The Sudden Death of Canada’s 4th Prime Minister While Visiting Queen Victoria

John Sparrow David Thompson, fourth prime minister of Canada, in January 1891. Public Domain

Commentary

Sir John Sparrow David Thompson (1845–1894) was Sir John A. Macdonald’s most skilled protégé and was prime minister from 1892 to 1894. But he had the tragic honour of being Queen Victoria’s only first minister to drop dead in the royal presence. He was 49, and his embarrassed last words were: “It seems too absurd.”