# Henry Nathan Jr.

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{{Short description|Canadian politician (1842-1914)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name             = Henry Nathan Jr.
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            = HenryNathan.png
| office           = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(Canada)) for [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(British_Columbia_federal_electoral_district))<br />''[Victoria District](/source/Victoria_District) (1871–1872)''
| term_start       = 1871
| term_end         = 1874
| alongside        = [Amor De Cosmos](/source/Amor_De_Cosmos)
| predecessor      = None
| successor        = [Francis James Roscoe](/source/Francis_James_Roscoe)
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1842|9|3}}
| birth_place      = London, England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1914|2|5|1842|9|3}}
| death_place      = London, England
| spouse           = 
| party            = [Liberal](/source/Liberal_Party_of_Canada)
| relations        = 
| children         = 
| alma_mater       = 
| occupation       = 
| profession       =  
}}
'''Henry Nathan Jr.''' (September 3, 1842 &ndash; February 5, 1914)<ref name="parl">{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=11960|nolist=yes}}</ref> was the first [Jewish Canadian](/source/Jews_in_Canada) to be elected to the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_Canada).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishmuseum.ca/info/exhibits/ |title=Ties That Bind |publisher=Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia |accessdate=2009-09-13 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091120085445/http://www.jewishmuseum.ca/info/exhibits |archivedate=2009-11-20}}</ref> Born in [London](/source/London), [England](/source/England), Nathan was one of two MPs elected to represent the [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia) riding of [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(British_Columbia_federal_electoral_district)) in the [Canadian general election of 1872](/source/1872_Canadian_federal_election). They had won by [acclamation](/source/acclamation) special byelections held the year before to fill the newly created [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_Canada) seats upon British Columbia's admission to [Confederation](/source/Canadian_Confederation) (in those byelections the riding was named [Victoria District](/source/Victoria_District)).<ref name="parl"/> The other representative for Victoria was B.C.'s Father of Confederation, [Amor De Cosmos](/source/Amor_De_Cosmos) who was simultaneously [Premier](/source/Premier_of_British_Columbia) of that province until 1874. The third-place also-ran was [Robert Beaven](/source/Robert_Beaven), who was to become the sixth [Premier of British Columbia](/source/Premier_of_British_Columbia) ten years later.

The son of Henry Nathan, Nathan was educated at the [London University School](/source/University_of_London) and became a wholesale merchant in [Victoria, British Columbia](/source/Victoria%2C_British_Columbia).<ref name="johnson">{{cite book |title=The Canadian Directory of Parliament 1867-1967 |last=Johnson |first=J.K. |year=1968 |publisher=Public Archives of Canada}}</ref> He represented Victoria City in the assembly of the [Colony of British Columbia](/source/Colony_of_British_Columbia_(1866%E2%80%931871)) from 1870 to 1871.<ref name="parl"/> Like De Cosmos, Nathan was part of British Columbia's delegation to Ottawa to negotiate the terms of B.C.'s entry into Confederation.

Once in Parliament, Nathan supported the government of [Sir John A. Macdonald](/source/John_A._Macdonald). This strained his relationship with De Cosmos, who had become a supporter of MacDonald's opponent, Liberal [Alexander Mackenzie](/source/Alexander_Mackenzie_(politician)). As a result, Nathan took to calling de Cosmos "Cupid" in private letters (de Cosmos' name roughly translates to "Lover of the Universe").<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/amordecosmos.shtml |title=Was Amor de Cosmos The Louis Riel of British Columbia? |publisher=Manitoba Historical Society |date=February 1971|last=Arnold |first=Abraham J |accessdate=2009-09-13}}</ref>

The byelection of 1871 was held to return members from newly admitted British Columbia to the [1st Parliament of Canada](/source/1st_Canadian_Parliament) that had been elected four years earlier following [Confederation](/source/Canadian_Confederation). With Nathan joining that Parliament, the [multicultural](/source/multiculturalism) nature of the Canadian nation was firmly established.

In 1876, Nathan returned to England. He died in London at the age of 71.<ref name="johnson"/>

== Electoral record ==
{{1872 Canadian federal election/Victoria, British Columbia}}
{{1871 Canadian federal by-elections/Victoria District}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nathan, Henry}}
Category:1842 births
Category:1914 deaths
Category:Canadian people of English-Jewish descent
Category:Merchants from London
Category:Jewish Canadian politicians
Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia
Category:19th-century English businesspeople
Category:19th-century Canadian Jews
Category:19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Henry Nathan Jr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Nathan_Jr.) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Nathan_Jr.?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.