Today is the birthday of Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, a great New Brunswicker and Canadian who was one of the 36 Canadians responsible for the creation of our proud Dominion.  He was born on this date in 1818, in Gagetown, New Brunswick. The future Father of Confederation became a certified pharmacist at the age of 20 but was later drawn into political service as a result of his leading role in the province's temperance movement.  He was first elected to the provincial legislature in 1850 and later served as premier of New Brunswick from 1861–65.  Following Confederation, he had two separate stints in Ottawa, in Sir John A's cabinet (at customs and finance), and two stints, as well, back in his native New Brunswick as lieutenant-governor (1873–78, 1885–93). Tilley is considered a particularly important Father of Confederation as he is often credited for suggesting the proper name of our country should be the Dominion of Canada.  Tilley apparently took the phrase from a Biblical Psalm. "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” I guess I am old-fashioned but I’ve simply never understood why governments of past decades waged a war on removing the word “Dominion” from Canadian life.  To me, using it – as Tilley envisioned – seemed and seems uniquely Canadian and patriotic. But I digress. You can learn more about this very important Father of Confederation by visiting Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley's entry in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, the wonderful website prepared by the unsung heroes of Canadian history. caption id="attachment_618327" align="alignleft" width="290" Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, Father of Confederation/caption Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist.  He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy.  A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.