Charles James Fox Bennett (June 11, 1793 – December 5, 1883) was a merchant and politician who successfully fought attempts to take Newfoundland into Canadian Confederation. Bennett was a successful businessman and one of the colony's richest residents with interests in the fisheries, distillery, brewery industry, and shipbuilding. His brother, Thomas Bennett, a magistrate and member of Newfoundland's first House of Assembly, was a partner in the business.
Charles Fox Bennett | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 5th Premier of Newfoundland | |
| In office February 14, 1870 – January 30, 1874 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Stephen John Hill |
| Preceded by | Frederick Carter |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Carter |
| Member of the Newfoundland House of Assembly for Placentia-St. Mary's | |
| In office November 13, 1869 – November 9, 1878 Serving with Robert J. Parsons Jr. (1869–1873) Henry Renouf (1869–1873) James Collins (1873–1878) Michael E. Dwyer (1874–1878) | |
| Preceded by | Pierce M. Barron Thomas O'Reilly Ambrose Shea |
| Succeeded by | William J. S. Donnelly |
| Member of the Legislative Council of Newfoundland | |
| In office 1850–1855 | |
| Appointed by | John Le Marchant |
| In office January 1843 – 1848 | |
| Appointed by | John Harvey |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 11, 1793 |
| Died | December 5, 1883 (aged 90) |
| Party | Anti-Confederation |
| Spouse |
Isabella Sheppard (m. 1829) |
| Relatives | Thomas Bennett (brother) |
Bennett became involved in politics in the 1840s as a leader of the colony's Anglican community and an opponent of responsible government, an argument he lost when an alliance of Catholics and non-Anglican Protestants persuaded the Colonial Office to grant Newfoundland self-government.
In the 1860s, he led the Anti-Confederation Party opposing the proposals by Sir Frederick Carter to join Canada. Bennett's party defeated Carter's Conservatives on the Confederation issue in the 1869 election, allowing Bennett to form a government in 1870. However, as Premier he was unable to keep his party united, and in 1874, resigned. This allowed Carter to return to power. The issue of Confederation had become a moot point and would not be seriously raised again until the Great Depression.
Bennet also commissioned extensive mineral surveys along the coasts, and in the 1860s developed the prosperous copper mine at Tilt Cove in Notre Dame Bay.[1]
Bennett's anti-Confederates reformed themselves into the colony's Liberal Party.[2]
References
edit- ↑ "Charles James Fox Bennett | The Canadian Encyclopedia". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ↑ "The Confederation Election of 1869". heritage.nf.ca. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
External links
edit- Hiller, James K. (1982). "Bennett, Charles James Fox". In Halpenny, Francess G. (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XI (1881–1890) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.