John Thompson becomes Canada's fourth prime minister

Background. Thompson entered federal politics in 1885 at the personal request of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, who after several failed overtures finally recruited him to Ottawa. In 1888 Thompson considered becoming a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada but decided against leaving the justice portfolio, and Macdonald was unwilling to part with Thompson, one of his strongest ministers. His appointment as Prime Minister followed the retirement of John Abbott.

Succession. Thompson assumed the office of Prime Minister in 1892, when John Abbott retired. One source describes him as the fourth prime minister of Canada, serving from 1892 until his death in 1894; the ordinal depends on the counting method used. In 1892 the first comprehensive Criminal Code, which Thompson drafted, was enacted.

Death. Thompson died unexpectedly from a heart attack in 1894 during a trip to England, aged 49. One source counts him as the second Canadian prime minister to die in office, after John A. Macdonald, and the only one to die out of Canada. After an elaborate funeral staged in the United Kingdom by Queen Victoria, his remains were transported aboard the armoured cruiser HMS Blenheim, painted black for the occasion.