In the last article a list of members was given for the old County of York, in which down to the year 1832 Carleton was included. The Act of the House of Assembly by which the County of Carleton was formed was passed March 31, 1831, confirmed by the King in council May 30, 1832, and published and declared in the province Sep. 19, 1832. During this period, while the new county was awaiting the royal approbation of the act by which it was established, a bye election occurred in the old County of York, and Jeremiah M. Connell of Woodstock was returned as elected, although by a recount the seat was at the close of the session of 1833 awarded to James Taylor jr. Carleton County as first formed was allowed only one representative but before the next general election the representation was increased to two members on account of "the great increase of population and advancement of commerce and agriculture." The following is a list of the members for Carleton County in the House of Assembly down to the present time:—
Election of 1834. — Jeremiah M. Connell and George Morehouse. The house was dissolved in 1837 in consequence of the death of King William IV and a new election held, viz:
Election of 1837. — Jeremiah M. Connell and Bartholemew C. Beardsley.
Election of 1842. — Charles Perley and J. M. Connell.
Election of 1846. — James Tibbits and Charles Connell.
Election of 1850. — Charles Connell and Horace H. Beardsley. Mr. Connell was appointed to the Legislative Council and Richard English elected as his successor in 1851. Upon the death of Mr. Beardsley in 1853, Hon. Charles Connell re-entered the House of Assembly as his successor.
Election of 1854. — Charles Connell and Richard English. At the expiration of two years Lt. Gov. Manners Sutton dissolved this house in order to test the sense of the county [country?] in regard to the working of the prohibitory liquor law lately enacted,. A new election was held viz:
Election of 1856. — Charles Connell and Charles Perley. At the end of the year the government not having a working majority there was another appeal to the county [country?].
Election of 1857. — Charles Connell and Charles Perley. In the year 1860 Hon. Charles Connell was appointed Post Master General but resigned soon after. Hon. Charles Perley was appointed to the Legislative Council at the close of this term where he held a seat until his death in 1877.
Election of 1861. — William Lindsay and David Munro. On the decease of G. Augustus Bedell in 1864 Mr. Munro was appointed Registrar of Deeds and Wills and Hon. Charles Connell was elected as his successor.
Election of 1865. — William Lindsay and Charles Connell. After the confederation of the province Mr. Connell resigned his seat in the provincial legislature to become the county's first representative at Ottawa, he was succeeded by James R. Hartley in 1867. Mr. Hartley died the following year and was succeeded by Geo. W. White.
Election of 1869. — William Lindsay and Geo. W. White.
Election of 1874. — John S. Leighton and R. K. Jones.
Election of 1878. — George W. White and J. S. Leighton.
Election of 1882. — George W. White and J. S. Leighton. The government being defeated a new government under Hon. A. G. Blair came in and at once appealed to the electorate in a general election viz:
Election of 1883. — John S. Leighton and George W. White.
Election of 1886. — G. Randolph Ketchum and Marcus C. Atkinson.
Election of 1890. — Marcus C. Atkinson and G. Randolph Ketchum.
Election of 1892. — Hon. Henry A. Connell and J. T. A. Dibblee. Hon. Mr. Connell resigned and was succeeded by Marcus C. Atkinson.
Election of 1895. — J. T. Allan Dibblee, Charles L. Smith and Henry McCain.
In looking over this list it will be noticed that up to the time of the election of Geo. W. White in 1868 the members for the county were all residents of Woodstock. The election of Mr. White in the first instance was due to the number of candidates in the lower end of the county but ever since his election the upper part of the county has almost always had a representative in the house. The provincial government has been rather chary in the disposal of its portfolios to the representatives of Carleton County. Hon. Charles Connell was Post Master General in 1860 and Hon. Wm. Lindsay Surveyor General in 1870, but neither held office long. Positions in the government as members without office were held by Hon. Chas. Connell in 1866, by Hon. William Lindsay in 1869, by Hon. Geo. W. White in 1872 and by Hon. H. A. Connell in 1893. Further reference will be made in another article to some of these gentlemen who have served in the provincial legislature as representatives of Carleton County. We shall now for the sake of completeness, give a list of the members of the Counties of Victoria and Madawaska.
Victoria County
The act to provide for the erection of the upper section of Carleton County into a county to be known as the County of Victoria was passed April 13, 1844, but it was not confirmed by the King in Council until the 30th January 1850. During this period however the up-river region was well looked after by James Tibbitts, one of the member for the old County of Carleton.
Election of 1850. — Hon. J. R. Partelow and Francis Rice.
Election of 1854. — Francis Rice and James Tibbits. Hon. Francis Rice was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1855 and sat there till his death in 1867.
Election of 1856. — Hon. Charles Watters and James Tibbits.
Election of 1861. — D. B. Raymond and John Costigan. In 1863 Mr. Raymond died and was succeeded by Benjamin Beveridge.
Election of 1865. — Benjamin Beveridge and John Costigan. After confederation Hon. John Costigan was elected to represent the county at Ottawa and was succeeded in 1867 by Levi Theriault, the first Acadian representative of the upper St. John.
Election of 1871. — Benjamin Beveridge and Levi Theriault.
The county was divided into the present counties of Victoria and Madawaska by an act passed April 14, 1873, each county electing a single member. Since that time the members with the year of their election have been as follows:
1874. — William B. Beveridge.
1878. — William B. Beveridge.
1882. — R. W. L. Tibbitts. (Mr. Tibbits was appointed Deputy Provincial Secretary in 1884.)
1884. — George T. Baird.
1886. — George T. Baird.
1890. — J. E. Porter.
1892. — George T. Baird.
1895. — James Porter and Adam Beveridge.
The County of Victoria it will be noticed had had several distinguished non resident members, for example at the very first election it returned Hon. John R. Partelow as one of its representatives, that gentleman having, although leader of the government, failed in being elected in his own constituency of St. John. Hon. Charles Watters, another resident of St. John, was a member for Victoria in 1856, when he held the position of Surveyor General in the government.
Hon. Benjamin Beveridge in 1867 was a member of the government without office; he was appointed to a seat in the Legislative Council a little later and at his decease in 1882 was succeeded in the council by his son Hon. Wm. B. Beveridge.
Hon. John Costigan is however the man who of all that have represented the people of Victoria in the world of politics stands pre-eminent. Not once has the county rejected him during the thirty years of his political life. By shear(sic) force of character and natural ability he has fought his way upward. In the Conservative administration he has filled important cabinet positions such as that of Secretary of State and Minister of Marine and Fisheries.
Hon. George T. Baird, who for some years represented the county in the local legislature, was appointed a Dominion Senator in 1894.
Madawaska
This young county, formed in the year 1873, had had the following as its representatives in the local legislature, viz:
1873 to 1881. — Levi Theriault.
1882. — Partick Lynott.
1883. — Matthias Nadeau.
1886 to 1894. — Levi Theriault.
1895. — Cyprien Martin and A. Bertrand.
Madawaska and Victoria were each allowed two representatives in 1895 at which time the representation of Carleton was increased to three representatives.
Dominion Parliament
In the thirty years that have elapsed since the Confederation of the provinces, the counties of Victoria and Madawaska have as just mentioned always been represented by Hon. John Costigan. Carelton County has had the following representatives:--
1867. — Hon. Charles Connell.
1873. — Stephen B. Appleby.
1878. — George H. Connell.
1880. — David Irvine.
1882. — David Irvine.
1887. — Fred. H. Hale.
1891. — Newton R. Colter.
1896. — Fred H. Hale.
W. O. Raymond