Editing R. B. Bennett (section)

==Early life (1870–1890)==
Bennett was born on July 3, 1870, when his mother, Henrietta Stiles, was visiting her parents' home in [[Hopewell Hill, New Brunswick]], Canada. He was the eldest of six children and grew up nearby at the [[Bay of Fundy]] home of his father, Henry John Bennett, in [[Hopewell Cape]], the [[shire town]] of [[Albert County]].<ref name="BennettBio">{{cite web |last1=Waite |first1=P.B. |title=R.B. Bennett |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bennett_richard_bedford_17E.html |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |access-date=14 March 2022}}</ref> Bennett's father descended from English ancestors who had emigrated to [[Connecticut]] in the 17th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sunnyokanagan.com/TheBennettStory.pdf|title=Descendants of Henry Bennett|website=Sunnyokanagan.com|access-date=9 July 2022}}</ref> His great-great-grandfather, Zadock Bennett, migrated from [[New London, Connecticut]], to [[Nova Scotia]] {{Circa|1760}}, before the [[American Revolution]], as one of the [[New England Planters]] who took the lands forcibly removed from the deported [[Acadian]]s during the [[Great Upheaval]].<ref name="BennettBio" />

The Bennetts had previously been a relatively prosperous family, operating a shipyard in Hopewell Cape, but the change to steam-powered vessels in the mid-19th century meant the gradual winding down of their business. However, the household was a literate one, subscribing to three newspapers. One of the largest and last ships launched by the Bennett shipyard (in 1869) was the ''Sir [[John A. Macdonald]]''. In the 1870s depression, the shipbuilding business of Henry John Bennett appeared insufficient to support his family and some believed he was an ineffective businessman. Henry John had now become a merchant, blacksmith, and farmer. R.B. Bennett's early days inculcated a lifelong habit of thrift. The driving force in his family was his mother. She was a Wesleyan [[Methodist]] and passed this faith and the [[Protestant ethic]] on to her son. Bennett's father does not appear to have been a good provider for his family, though the reason is unclear. He operated a general store for a while and tried to develop some [[gypsum]] deposits.<ref name="BennettBio" />

Educated in the local school, Bennett was a very good student but something of a loner. In addition to his [[Protestant]] faith, Bennett grew up with an abiding love of the [[British Empire]], then at its apogee. A small legacy his mother received opened the doors for him to attend the [[normal school]] in [[Fredericton]], where he trained to be a teacher; he then taught for several years at Irishtown, north of [[Moncton]], saving his money for law school.<ref>"Canada's Prime Ministers: Macdonald to Trudeau", edited by Ramsay Cook and Real Belanger, University of Toronto Press, 2007, p. 300, {{ISBN|978-0-8020-9174-1}}</ref> At age 18, Bennett became principal of a school in [[Douglastown, New Brunswick]].<ref name="BennettBio" />