About Jonathan McCully:
Jonathan McCully was a Father of Confederation. He attended all three Confederation conferences but made few contributions. Jonathan McCully did work hard to sell the idea of Confederation to Nova Scotians in editorials however. Not particularly tactful or popular, Jonathan McCully was a hard worker. It was at the end of his career when he served as a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge that his blunt, forthright manner allowed him to clear a backlog of court cases and gain some public favour.
Confederation Conferences Attended:
- Charlottetown Conference 1864
- Quebec Conference 1864
- London Conference 1866
Birth:
July 25, 1809 in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia
Death:
January 2, 1877 in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Professions:
Lawyer, journalist, senator and judge
Political Affiliation:
Liberal
Career of Jonathan McCully :
- Jonathan McCully was appointed to the Nova Scotia Legislative Council in 1847.
- In 1860, Jonathan McCully was appointed Solicitor General and also became Railway Commissioner.
- A last-minute replacement for the Charlottetown Conference, Jonathan McCully attended all three Confederation conferences. His contributions were not noteworthy.
- Jonathan McCully returned from Charlottetown enthusiastic about the prospects of Confederation, and used editorials in the Halifax "Morning Chronicle," the major Liberal newspaper in Nova Scotia, to spread his views. This continued until a few months after the Quebec conference, when he was fired from the editorial desk of the "Morning Chronicle," which switched back to an anti-Confederation stance.
- Jonathan McCully bought the "Morning Journal and Commercial Advertiser," renamed it the "Unionist and Halifax Journal," and continued to promote Confederation until it was approved by the Nova Scotia legislature in 1866.
- In 1867 Jonathan McCully was appointed to the new Senate of Canada.
- Jonathan McCully was appointed puisne judge on the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in 1870.
