James Albert Manning Aikins

Who was James Albert Manning Aikins?

Sir James Albert Manning Aikins, K.C., was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was the leader of the Manitoba Conservative Party in the provincial election of 1915, and later served as the province's ninth Lieutenant Governor.

Aikins was born in Grahamsville, Toronto Gore Township, Peel County, Canada West and educated at Toronto's Upper Canada College. His father, James Cox Aikins, was a prominent Canadian politician, serving as a cabinet minister from 1869 to 1873 and 1878 to 1882, and serving as Manitoba's Lieutenant-Governor between 1882 and 1888.

The younger Aikins was educated at Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto, receiving his B.A. in 1875. He subsequently moved to Winnipeg with his father, and remained in the western city after the elder Aikins returned to Ontario.

From 1879 to 1896, Aikins was a counsel for the Department of Justice. In 1880, he was part of a committee that investigated the administration of justice in the Northwest Territories. Aikins was appointed counsel to the Manitoba government in 1900, and was responsible for drafting the Temperance Act passed by the government of Hugh John Macdonald.