Henry Emmerson
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Henry Robert Emmerson, PC (September 25, 1853 – July 9, 1914) was a New Brunswick politician and businessman.
Emmerson had a lucrative law practice and was heavily involved in business. He was involved in woollen manufacturing, a director of the Maritime Baptist Publishing Company Limited, president of the New Brunswick Petroleum Company Limited, the Acadia Coal and Coke Company, and the Sterling Coal Company, as well as a director of the Record Foundry and Machine Company.
He attempted to win a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in 1887 but was unsuccessful. The next year he was elected to the provincial legislature but lost his seat in the 1889. In 1891 he was appointed to the Legislative Council of the province and became commissioner of public works in the Liberal government of Premier Andrew George Blair. He was elected to the House of Assembly in 1892 once the Upper House was abolished.
As commissioner, Emmerson stopped the practice of building bridges out of wood and opted for more permanent, and more expensive, materials thus driving up the province's public debt. He also supported women's suffrage.
Emmerson became premier in 1897 also holding the position of Attorney-General. His government tried to promote tourism and wheat farming and the development of natural gas and petroleum in the province. He tried to introduce votes for women but was defeated in the house.
Emmerson left provincial politics in 1900 to become a Liberal MP in the Canadian House of Commons. From 1904 to 1907 he was minister of railway and canals in the federal cabinet of Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
His alcoholism and reputation as a womanizer cuased him problems however, In 1906, an exasperated Laurier had Emmerson sign a pledge that he would “never . . . again taste wine, beer or any other mixed or intoxicating liquor” and that he would provide the prime minister with an undated and signed letter of resignation to be used should he fail in his promise. The letter of resignation was invoked in 1907 after Emmerson was thrown out of a Montreal hotel with "two women of ill repute". He remained a member of parliament until his death.
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| Preceded by: James Mitchell 1896-1897 |
Premier of New Brunswick 1897-1900 |
Succeeded by: Lemuel J. Tweedie 1900-1907 |
| Preceded by: William Stevens Fielding (acting) |
Minister of Railways and Canals January 15, 1904 - April 2, 1907 |
Succeeded by: William Stevens Fielding (acting) |
| Premiers of New Brunswick |  |
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|---|---|---|
| Colony: Fisher | Gray | Fisher | S. L. Tilley | Smith | P. Mitchell
Province: | Wetmore | King | Hathaway | King | Fraser | Hanington | Blair | J. Mitchell | Emmerson | Tweedie | Pugsley | Robinson | Hazen | J. Flemming | Clarke | Murray | Foster | Veniot | Baxter | Richards | L. P. Tilley | Dysart | McNair | H. Flemming | Robichaud | Hatfield | McKenna | Frenette | Thériault | Lord | Graham |
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