Everything about George Coles totally explained
George Coles (
September 20,
1810 –
August 21,
1875) was a Canadian politician, being the first
Premier of
Prince Edward Island, and a Father of
Canadian Confederation.
Coles was born on Prince Edward Island, the son of James Coles, a farmer, and Sarah Tally.
Although he'd little formal education he became a farmer and a businessman at an early age. He travelled to
England at age 18. There he learned about the brewing industry. While in England he married Mercy Haine on August 14, 1833 and they returned to Prince Edward Island before the end of that year. He soon became a prosperous brewer and merchant.
He first entered politics in 1841 representing the New London-DeSable district in the Assembly. Coles was always a colourful political figure. He is said to have duelled with
Edward Palmer and to have challenged
James C. Pope to a duel as well. As a member of the provincial government in 1846, he spent 31 days in the custody of the
sergeant-at-arms for refusing to retract a statement made in the assembly. He was convicted of assault in the 1850s.
Coles, with
Edward Whelan, the editor of the Examiner, was the leader in the struggle for responsible government. When
Responsible Government was granted in 1851 Coles became the Island's first
Premier. With the exception of a few months in 1854, Coles remained as Premier until 1859 when his party was defeated. Coles once again served as Premier from
1867 to
1869 but failing health necessitated his turning the government over to
Joseph Hensley.
His administration embarked on a number of significant reforms the most important being the Free Education Act and the Land Purchase Act. The former provided better educational opportunities than in any of the other colonies and the latter was a positive step toward a solution to the land ownership question. He and
Edward Whelan had laid the foundations of the
Liberal party and in so doing created the political balances which dominated Prince Edward Island politics during the middle years of the nineteenth century. Despite being an early supporter of union he turned against
Confederation when it became apparent that the project wouldn't solve the land tenure question.
Just before Confederation all his properties burned down. He abandoned his public life, went into seclusion and went insane. Coles died in 1875 at his home in Charlottetown Royalty.
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