Picutre courtesy of prabook.com
National plaque at Victoria Hall
Commemoration
National
One of the Fathers of Confederation, Cockburn arrived in Montréal from England in 1832. Later educated in Toronto, he founded a legal practice in Cobourg, where he served on Town Council in the 1850s. He joined the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1861 as the member for Northumberland West. As a Cabinet minister, he attended the Quebec Conference of 1864, where delegates negotiated the terms of Confederation, later defined in the British North America Act. When the first Parliament of the Dominion of Canada convened in November 1867, he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons, a position he held until 1874.
Provincial plaque in the Coburg Conservation Area, William Street, Cobourg beside the parking lot for the provincial courthouse
Commemoration
Provincial
A Father of Confederation, James Cockburn was born in Berwick, England and came to Canada with his parents in 1832. Admitted to the bar in 1846, he formed a partnership with D.E. Boulton in Cobourg, and in 1849 established a law practice independently. Entering politics, he represented Northumberland West in the Legislative Assembly of Canada, 1861-67, and served as solicitor general, 1864-67. At the Quebec Conference of 1864, he shared in drafting the plan for Confederation, and in 1867, was elected the first Speaker of the new federal House of Commons, a post which he held until 1874. He resigned his seat in 1881 owing to illness and died in Ottawa two years later.
Background
Initially Cockburn was an opponent of Macdonald but later switched to Macdonald’s party. He was nominated by Macdonald for his seat in the first Canadian parliament. He later lost his seat as a result of the Pacific Scandal which resulted in the defeat of the Macdonald government. He was re-elected in 1878.