Lawrence O'Connor Doyle--Wit and Beheader of Eagles?

• Date: 22 September 2019
• Author: McDonald, David

One of the wittiest parliamentarians to emerge from Nova Scotia, and possibly all of Canada, Lawrence O'Connor Doyle had a sharp tongue that kept his colleagues in stitches. In this article, the author relates some of the most well-remembered of his offerings, some perhaps more mythic than others.

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Lawrence O'Connor Doyle was born in Halifax on February 27, 1804 and was a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1832-1840 and 1843-1855. In 1848, he was appointed a member of the first responsible executive in the British Colonies. He was a strong supporter of parliamentary reform and introduced bills and resolutions that helped Nova Scotia win responsible government. Some of these measures included: opening the Legislative Council to the public; advocating for elections every four years instead of every seven years; and fighting for fishers to have the same right to vote as farmers did. The purpose of this sketch is not to highlight his political career, but to describe some of his antics. The great orator, Joseph Howe, who was also his friend and fellow reformer, said that Doyle "was the wittiest man he had ever heard or read of." Howe's letters indicate that "ten thousand of [Doyle's] jokes are scattered about the Province."

The most often told story about Doyle in Province House is that he beheaded plaster eagles that decorate some of the window and door surrounds on the 2nd floor. I cannot, however, find any primary source material to corroborate this story. Rumour has it that he was incensed with the boundary dispute over timber between Maine and New Brunswick (Aroostook War)...