Chandler, Edward Barron

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Michael Swift, “CHANDLER, EDWARD BARRON,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/chandler_edward_barron_10E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Lawyer, judge, politician, and administrator; b. 22 Aug. 1800 in Amherst, N.S., son of Charles Henry Chandler and Elizabeth Rice; d. 6 Feb. 1880 in Fredericton, N.B.
    • Edward Barron Chandler’s grandfather, Colonel Joshua Chandler, had been a member of the Connecticut legislature and a relatively wealthy man before joining the loyalist ranks and settling in Nova Scotia in 1783. One of Joshua Chandler’s sons, Samuel, took an active part in the public life of Nova Scotia; two of his daughters married into influential New Brunswick families. Edward Barron Chandler claimed that he had experienced hardships in his youth; but even if this were the case, his wealth of proper family connections was to prove compensation for any loss of family fortunes.
    • Later he studied law with his cousin, William Botsford, at Westcock, near Sackville, N.B., wrote bar admission examinations in Nova Scotia in 1821, and was admitted to the bar of New Brunswick in 1823. In the same year he was appointed judge of probate and clerk of the peace for Westmorland County, N.B., positions which he held until 1862. 
    • Chandler’s long association with New Brunswick politics began when he was elected to the House of Assembly in 1827 to represent the county of Westmorland. From his first session in the assembly in 1828, he took an active part in deliberations and, despite his youth, he was soon regarded as one of the leading members of that body. 
    • Was a Father of Confederation.
    • Edward Barron Chandler’s career in the public life of his province must be unique, if only because of its longevity. Between 1823 and 1880 he held public offices continuously in positions ranging from a county clerk of the peace to lieutenant governor. This long experience and a wealth of family, business, and political connections made him one of the most powerful public figures in New Brunswick in the 30 years preceding confederation. Throughout his career, Chandler does not seem to have been motivated by any overriding political principle. A loyalist and a member of the Church of England, he was always identified with the establishment or the “compact,” and yet he displayed democratic tendencies. He was constantly concerned that the will of the people should be upheld, and he consistently supported the rights of the minority Acadians and Irish Catholics at a time when such advocacy demanded a certain amount of courage. It is in this respect more than any other that Chandler, as a representative of the “compact,” differed from his counterparts in Upper Canada. In spite of these tendencies, however, he was not an innovator. His watchwords were reason and caution. In essence, he was a practical man living in a climate that did not produce, or even gladly suffer, novel political theories.
  • Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=1402
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39783723/edward-barron-chandler