Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 71 James Layton Ralston was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, and educated at Amherst Academy and Dalhousie law school. From 1903 to 1930, he practiced law intermittently in Amherst. In 1911, he was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for Cumberland. Re-elected in 1916, he was defeated in the provincial elections of 1920 and 1925. From October 1916 to June 1919, Ralston served as an officer with the 85th Battalion, Nova Scotia Highlanders. In 1918, LieutenantColonel Ralston became the Commanding Officer of that Battalion and in 1924 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel. After his distinguished military service, J.L. Ralston became a Privy Councillor and was appointed the Minister of National Defence in Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s cabinet of 1926. Winning a by-election one month later, he served as federal Member of Parliament for the constituency of Shelburne-Yarmouth, until 1935, when he did not stand for re-election and resumed a law practice in Montreal. In 1930, he served as Canadian delegate to the London Naval Conference. Between the wars he served on the Royal Commission on Soldier's Pensions, the Royal Commission on the Bren Gun Contract, and the Royal Grain Inquiry Commission. In September 1939, Ralston was appointed Minister of Finance and subsequently re-elected to the House of Commons in a by-election in January and in a general election in March 1940 for the constituency of Prince, P.E.I. In January 1940, he became the Minister of National Defence, resigning this position in 1944 over the conscription issue. Ralston did not stand for re-election in 1945. Colonel, the Honourable James L. Ralston, DSO (1881 – 1948) Colonel James L.Ralston We will Remember
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