Alfred Boyd
| Alfred Boyd | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 1st Premier of Manitoba | |
|
In office September 16, 1870 – December 14, 1871 |
|
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Lieutenant Governor | Adams George Archibald |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Marc-Amable Girard |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for St. Andrews North | |
|
In office December 27, 1870 – December 23, 1874 |
|
| Preceded by | District created |
| Succeeded by | John Gunn |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 20, 1835 England |
| Died | August 16, 1908 (aged 72) England |
| Nationality | Canadian subject, British |
| Political party | Government |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Warner (Warriner) |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Profession | politician |
| Cabinet | Provincial Secretary (1870–1871) Minister of Public Works (1871) Minister of Agriculture (1871) |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Alfred Boyd (September 20, 1835 – August 16, 1908) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He is usually considered to have been the first Premier of Manitoba (1870–1871), but he was not recognized by that title at the time and was not the real leader of the government. He is more correctly referred to as the first Provincial Secretary of Manitoba. (Some modern sources list his official title as "Chief Minister", but this does not appear in parliamentary documents from the period and is apparently a more recent invention.)
Boyd's origins are obscure. Born in England, he may have arrived in Rupert's Land as early as 1858. He established himself as a merchant and trader in Red River Colony, and appears to have become wealthy by the time of the 1869 Red River Rebellion.
Boyd had little involvement in public life until January 1870, when he was elected for St. Andrew's to the "Convention of Forty" (a parliament called by Louis Riel to decide the fate of the Red River Colony). Boyd refused to vote for Riel as the Convention's leader, and spoke in favour of territorial status (Riel favoured provincial status). Riel later referred to Boyd as an enemy.
With the end of the rebellion and the subsequent incorporation of Manitoba as a Canadian province (July 15, 1870), Lt. Governor Adams George Archibald (1870–1872) named Boyd as his Provincial Secretary. Archibald considered Boyd to be acceptable to the French population of the province, as well as to its English-speaking "mixed-blood" Anglo-Metis residents (i.e. persons of British and aboriginal descent). Boyd was elected for the riding of St. Andrew's North in Manitoba's first provincial election (December 27, 1870), defeating fellow government-supporter Donald Gunn by 58 votes to 28.
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