John Anderson (Newfoundland politician)
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John Anderson (January 27, 1855 – November 8, 1930) businessman, politician a member of St. John's city council and member of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland was instrumental in the passing of the Daylight Saving Act of 1917.
Anderson born Saltcoats, Scotland educated at Saltcoats Academy came to Newfoundland in 1875 and joined the firm of James Baird in St. John's. He served on the St. John's City Council from 1900 to 1904 and was elected to the House of Assembly around the same time. His advocacy for the bill to enact Daylight saving time earned the sobriquet Anderson's Time. Newfoundland became the first jurisdiction in North America to adopt Daylight Savings time. Anderson had been fascinated with the idea of Daylight savings time since meeting with William Willett who had been promoting it in England.
Anderson is the father of Captain Hugh Abercrombie Anderson, a Newfoundland playwright and member of Order of the British Empire who wrote the musical Auld Lang Syne.
