Sir James Aikins

Aikins, Sir James Albert Manning

Sir James Albert Manning Aikins, lawyer, politician, lieutenant-governor of Manitoba (b at Richview, Peel County, UC 10 Dec 1851; d at Winnipeg 1 Mar 1929). The son of James Cox Aikins, senator, Dominion Cabinet minister (1869-73 and 1878-82) and lieutenant-governor of Manitoba (1882-88), Aikins was called to the bar of Ontario in 1878 and of Manitoba in 1879. While maintaining a large and influential practice in Winnipeg, where he was western solicitor for the CPR (1881-1911), he was also prominent in local, provincial and national affairs. He served on several royal commissions, was Conservative MP for Brandon (1911-15), leader of the provincial Conservative Party (1915-16), and lieutenant-governor of Manitoba (1916-26). Created QC in 1884 and knighted in 1914, he was president (1910-16) of the Manitoba Bar Association and a founder and first president (1914-29) of the Canadian Bar Association.