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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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CREAGHAN, JOHN ADAMS (1891-1972)

CREAGHAN, JOHN ADAMS, lawyer and consular agent; mayor of Newcastle, 1931-33; b. Newcastle, 6 Sep 1891, s/o John Daniel Creaghan and Ellen Gertrude Adams; brother of Donald Sutherland Creaghan; m. 1919, Alice Dobson Marven, d/o Bliss Adam Marven and Margaret Frances Dobson; d. Shediac, N.B., 6 Sep 1972.

John A. Creaghan was educated at Harkins Academy, St Joseph's College, and the universities of New Brunswick (BA 1911) and Dalhousie (LLB 1914). When he was admitted to the bar in 1915 he was in partnership with Richard A. Lawlor of Chatham, but he later practiced in Newcastle on his own. He came to public attention in 1922 when he stated that, while he himself had "yet to take his first drink," the pro-temperance editors of the Union Advocate were giving the town a bad name by exaggerating the alcoholic excesses of its residents. For their part the editors hotly denied the accusation and informed their readers that Creaghan was simply giving vent to "his characteristic verbosity."

In 1925 Creaghan was appointed United States consular agent at Newcastle, a part-time position which he held until it was abolished in 1931. Between 1931 and 1933 he served as mayor of Newcastle. In 1935 he was the Conservative candidate in the federal election, losing to the Liberal, John P. Barry. In 1936 he moved to Moncton, where he practiced law until his retirement in 1964, in late years in partnership with a nephew, Paul Creaghan. For some time, he was the New Brunswick representative on the Uniformity of Laws Commission. In the early 1950s he served a term on the board of governors of St Thomas College.

Creaghan and his wife, Alice D. Marven, were the parents of three sons and three daughters. Their son William L. M. Creaghan, also a Moncton lawyer, represented the Westmorland riding in the House of Commons from 1958 to 1962. Later, both he and Paul Creaghan were judges of the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench.

Sources

[b] official records [m] World 1 Nov 1919 [d] Telegraph 9 Sep 1972 / Advocate 17 Feb 1915 (ad), 3 Nov 1915, 11 Apr 1922, 18 Apr 1922, 24 Mar 1925, 28 Oct 1931, 11 Sep 1935, 1 Jan 1936; Can. Dir. Parl. (re. William L. M. Creaghan); Leader 19 Nov 1964, 16 Oct 1969


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