First Responsible Government in the British Empire Overseas National Historic Event
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Original HSMBC plaque
© Parks Canada / Parcs Canada, 1989
Address :
1726 Hollis Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1947-05-21
Other Name(s):
-
First Responsible Government in the British Empire Overseas
(Designation Name)
Importance:
First Executive Council of majority party elected representatives (1848)
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: 1726 Hollis Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia
The first Executive Council chosen exclusively from the party having a majority in the representative branch of a colonial legislature was formed in Nova Scotia on 2 February 1848. Following a vote of want of confidence in the preceding Council, James Boyle Uniacke, who had moved the resolution, became Attorney General and leader of the Government. Joseph Howe, the long-time campaigner for this Peaceable Revolution, became Provincial Secretary. Other members of the Council were Hugh Bell, Wm. F. Desbarres, Lawrence O'C. Doyle, Herbert Huntington, James McNab, Michael Tobin and George R. Young.