On May 1, 1896, two months shy of his 75th birthday, Sir Charles Tupper becomes the sixth and oldest prime minister of Canada. A mere 10 weeks later, on July 8, Tupper would set another record — for the shortest term in office, at just 69 days. As explained in the clip, Tupper's stunted term was due to a bitter split within his Conservative party over the educational rights of French-speaking Manitobans.

The issue stemmed from the 1890 Manitoba Schools Act, aimed at abolishing French as an official language of the province and removing funding for Roman Catholic schools. The Manitoba Schools Question, as it was known, split the Conservatives, especially in Quebec and Ontario. Sir Wilfrid Laurier and his Liberals took advantage of the deep divisions within the Conservative party to oust Tupper in the June 23, 1896, election.

• Sir Charles Tupper was born on July 2, 1821, in Amherst, N.S.
• He was a physician before he entered Nova Scotia politics in 1855.

• Despite his short term as prime minister of Canada, Tupper enjoyed a long political career. He became the premier of Nova Scotia in 1864. From 1884 to 1887, he was Canada's high commissioner in Great Britain, and later served as one of Sir John A. Macdonald's key lieutenants. In 1895, he became the leader of the Conservative party, replacing Mackenzie Bowell (whose own political career was cut short due to the Manitoba Schools Act).

• Tupper was married to Frances Morse. They had three sons and three daughters, two of whom died in infancy.
• Tupper had a reputation of being a womanizer, and some say his nickname, "The Ram of Cumberland," had a double meaning. He allegedly seduced an older woman to pay for his doctorate and there were rumours about Tupper having fathered an illegitimate child.

• Sir Charles Tupper died in England on Oct. 30, 1915, at age 94. He's buried in St. John's Cemetery in Halifax, N.S.

Medium: Radio
Program: Anybody Home
Broadcast Date: May 29, 1982
Reporter: Allan Gould
Duration: 2:50

Writer: Allan Gould