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McCreight, John Foster


McCREIGHT, John Foster, lawyer and first premier 14 Nov 1871–23 Dec 1872 (b 1827, Caledon, Ireland; d 18 Nov 1913, Hastings, England). After practising law in Australia he arrived in VICTORIA in 1860; there he earned a reputation as an effective lawyer. In 1871, after the province entered CONFEDERATION, he was one of 25 members elected to the first provincial legislature, and Lt Gov Joseph TRUTCH asked him to become PREMIER. By all accounts bad-tempered and obstinate, McCreight proved a disappointing premier. He resigned a year later and retired from the assembly altogether in 1875. Named a justice of the provincial Supreme Court in 1880, he served in the CARIBOO, then in NEW WESTMINSTER until his retirement in 1897, when he returned to England.