John James Fraser

John James Fraser (August 1, 1829 – November 24, 1896) was a New Brunswick (Canada) lawyer, judge, and politician.

The Honourable John James Fraser
Justice John James Fraser
5th Premier of New Brunswick
In office May 3, 1878 – May 25, 1882
Monarch	Victoria
Lieutenant Governor	Samuel Leonard Tilley Edward Barron Chandler Robert Duncan Wilmot
Preceded by	George E. King
Succeeded by	Daniel L. Hanington
9th Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
In office December 20, 1893 – November 24, 1896
Monarch	Victoria
Governor General	The Earl of Aberdeen
Premier	Andrew George Blair James Mitchell
Preceded by	John Boyd
Succeeded by	Abner Reid McClelan
MLA for York
In office March 2, 1865 – June 1, 1866 Serving with George Luther Hatheway, William Hayden Needham, John Campbell Allen
Preceded by	Charles Fisher
Succeeded by	Charles Fisher
In office August 3, 1872 – May 25, 1882 Serving with Robert Robinson, Andrew George Blair, Charles McPherson, Thomas F. Barker, Frederick P. Thompson, John Adolphus Beckwith, Hiram Dow, George J. Colter
Preceded by	George Luther Hatheway
Succeeded by	Edward Ludlow Wetmore
Personal details
Born	(1829-08-01)August 1, 1829 Beaubears Island, New Brunswick, Canada
Died	November 24, 1896(1896-11-24) (aged 67) Genoa, Italy
Political party	Conservative
Spouses	Martha Cumming ​ ​ (m. 1867; died 1871)​ Jane Maria Paulette Fisher ​ ​ (m. 1881)​
Children	2 daughters who died in infancy
Occupation	Lawyer, judge
Profession	Politician

John Fraser was born at Beaubears Island, New Brunswick. He married twice, the first time in 1867 to Martha Cumming. She died in 1871 and in 1884 he married Jane Maria Paulette Fisher, eldest daughter of former Premier, Charles Fisher.

In 1865 he won a seat in the colonial legislature as an Anti-Confederation Party MLA but lost his seat the next year. After Canadian confederation he ultimately joined the government and was appointed to the legislative council serving as president of the Executive Council from 1871 to 1872. That year he won a seat in the legislature and served as Provincial Secretary from 1872 to 1878 when he succeeded George E. King as Premier and Attorney-General.

Fraser was the first premier to give both the Acadian and the Irish sections of the Roman Catholic community effective representation in cabinet. Pierre-Amand Landry was made commissioner of public works, while Michael Adams became a surveyor-general with responsibility for administering crown lands.

In 1882, after running unsuccessfully for a seat in the federal parliament, Fraser left politics and was appointed to the provincial supreme court and from 1893 to 1896 he served as the ninth Lieutenant Governor of the province.

John Fraser died in 1896 in Genoa, Italy.

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Government of New Brunswick profile of Premier Fraser