J.A. Campbell was the first commissioner of Northern Manitoba in 1916 while stationed in The Pas. He was also the town’s MLA and an advocate for extending the railway to Churchill. Campbell was also an avid photographer who produced hundreds of photos of the town’s early years.

Lawyer, MLA (1908-1910), MP (1917-1921).

Born at Clinton, Ontario on 19 April 1872, son of John M. and Mary McLagan Campbell, his family came to Manitoba from Huron County, Ontario in 1880. He was educated at Winnipeg Central School and Manitoba College. He taught school in Manitoba from 1890 to 1896, and was Principal of Boissevain School for five years. He articled in law with the firm of Perdue & Robinson, then was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1899. He started a legal practice at Dauphin in December of that year, with the firm of Campbell & Simpson. He served as a solicitor for the Bank of Montreal, Town of Dauphin, and Bank of Nova Scotia.

On 12 February 1919, he married Elsie M. Thompson, with whom he had a son (later shot down and killed in action in WW2)

He served as MLA for Dauphin from 1907 to 1910, and a member of the Dauphin School Board. He was a charter member of the Dauphin Board of Trade and Canadian Club. He moved to The Pas in 1915, and was appointed Commissioner for Northern Manitoba in May 1916. Campbell was keenly interested in the development of the North, and was a staunch advocate of the Hudson Bay Railway. He resigned the commissionership to seek election to the House of Commons in 1917, being replaced as Commissioner by Robert C. Wallace. He was the first MP for Nelson.

He resumed his law practice in 1921, and his commissionership from 1921 to 1924. He was made a King’s Counsel in 1929.

In 1962, he was inducted into the Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt.