Register entry 255 - Sir J. Douglas Hazen - Member of the 1887 Eastern Media Tour
Visited the Bell Farm on Oct. 5, 1887. During the autumn of 1887, a group of 11 Eastern Canadian newspaper representatives undertook a cross-Canada excursion to inspect and report on agricultural activities throughout the Dominion, including daily attendance at local agricultural fairs, and, at Indian Head, a visit to the famous Bell Farm. For an unknown reason, two of the visitors – William Weld and Professor William Saunders, did not sign, and hence their entries are included in Album 600 – Other Bell Farm Visitors – 1882-2006.
Sir John Douglas Hazen (1860-1937) was a Fredericton N.B. alderman at the time of his visit to the Bell Farm (5 Oct. 1887) and the North-West Agricultural Convention. He was also a stockholder of a publication named the “Maritime Farmer”.
He married Ada Caroline Tibbits in 1884; they raised three daughters and two sons.
Douglas Hazen trained as a lawyer and later focused on life as a politician. He was elected to Fredericton City Council as an alderman in 1885 and as its Mayor in 1888. In 1891 Hazen was elected to the Canadian Parliament. After he lost his seat in the 1896 federal election, Hazen went into provincial politics, where he was elected to the New Brunswick Legislature in 1899, and soon became leader of the provincial Conservative Party. Finally, in the election of 1908, he was successful in forming a majority government, and became Premier of New Brunswick.
Following the successful Conservative federal election in 1911, Hazen resigned his top post in New Brunswick to join the Cabinet of Sir. Robert Borden, the new Prime Minister of Canada. There he served as Minister of Marine and Fisheries, and later also responsible for the Navy. In 1917 he, along with Borden, was appointed to represent Canada on the Imperial War Cabinet in England. When Hazen was dropped from the newly created federal Union Government in 1917, he accepted a position as Chief Justice of the New Brunswick's Supreme Court, a position he held for 17 years, retiring in 1935. He was a controversial Chief Justice, and ended his public career as Dean of the University of New Brunswick law school.
Knighted in 1918, Sir John Douglas Hazen died in 1937.
SOURCES:
Photo: http://archive.org/stream/historyofnewbrun02hanniala#page/n5/mode/2up
Other Sources: Library and Archives Canada
http://www.ourroots.ca/page.aspx?id=3605271&qryID=5f027435-2f35-431e-a7a0-4d22a9edede5
"Montreal Gazette", Oct. 8, 1887 - Spying Out The Land
"Montreal Gazette", Oct. 5, 1887 - List of Eastern Press
Dictionary of Canadian Biography: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hazen_john_douglas_16E.html
"Qu'Appelle Progress" , Oct. 13, 1887, p. 1 - The Fall Shows - https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=HOg0WoviCygC&dat=18871013&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
Signature: LAC - 1891 letter
RESEARCH BY:
Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask.