 Cranney is significant as he was one of the first Roman Catholics elected to the Assembly and it was during the sitting of this 14th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly that responsible government came to New Brunswick.He held a number of public offices in the Chatham area and was one of the most prominent Catholic laymen of his time in the Miramichi Valley.Cranney is buried in the cemetery of St. Michael's Basilica in Miramichi, New Brunswick, in what was formerly Chatham.