Fathers of Confederation

The Fathers of Confederation are the 36 people who attended at least one of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864 (23 attendees), the Quebec Conference of 1864 (33 attendees), and the London Conference of 1866 (16 attendees), preceding Canadian Confederation. Only twelve people attended all three conferences.

Table of participation

The following table lists the participants in the Charlottetown, Quebec, and London Conferences and their attendance at each stage.

Participant	Province (Current)	Charlottetown	Quebec City	London
Sir Adams George Archibald	Nova Scotia	Yes	Yes	Yes
George Brown	Ontario	Yes	Yes	No
Sir Alexander Campbell	Ontario	Yes	Yes	No
Sir Frederick Carter	Newfoundland and Labrador	No	Yes	No
Sir George-Étienne Cartier	Quebec	Yes	Yes	Yes
Edward Barron Chandler	New Brunswick	Yes	Yes	Yes
Jean-Charles Chapais	Quebec	No	Yes	No
James Cockburn	Ontario	No	Yes	No
George Coles	Prince Edward Island	Yes	Yes	No
Robert B. Dickey	Nova Scotia	Yes	Yes	No
Charles Fisher	New Brunswick	No	Yes	Yes
Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt	Quebec	Yes	Yes	Yes
John Hamilton Gray	Prince Edward Island	Yes	Yes	No
John Hamilton Gray	New Brunswick	Yes	Yes	No
Thomas Heath Haviland	Prince Edward Island	No	Yes	No
William Alexander Henry	Nova Scotia	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sir William Pearce Howland	Ontario	No	No	Yes
John Mercer Johnson	New Brunswick	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sir Hector-Louis Langevin	Quebec	Yes	Yes	Yes
Andrew Archibald Macdonald	Prince Edward Island	Yes	Yes	No
Sir John A. Macdonald	Ontario	Yes	Yes	Yes
Jonathan McCully	Nova Scotia	Yes	Yes	Yes
William McDougall	Ontario	Yes	Yes	Yes
Thomas D'Arcy McGee	Quebec	Yes	Yes	No
Peter Mitchell	New Brunswick	No	Yes	Yes
Sir Oliver Mowat	Ontario	No	Yes	No
Edward Palmer	Prince Edward Island	Yes	Yes	No
William Henry Pope	Prince Edward Island	Yes	Yes	No
John William Ritchie	Nova Scotia	No	No	Yes
Sir Ambrose Shea	Newfoundland and Labrador	No	Yes	No
William H. Steeves	New Brunswick	Yes	Yes	No
Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché	Quebec	No	Yes	No
Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley	New Brunswick	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sir Charles Tupper	Nova Scotia	Yes	Yes	Yes
Edward Whelan	Prince Edward Island	No	Yes	No
Robert Duncan Wilmot	New Brunswick	No	No	Yes

Group photographs and paintings

Delegates from the Legislatures of Canada, gathering on the steps of Prince Edward Island's Government House for the Charlottetown Conference – Photo by George P. Roberts on September 11, 1864.
Delegates of the Legislatures of Canada gathering at the Quebec Conference – Photo by Jules I. Livernois on October 27, 1864.
An 1885 photo of Robert Harris' painting, completed the previous year and titled, Conference at Quebec in 1864, to settle the basics of a union of the British North American Provinces, also known as The Fathers of Confederation. The original painting was destroyed in the 1916 Parliament buildings Centre Block fire. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
Souvenir Group" photograph published in 1917 commemorating the 1867 Confederation of Canada. It features portraits of the "Fathers of Confederation" who participated in the Quebec Conference held in October 1864.

Other possible claimants to title

Four other individuals have been labelled as Fathers of Confederation. Hewitt Bernard, who was the recording secretary at the Charlottetown Conference, is considered by some to be a Father of Confederation. The leaders most responsible for bringing three specific provinces into Confederation after 1867 are also referred to as Fathers of Confederation.

The provisional government established by Louis Riel ultimately negotiated the terms under which Manitoba entered Confederation in 1870.
The leadership of Amor De Cosmos was instrumental both in bringing democracy to British Columbia and in bringing the province into Confederation in 1871.
The province of Newfoundland entered Confederation in 1949 under the leadership of Joey Smallwood, who was then referred to as the "only living Father of Confederation".

Notes

External links

- Library and Archives Canada
- Parks Canada