Alfred Boyd

Who was Alfred Boyd?

Alfred Boyd was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He is usually considered to have been the first Premier of Manitoba, but he was not recognized by that title at the time and was not the real leader of the government. He is more correctly referred to as the first Provincial Secretary of Manitoba.

Boyd's origins are obscure. Born in England, he may have arrived in Rupert's Land as early as 1858. He established himself as a merchant and trader in Red River Colony, and appears to have become wealthy by the time of the 1869 Red River Rebellion.

Boyd had little involvement in public life until January 1870, when he was elected for St. Andrew's to the "Convention of Forty". Boyd refused to vote for Riel as the Convention's leader, and spoke in favour of territorial status. Riel later referred to Boyd as an enemy.

With the end of the rebellion and the subsequent incorporation of Manitoba as a Canadian province, Lt. Governor Adams George Archibald named Boyd as his Provincial Secretary. Archibald considered Boyd to be acceptable to the French population of the province, as well as to its English-speaking "mixed-blood" Anglo-Metis residents. Boyd was elected for the riding of St.