William Wilfred Sullivan

Sir William Wilfred Sullivan
4th Premier of Prince Edward Island
In office April 25, 1879 – November 13, 1889
Monarch	Victoria
Lieutenant Governor	Robert Hodgson Thomas Heath Haviland Andrew Archibald Macdonald Jedediah Slason Carvell
Preceded by	Louis Henry Davies
Succeeded by	Neil McLeod
Leader of the Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island
In office 1877 – November 13, 1889
Preceded by	Lemuel Owen
Succeeded by	Neil McLeod
Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island
In office November 13, 1889 – June 21, 1917
Preceded by	Edward Palmer
Succeeded by	John Alexander Mathieson
Member of the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island for 2nd Kings
In office 1872 – November 13, 1889 Serving with Hilary McIsaac, William Hooper, John Underhay
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	John P. Sullivan
Administrator of Prince Edward Island
In office February 14, 1894 – February 21, 1894
Preceded by	Jedediah Slason Carvell
Succeeded by	George William Howlan
Personal details
Born	(1839-12-06)December 6, 1839 Hope River, Prince Edward Island Colony
Died	September 30, 1920(1920-09-30) (aged 80) Memramcook, New Brunswick, Dominion of Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Conservative Party
Spouse	Alice Maud Mary Newberry ​ ​ (m. 1872)​
Children	6
Residence	Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Alma mater	University of Prince Edward Island St. Dunstan's College
Occupation	Journalist, lawyer, and judge
Profession	Politician
Cabinet	Solicitor General (1873–1876)

Sir William Wilfred Sullivan (December 6, 1839 – September 30, 1920) was a Prince Edward Island journalist, politician and jurist, the fourth premier of Prince Edward Island.

A native of Hope River, Sullivan had a career as an assistant editor at the Charlottetown Herald as well as a lawyer before being elected to the provincial legislature in 1872 as a Liberal MLA.

A staunch Catholic, Sullivan became leader of the opposition in 1877 to the Protestant coalition government of Louis Henry Davies which had been formed to implement a public, secular school system that denied funding to Roman Catholic separate schools. Sullivan reorganised the Conservative Party and was asked by the lieutenant governor to become premier once Davies' coalition broke up and became unable to command a majority in the assembly.

Sullivan served as premier for ten years and fought for PEI's rights in Canada. He protested the federal government's failure to fulfill the terms of confederation on which the island had joined the dominion in 1873. In 1886, he petitioned the Imperial government in London protesting Canada's delinquency in respect to promises to ensure communication lines between the island and the rest of the country but the problem remained unresolved until the 1900s.

In 1889, Sullivan was appointed Chief Justice of PEI and served in that position until his retirement in 1917. In 1914 he was made a Knight Bachelor by King George V.

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

This page was last edited on 16 December 2023, at 23:07