Vail, William Berriam

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Stephen J. Harris, “VAIL, WILLIAM BERRIAN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/vail_william_berrian_13E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Businessman, politician, and militia officer; b. 19 Dec. 1823 in Sussex Vale (Sussex Corner), N.B., son of John Cougle Vail, mha for Kings County, and Charlotte Hannah Arnold; brother of Edwin Arnold Vail; m. 22 May 1850 Charlotte Leslie Jones in Weymouth, N.S., and they had two daughters; d. 10 April 1904 in Dover, England.
    • William Berrian Vail was born into a proud and prominent New Brunswick loyalist family. In 1846, following schooling in Sussex Vale and Kingston, N.B., he joined his brother John O. in Digby, N.S., where they shared in the mid-century shipping boom and carried on a successful business.
    • Like many Nova Scotians, and particularly those in business, Vail was strongly opposed to the proposals for colonial union put forward at the Charlottetown, Quebec, and London conferences between 1864 and 1866, and with other anti-confederationists he was appalled by the process which saw Nova Scotia included in Canada without a chance to vote on the matter. He therefore stood as an anti-confederation candidate in the provincial election of September 1867 and he won in Digby County.
    • Despite the overwhelming victory of the anti-confederate forces in the election, the British government refused to repeal confederation. But the Canadian prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, was sensitive to the political climate in Nova Scotia, and he realized that some kind of accommodation had to be reached with the still-reluctant province. A moderate anti-confederationist, Vail had become provincial and financial secretary in Premier William Annand’s administration and leader of the government in the House of Assembly. 
    • Despite the granting of better terms, many Nova Scotians remained opposed to confederation. Vail had to work hard to keep Annand’s government on an even keel, resisting both those who continued to seek the repeal of confederation and those who sought Nova Scotia’s annexation by the United States, while at the same time attempting to obtain improved financial conditions from Ottawa.
    • By the summer of 1874 Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie had become disenchanted with the performance of William Ross, the first minister of militia and defence in the Liberal government elected that year, and he turned to Alfred Gilpin Jones, a relation of Vail by marriage, as a replacement. Jones was not interested, but he told Mackenzie that Vail had tired of provincial politics and might be persuaded to run for federal office. Mackenzie took up the suggestion, Vail agreed, and on 30 Sept. 1874 he was named minister of militia. He then won election to the House of Commons from Digby.
  • Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=8594
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86613489/william-berrian-vail