Neil McLeod (politician)

Neil McLeod
5th Premier of Prince Edward Island
In office November 13, 1889 – April 27, 1891
Monarch	Victoria
Lieutenant Governor	Jedediah Slason Carvell
Preceded by	William Wilfred Sullivan
Succeeded by	Frederick Peters
Leader of the Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island
In office November 1, 1889 – March 9, 1893
Preceded by	William Wilfred Sullivan
Succeeded by	Daniel Gordon
Member of the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island for 5th Queens
In office April 2, 1879 – December 13, 1893 Serving with George W. Deblois, Patrick Blake, John T. Jenkins
Preceded by	Louis Henry Davies
Succeeded by	district abolished
Personal details
Born	(1842-12-15)December 15, 1842 Uigg, Prince Edward Island
Died	October 19, 1915(1915-10-19) (aged 72) Summerside, Prince Edward Island
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Isabella Jane Adelia Hayden (m. 1877)
Children	7
Residence	Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Alma mater	Acadia University
Occupation	lawyer and judge
Profession	Politician
Cabinet	Secretary-Treasurer (1879–1887) Minister without Portfolio (1887–1889)

Neil McLeod (December 15, 1842 – October 19, 1915) was a Prince Edward Island lawyer, judge and politician, the fifth Premier. He was born at Uigg on the island to Roderick McLeod and Flora McDonald, Scottish immigrants. He was educated in Uigg and in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, articled in law at Charlottetown and was called to the bar in 1873. McLeod entered politics in 1879 winning a seat in the provincial legislature as a Conservative. He was re-elected in 1882 and became secretary-treasurer and then minister without portfolio in the government of William Wilfred Sullivan. In 1889, Sullivan resigned to become Chief Justice of the province's Supreme Court and McLeod became party leader and Premier. His government was defeated after a series of by-election losses led to it losing a Motion of No Confidence in 1891. From 1891 to 1893, he became Leader of the Opposition in the lower house, dialectically addressing Liberal criticism of Conservative deficits by demanding a progressive dissolution of the Legislative Council. McLeod retired from politics and was appointed a county court judge in 1893. He died at Summerside.

According to his 1915 Summerside obituary, "besides an extremely wide circle of friends and admirers there are left to mourn, a widow, one son, Arthur, now in Florida, and six daughters, all of whom reside in the West, excepting Miss Marie, who was one of the nurses at the front in France and is now home on leave of absence." Summerside newspapers continued to report on the whereabouts of his children, particularly after the "marriage in California of Mary Rogers McLeod, daughter of the late Judge McLeod, to John Cecil Holmes of Victoria, B.C."

References

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online