- Timothy Anglin
Timothy Warren Anglin (
August 31 ,1822 –May 4 ,1896 ) was a Canadian politician andSpeaker of the Canadian House of Commons .Born in
Clonakilty ,County Cork ,Ireland , Anglin emigrated at the age of 26 as part of the exodus caused by theIrish Potato Famine . Following a sectarian riot inNew Brunswick between members of the Orange Order andCatholic s, Anglin appealed for moderation and unity. This led him to take up the editorship of a new newspaper, "the Freeman", which made him an influential voice in the colony. He was elected to theLegislative Assembly of New Brunswick in 1861, and became an opponent ofCanadian Confederation and of the government ofSamuel Leonard Tilley which he helped defeat in 1865. Tilley returned to power the next year, however, with the defeat of theAnti-Confederation Party in the election. Anglin lost his own seat.New Brunswick entered Confederation as a province in 1867 and Anglin won a seat in the new
Canadian House of Commons as a LiberalMember of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Gloucester in the country's first general election.When the Liberals came to power in the 1874 election, the new
Prime Minister of Canada ,Alexander Mackenzie , nominated Anglin as Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons.Anglin's term as Speaker was controversial. The Speaker is expected to act in a non-partisan manner and be above politics, but Anglin used his rulings as Speaker as opportunities to enter into partisan debate. Even more troubling to the opposition was the fact that he retained his position as editor of a partisan newspaper during his term as Speaker, and used his position to write editorials berating the Opposition. Especially controversial was the fact that his newspaper was given government printing contracts. Anglin was accused of violating the "Independence of Parliament Act" for accepting government printing contracts, and was censured by the House of Commons Committee on Privilege in 1887. Anglin was forced to resign as Speaker and as an MP, but was re-elected to the House of Commons in the
by-election that was held to fill his seat. He was successfully renominated by Mackenzie to the position of Speaker.Anglin's period as Speaker ended with the 1878 election that defeated the Liberal government. He remained in the House of Commons until he lost his seat in the 1882 election. Following his defeat, Anglin moved to
Toronto and became editor of the "Toronto Tribune". In the 1887 election, he was defeated in his bid to win a seat from the Ontario riding of Simcoe North.Three of Anglin's nine children were notably successful;
Francis Alexander Anglin was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1924 to 1933, Arthur Whyte Anglin was a successful private practise lawyer, and Mary Margaret Anglin became the first internationally-renowned Canadian stage actress.External links
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*s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament from Gloucester
years=1867–1882
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