Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley

English: , Born in 1818 at Gagetown, NB, Leonard Tilley apprenticed at age 13 to a pharmacist in the north end of Saint John known as Portland. As a certified pharmacist 7 years later, Tilley and his cousin opened "Peters and Tilley Cheap Drug Store". By 1848 Tilley owned it entirely. , Tilley's strong Anglican faith led him to do volunteer work for social issues. After seeing the terrible results of alcohol abuse Tilley worked to have all alcohol banned in New Brunswick. , Saint John elected Leonard Tilley, the anti-alcohol reformer, to the colony's legislature in 1850. It was the next election (1854) before the reformers won a majority and Tilley could act on his concerns. As secretary he was responsible for the Prohibition Bill that banned all alcohol. In the uproar that followed this drastic legislation, rioters burned a straw figure of Tilley, his house was attacked and his life threatened. Tilley lost the next election. , Working in his drug store Tilley considered his young family's future. He would leave alcohol regulation to a public vote and campaign for other reforms. In the 1857 election the reformer Tilley won easily. , As the New Brunswick colony's secretary Tilley managed finances well. He supported railway construction to provide jobs and increase markets for Saint John. After the Saint John to Shediac rail line was completed in 1860, Tilley supported a proposed intercolonial railway to link the Maritimes. Twice he traveled to England with other colonial leaders to find financial help for an intercolonial railway. Both times they returned home without the funding. , The next railway meeting in 1864 was planned to follow a conference on Maritime union in Charlottetown. With the arrival of John A. Macdonald and the delegations from Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec), railways were ignored. The union of all the colonies was the issue there and later at the Quebec City conference. Tilley supported national union, but New Brunswick voters did not. In the 1865 election Tilley and his party were defeated. , In 1866 New Brunswick was frightened by the Fenians, sympathizers for Ireland's independence, based in the United States. To hurt Britain, Fenians in Maine threatened cross-border attacks on New Brunswick, a British colony. When Fenians invaded Indian Island at the mouth of the St. Croix River, New Brunswick residents wanted the protection of a national defense. Their support ensured Tilley's pro-confederation party won the next election. , Tilley joined the delegation that presented a proposal to the British parliament for the creation of the Dominion of Canada. After it passed, Queen Victoria knighted Samuel Leonard Tilley along with John A. Macdonald from Upper Canada and George Étienne Cartier from Lower Canada. New Brunswick joined confederation. , In Canada's federal government Sir Leonard Tilley is most remembered as the Minister of Finance who introduced the famous National Policy. It protected Canadian industry and Canadian jobs by placing tariffs and duties on competing foreign goods. , Out of office, Sir Leonard Tilley was twice appointed Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, a non-political position. In ill health he retired home to New Brunswick in 1885. When he died (1896) Sir Leonard Tilley was honoured for his public service. He had shaped the new province of New Brunswick and the new country, Canada. , . This historical marker was erected by J.D. Irving, Limited. It is in Saint John in Saint John County New Brunswick