New Canadian Encyclopedia Article: Fathers of Confederation: John William Ritchie

John William Ritchie

John William Ritchie of Nova Scotia is one of the least known Fathers of Canadian Confederation. Ritchie was a law clerk for the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia. While he did not attend the Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences of 1864, he replaced Robert Barry Dickey as a delegate to the London Conference in 1866, which earned him recognition as a Father of Confederation. Ritchie’s support for Confederation was rewarded with a Senate seat, which he held until 1870, when he became a justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. Ritchie’s daughter, Eliza, became the first Canadian woman to earn a PhD and teach in a university.

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