Blanchard was born in West River, Nova Scotia. He became a supporter of Confederation, however, and became Attorney-General in the government of Charles Tupper in 1864 under Tupper's Confederation Party. When Tupper left for federal politics in 1867, Blanchard took over what became the Conservative Party and briefly succeeded Tupper as Premier before being defeated that year in Nova Scotia's first election as a province by William Annand's Anti-Confederation Party. Blanchard remained in the legislature as opposition leader until his death in 1874 in Halifax.

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online