David Howard Harrison, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetDavid Howard Harrison
Canadian politician
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: London, Ontario, Canada
About David Howard Harrison
- David Howard Harrison (June 1, 1843 – September 8, 1905) was a politician, farmer and physician.
- He was born in the township of London, Canada West, and moved to Manitoba in 1882.
- He and his family soon established themselves as substantial landowners. Harrison's political fortunes went through a remarkable rise and fall between 1882 and 1888.
- He forged an alliance with Premier John Norquay soon after moving to Manitoba, and in the election of 1883 was elected for the riding of Minnedosa as a Liberal-Conservative, easily defeating his Liberal opponent David Glass.
- On August 27, 1886, Harrison was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Statistics and Health, and was touted as a possible successor to Norquay.
- He was re-elected for the new riding of Minnedosa West later in the year, this time defeating Liberal J.W.
- Shanks. Norquay was forced to resign in early December 1887, after a financial crisis involving railway transfers cost him the support of his ministers.
- Harrison became Premier on December 26, 1887, and attempted to form an administration from the remnants of Norquay's alliance. Harrison's ministry never got off the ground.
- He was unable to win the support of a clear majority of MLAs, and lost a vital by-election on January 12, 1888.
- He resigned one week later, at which time the Lt.
- Governor called on Liberal Thomas Greenway to form a new administration. Harrison was technically a "non-partisan" Premier, but his ministry was closely aligned with the national Conservative Party of John A.
- Macdonald and was dominated by local Conservatives.
- An official Conservative Party was formed in the province soon after his resignation. After resigning as Premier, Harrison seems to have abandoned active political life.
- He allowed Norquay to retake the leadership of the "Conservative Party", and did not seek re-election in 1888.
- Achieving success in Neepawa as a banker, he moved to British Columbia in 1900.
- He died of a lingering illness five years later.
Read more at Wikipedia