Brecken, Frederick De St. Croix

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: H. T. Holman, “BRECKEN, FREDERICK DE ST CROIX,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/brecken_frederick_de_st_croix_13E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Lawyer, politician, and office holder; b. 9 Dec. 1828 in Charlottetown, second son of John Brecken and Margaret Leah de St Croix; m. 28 Sept. 1858 Helen Leith Boyd Emslie in Saint John, N.B., and they had three children; d. 14 Oct. 1903 in Charlottetown.
    • Frederick Brecken belonged to a Prince Edward Island family with a tradition of political activity. His father was a member of the House of Assembly and of the Executive and Legislative councils. Unlike most Island lawyers, who were content with a colonial education, he then spent two years at Lincoln’s Inn and the Inner Temple in London. Following his return to Charlottetown, he was called to the bar of the Supreme Court in June 1852.
    • Named attorney general on 11 April 1859 in the administration of Edward Palmer, Brecken had held the post until it became elective in 1863. He ran successfully that year as a tory for the House of Assembly and he retained his Charlottetown seat in the general elections of 1867, 1870, and 1873. He was attorney general again in 1870–72 and from 1873 to 1876. A brilliant orator, he appears to have had little difficulty in following the changing attitudes of his party and its leader, James Colledge Pope, toward issues such as confederation.
    • John A. Macdonald offered postmaster of Charlottetown and post-office inspector of the province to Brecken. Brecken claimed he was unqualified, but he finally agreed to accept the post provided his “claims for professional advancement were not weakened.” Having been assured by the prime minister that the office “would not be considered as a ‘receipt in full,’” he took the post-mastership in July 1884. As had been expected, Jenkins was easily elected to the commons in the subsequent by-election.
    • In spite of Brecken’s hopes for a judgeship, he continued to be passed over and he served without incident as postmaster until his death in 1903. According to his obituary in the Morning Guardian, he had been in his younger days “the idol of the Conservative party.” That his support of the Tories resulted in almost a 20-year term in an administrative position rather than on the bench must have been a bitter disappointment for him.
  • Great Grandson of Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=844
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/196942611/frederick_de_st_croix-brecken