James A. Clift

Who was James A. Clift?

James Augustus Clift was a lawyer, insurance agent and political figure in Newfoundland. He represented Port de Grave from 1889 to 1893 and Twillingate from 1900 to 1919 in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly as a Liberal.

He was born in St. John's, the son of Theodore Clift, and was educated there and at the Windsor Academy in Nova Scotia. Clift studied law with Prescott Emerson and A. O. Hayward and was called to the Newfoundland bar in 1883. He was an agent for the Equitable Life Assurance Company and the General Fire Assurance Company of London. Clift served in the Newfoundland Executive Council as Minister of Mines and Agriculture from 1904 to 1909 and from 1918 to 1919. He was a District Grand Master in the Freemasons. He was named King's Counsel in 1903.

In 1891, Clift married Agnes Paterson.