issue uniting his government now resolved he became unable to command a majority in the legislature and resigned in May 1857. Gray continued in opposition as a Conservative MLA. He also led committees of inquiry into railway construction and investigated allegations of patronage and corruption but he concluded that the railway was "sound". After 1860, Gray drifted away from his fellow Conservatives and became supportive of Samuel Leonard Tilley's Liberal government but was defeated in the 1861 election for his efforts. Out of elected politics, Gray returned to his practice as a lawyer and was appointed to an inquiry board on the land question in Prince Edward Island. Gray became an active supporter of Canadian Confederation and joined Tilley's new Liberal-Conservative Party returning to the legislature in a by-election in 1864. Gray served as a delegate to the Charlottetown Conference only to return to New Brunswick to face growing hostility to the confederation project and lost his seat in the 1865 election that brought the Anti-Confederation Party to power. Gray returned to the legislature in 1866 and served as Speaker. When confederation became a reality, Gray won a seat in the House of Commons. He did not run for re-election in 1872. He was appointed judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia and moved west reluctantly. He served on the 1885 Royal Commission on Chinese immigration. On the court, Gray ruled in 1878 that the province's Chinese Tax Act was unconstitutional as its purpose was to "drive the Chinese from the country, thus interfering at once with the authority reserved to the Dominion Parliament as to the regulation of the trade and commerce, the rights of aliens, and the treaties of the empire." He was a Freemason of Albion Lodge No. 500 in Saint John, New Brunswick, and Civil Service Lodge No. 148 in Ottawa. John Hamilton Gray died in Victoria, British Columbia and is interred there in the Ross Bay Cemetery. He is the only father of confederation buried west of Ontario. Electoral record Recognition and legacy In 1968, a CN automobile/passenger/railcar ferry entered service carrying the name MV John Hamilton Gray, honouring both Fathers of Confederation. External links References 1814 births 1889 deaths People from St. George's Parish, Bermuda Bermudian soldiers Lawyers in New Brunswick Canadian King's Counsel Canadian people of Scottish descent Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Premiers of New Brunswick Fathers of