Hugh Hoyles

Sir Hugh Hoyles

Rank:	3rd (1861-1865)
Date of Birth:	1814
Place of Birth:	St. John's, Newfoundland
Date of Death:	1888
Place of Death:	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Profession:	Merchant
Political Party:	Conservative Party of Newfoundland
Predecessor:	John Kent
Successor:	Frederick Carter

Sir Hugh Hoyles was the first Premier of Newfoundland to have been born in the colony, serving from 1861 to 1865. Born in St. John's on October 17 1814, Hoyles was the son of Newman Hoyles, the first leader of the Tory Party in Newfoundland, and became the first Newfoundland born Premier. Educated in Nova Scotia he trained as a lawyer and returned to St John's in 1842, quickly establishing a large and lucrative legal practice. He was eminent in the Natives' Society and the Newfoundland Church Society.

Elected to the Assembly in 1848, he rapidly became the Conservative leader, opposing responsible government on the grounds that the colony was not ready for it, and throwing his weight behind Bishop Feild's campaign to divide the Protestant educational grant and put Anglicans on the same footing as Catholics. This proposal alienated Methodists who thereupon voted for the Catholic Liberal Party so that, in the 1855 election, the first after responsible government, Hoyles found himself leader of the Opposition. Even though he dropped his support for Feild, and adopted a more pan-Protestant stance, he still unsuccessful in the election of 1859. In 1861, his chance came when he was hired as a lawyer by senior judges to fight Premier John Kent's plans to reduce their salaries. When Kent accused the judges, the governor and the Conservatives of conspiracy the Governor fired Kent and appointed Hoyles as the new Premier. Hoyles' government was defeated in the legislature and had to fight an election in a highly charged sectarian atmosphere which resulted in riots when the Conservatives won the election.

During his administration, he tried to cool down sectarian tensions between Catholics and Protestants by inviting Catholics to join his administration and distributing all patronage fairly between religious groups. He also sent delegates to the Canadian Confederation Conference at Quebec in 1864. Newfoundland had not been invited to Charlottetown. Those delegates, Ambroise Shea for the opposition, and Frederick Carter, for the government, did not have the power to negotiate.

Hoyles decided to leave office in 1865, before the crucial 1869 election which decided the fate of Confederation with Canada. He was succeeded by Sir Frederick Carter. Hoyles was appointed Chief Justice of Newfoundland, a post which he filled with great distinction. He retired to Halifax in 1880 to live with his married daughter. He died on February 1, 1888. D.W. Prowse, the nineteenth century Newfoundland historian, comments that "we are all proud of Sir Hugh as the most distinguished Newfoundlander of our day".

Biography in Dictionary of Canadian Biography online