Ernest Howard Armstrong

Who was Ernest Howard Armstrong?

Ernest Howard Armstrong was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the ninth Premier of Nova Scotia from 1923 to 1925.

Born in Kingston, Nova Scotia, the son of Edward and Sarah A. Armstrong, Armstrong studied at Acadia University and Dalhousie University where he received a Bachelor of Laws degree. He was created King's Counsel in 1907. He practiced law in Weymouth, Nova Scotia from 1889 to 1892, and during that period he was also editor of the Weymouth Free Press.

In 1892, he moved to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia where he held the office of vice and deputy United States Consul from 1894 to 1906. He was elected to the town council in 1900 and was the mayor of Yarmouth from 1904 to 1906 when he won a seat in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. He joined the Liberal cabinet of Premier George H. Murray in 1911 serving as minister of public works and then as minister of mines.

In 1923, Armstrong succeeded Murray as Premier inheriting a Liberal government that had been in power for forty years.