreal Gazette wrote of him,
“As a lawyer, Mr. Wetmore held a high rank and as a judge, he was painstaking and able.”
