Photo by Nation Archives
Gray was famous in the British Army as well as in Island politics. A soldier with service in India and South Africa, he returned to the Island after a 21-year military career and was soon asked to enter political life. Strongly in favour of Confederation, Gray was Premier of PEI from 1863-1865 and hosted the Charlottetown Conference. When Islanders rejected Confederation after the Quebec Conference, Gray left political life and went back to his first love, the military, this time on the Island and within the Dominion. Gray’s estate, Inkerman House, was named after the Battle of Inkerman, in which his father-in-law Sir John Pennefather had fought. Gray was married three times, with five daughters from his second marriage and one son from his third marriage.
We wish to acknowledge the Dictionary of Canadian Biography as one of the main sources of our information. Read the Gray biography here.
The photo of John Hamilton Gray courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, C-018884, copyright public domain.
