Peter Mitchell was a shipbuilder and lawyer born on 4th January 1824 in Newcastle. He became Premier of New Brunswick from 1866-67 and gained recognition as a colourful personality. Mitchell was known for a diplomatic incident that arose while he served as Canada’s Minister of Fisheries in Sir John A. MacDonald’s first Cabinet. Mitchell’s father, Peter Mitchell, and his mother, Barbara Grant, were immigrants from Scotland who settled on the Miramichi River. He was educated at the Newcastle Grammar School and apprenticed with the law office of George Kerr. He practised law in Newcastle in partnership with John Mercer Johnson from 1847 to 1852. In 1853, he married Isabella Gough, and they had one daughter.
Peter Mitchell ran a shipbuilding business with his wife’s brother-in-law, John Haws, from 1853 to 1861 that produced more than a dozen vessels. By 1864, he employed 250 people in his shipyards and another 100 to load ships with lumber for transatlantic trade. He entered politics in 1852, advocating for responsible government and reduced salaries for public officials. Mitchell became known for his headstrong personality and unwillingness to compromise with his opponents.
Mitchell attended the Charlottetown and Québec Conferences in 1864 as a strong supporter of Confederation. In 1865, the issue of Confederation was put before the people, and politicians who supported it, including Tilley and Mitchell, were defeated at the polls. Mitchell criticized the lieutenant-governor for anti-Confederation bias and took his grievances to the British Home Office. After the anti-Confederation administration of Albert J. Smith collapsed, Tilley turned down the premiership, and Gordon asked Mitchell to form a Conservative government.
As a well-known businessman and director of the Merchants’ Marine Insurance Company of Canada, Mitchell was in the ideal position to counter arguments from New Brunswick merchants that Confederation would undermine their economic interests. Mitchell attended the London Conference of 1866 but resented the fact that Sir John A. Macdonald treated Tilley, now provincial secretary, as the real leader of New Brunswick. Macdonald and Mitchell clashed over numerous points of policy, starting an acrimonious relationship between the two men that lasted for decades.
In mid-1867, Peter Mitchell was appointed to the Senate and to Sir John A. Macdonald’s Cabinet as minister of Marine and Fisheries, where he proved himself both innovative and aggressive. The portfolio was diverse, including navigational issues, fishing regulations and assistance for sick and disabled sailors. As minister, Mitchell added six ships to Canada’s two-vessel navy. The new ships were built to resemble American fishing boats, except that they were armed. In 1870, the fleet created an international incident when it seized American fishermen in Canadian waters. After months of strained Canadian-United States relations, Mitchell challenged American President Ulysses S. Grant over American fishing rights in Canadian waters. Mitchell insisted that Cabinet request a joint commission on the matter. The commission resulted in the Treaty of Washington, negotiated the following year, in which the US was admitted to the Canadian inshore fishery for 12 years. In return, the US paid $5.5 million, and Canadian fish were allowed on the American market free of tariffs.
In 1872, Peter Mitchell gave up his Senate seat to run for the Northumberland seat, which he won. The next year, the Macdonald government was brought down by the Pacific Scandal. Although Mitchell was not involved in the scandal, he left the Conservatives and served in the Commons as an independent. This move, however, cost Mitchell his political influence, as both the Liberals and the Conservatives distrusted him.
Despite his loss of influence, Mitchell remained in politics for a few more years after his re-election in 1874. In January 1878, he briefly resigned his seat due to a conflict of interest scandal, but he was returned to his seat the following February. Nevertheless, Mitchell lost his seat in the general election in September 1878.
In 1885, Mitchell purchased the Montreal Herald, a newspaper that criticized Macdonald’s administration. This purchase boosted Mitchell’s self-esteem and increased his unreliability. He drifted towards the Liberals, holding grievances against Macdonald and others. Although he regained his Northumberland seat in 1882 and 1887 as an Independent Liberal, he lost in both the 1891 and 1896 general elections.
After Mitchell’s wife, Isabella, died in 1889, he lived an increasingly lonely life in the 1890s. In 1899, Mitchell suffered a seizure and was found dead in his room at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal, where he lived during his final years.
As Premier of New Brunswick in 1867, Mitchell played a vital role in bringing the colony into Confederation. As Minister of Marine and Fisheries, he established Canada’s first fleet of cruisers to protect Canadian fisheries, as well as lighthouses on the coast and on the Great Lakes. His negotiations with the United States regarding fishing rights demonstrated Canadian sovereignty over Canadian waters. Mitchell’s nephew, Charles Richmond Mitchell, served as leader of the Liberal Party of Alberta in 1924 and was appointed to Alberta’s Supreme Court after serving as Leader of the Official Opposition for two years.
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