Hamilton, Ont., is one of Canada’s leading commercial educationists. He
was born on April 7, 1871, in a log house in the township of Nichol,
Wellington County, Ont., the son of William and Susan (Reynolds) Gibbon.
His early education was received in the rural school of his section, and
later he walked four miles night and morning to attend the High School
and Model School at Elora. From January, 1892, to July, 1894, he taught
in rural ungraded schools, after which he returned to the farm for five
years to care for his father and mother. Deciding to equip himself as a
commercial teacher he took a course at Stratford Business College, and
after graduation taught in that institution for six months. In 1901, he
went to Woodstock, Ont., to take the post of junior commercial teacher,
and after one year became senior in these subjects. In 1904, he became
Principal, and under his guidance built up the institution into one of
the most important of its kind in Western Ontario. In Woodstock he also
took an active part in public and business affairs. He acted as auditor
for several large commercial houses, and sat in the municipal council as
alderman. In the latter capacity his business acumen and sound judgment
made him one of the most useful of public servants. His faculty for
acquiring knowledge of every detail of civic business made him very
valuable in the consideration of measures for the city’s welfare, so
that when in August, 1909, he decided to leave Woodstock, expressions of
regret were universal. In Woodstock, also, he became very active in the
temperance cause, and served as Secretary-Treasurer of the North Oxford
Prohibition Association. As Treasurer of the local branch of the
Y.M.C.A., he rendered very important service in connection with the
erection of new buildings, and he was very prominent in church work as a
member of the Methodist body. In 1909, he sold his interest in Woodstock
Business College, and bought Clark’s Business College at Hamilton, Ont.
When he took charge on January 1, 1910, the attendance at the
institution was but 34 day and 28 night students. He changed the name to
the Central Business College, and within a few years his powers of
organization had built up the attendance to five times the original
figure. Mr. Gibbon’s chief hobby is Sunday School work, and he has
served as a religious teacher of the young for over thirty years, in the
various places where he has lived. His spirit of enterprise and
attractive personality make him an ideal influence on youth. He is a
member of the Kiwanis Club, Hamilton, and of the following fraternal
societies, I.O.O.F., A.F. & A.M., Royal Templars of Temperance, and the
Orange Order. On November 6, 1901, he married Margaret H. Lacey, and has
two children, Playford Sutherland Gibbon and Ada Margaret Gibbon.
[Illustration: E. BLAKE ROBERTSON, OTTAWA
J. C. BREITHAUPT, KITCHENER]
=Webber, John A.=, Assistant Postmaster, Hamilton, Ont., was born in the
township of Binbrook, Wentworth County, December 10th, 1861, the son of
Esau Webber, contractor, Hamilton, Ont., and his wife Isabella (Ledmon)
Webber. He was educated at the Hamilton Public Schools and Hamilton
Collegiate Institute, was appointed to the Civil Service as a clerk in
the Hamilton Post Office, October 24, 1881, advancing steadily till, in
June, 1918, he was appointed to his present position by the Civil
Service Commission, an appointment received with general satisfaction by
the press and business men of Hamilton, and one of the earliest
important promotions made by the Civil Service Commission. He married on
June 1, 1886, Helena S. Murray, daughter of John J. Murray (M.D. Trinity
College, Dublin), of Waterdown, and has two daughters, Ada A., wife of
R. H. Moore, Cleveland, Ohio, and Charlotte I. Mr. Webber is a member of
the Canadian Club, President Hamilton Horticultural Society,
Vice-President Hamilton Garden Club, Director of Ontario Horticultural
Society, representing Niagara District, member of the Executive Council
Hamilton Scientific Association, member of the Canadian Order of
Foresters, life member of Canadian Red Cross, and a sustaining member of
the Hamilton Health Association (Mountain Sanitary). He is an Anglican,
and a member of the Executive Board of St. Thomas Church. Outside of his
agreeable manner, intense activity is Mr. Webber’s outstanding
characteristic, and his principal recreation seems to be in always doing
things, and doing them well and cheerfully. Alluding to his appointment,
“The Civilian” (organ of the Civil Service), says: “In the appointment
of Mr. John A. Webber as assistant postmaster at Hamilton, we have
another instance of the application of the merit system as inaugurated
by the Civil Service Commission. He was appointed to the staff on
October 24, 1881, and has risen from junior clerk to almost head by
efficient work, his standing in all Departmental examinations being very
high. For ten years before his present appointment, he acted as
Superintendent of the office, filling the assistant postmaster’s place
during Mr. Matthews’ absence, and while in these positions his courteous
and prompt attention to the needs of the public made him a host of
friends in the business world with whom the appointment is very popular.
As to the staff, the appointment is equally popular, every man knowing
that under Mr. Webber any grievance is sure of a fair hearing and a just
decision in the matter.” Mr. Webber’s father was a prominent contractor
in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, during which period he erected many public
buildings and business blocks, among which were St. Mary’s Cathedral,
Centenary Church, Masonic Hall, Lester Block and hundreds of stores,
hotels and private dwellings. While carrying on the contracting business
during the period of food shortage, following the Crimean War, he bought
and operated a 200-acre farm in the county on which the subject of this
sketch was born but only remained during infancy. During the Great War
Mr. Webber took an active part in patriotic, Red Cross and Relief Work,
and in his long connection as director, and for several years in
succession President of the Hamilton Horticultural Society. Has
contributed not a little to the beautifying of home surroundings
throughout the city. In his connection with the Gordon Club and in the
eight counties under his jurisdiction as director of the Ontario
Horticultural Society he did much to stimulate the production of
vegetables and other foods throughout the district during the war. His
efforts in the direction received commendation from the President of the
National War Garden Commissioner, Washington, D.C., for adding to the
world’s supply of food during the war. Mr. Webber lives at 130 Stinson
Street, where he delights in Horticulture.
* * * * *
=Irwin, William Nassau= (Toronto, Ont.), only son of Francis Irwin
(Irish), for many years Treasurer of the town of Orangeville, county
town of Dufferin, and Jane (Taylor) Irwin (Canadian). Born at
Orangeville, Ontario, on November 14, 1863. Educated in the Public and
High Schools of Orangeville, and Trinity College, Toronto. Studied law
in office of McCarthy and Walsh, Orangeville, and afterwards with Mowat,
Maclennan, Downey and Langton, and Maclaren, Macdonald, Merritt and
Shepley, Toronto, graduating from Osgoode Hall, and called to the Bar in
September, 1886. A member of the legal firm of Henderson, Irwin and
Ungaro, Toronto. Married in September, 1893. His only son, James Carter
Irwin, member of the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry, wounded
in action in Flanders, died at King George Hospital, London, England,
July 31, 1916, from effects of his wounds, in his 18th year. Mr. Irwin
was interested in bicycling, when that sport was at the height of its
popularity, being President of the Athenaeum Cycling Club, and member of
the Canadian Wheelmen’s Executive for several years. Member of the
Church of England and the Orange Order. Interested in journalism. A
Liberal-Conservative.
* * * * *
=Sinclair, Robert Victor, K.C.=, Barrister and Solicitor, the son of
Robert and Elizabeth Morrison (Colville) Sinclair, was born in
Forestville, New York, May 24, 1861, and at an early age came to Canada
with his parents and settled in Ottawa, where he received his education
in the Ottawa Collegiate Institute. He read law with Stewart, Chrysler &
Gormully from 1880 to 1885, and was called to the bar in the latter
year, when he went into partnership with Mr. Gormully under the title of
Gormully & Sinclair, and remained there until 1894, when he retired to
practise alone. In 1900, he formed a partnership with the late Sir
Adolphe Caron, the firm being known as Caron & Sinclair, and remained
there until 1907, when he again retired to practise alone. In 1908 he
was created a K.C. Mr. Sinclair is recognized in the Ottawa legal
fraternity as one of the Capital’s most successful barristers. In 1907,
Mr. Sinclair was elected a member of the Ottawa Stock Exchange. August,
1887, he married Daisy King, daughter of James W. King, ex-M.P.,
Director of Penitentiaries. He has one son and three daughters. He is a
member of the Rideau Hunt Club, and was a member of the executive
committee in 1907. In religion he is an Anglican, in politics a
Conservative, and he resides at 237 Wilbrod St., Ottawa, Ontario.
* * * * *
=Campbell, William Brough.= The late W. B. Campbell, of Toronto,
insurance publisher and editor, was of Scottish extraction and was born
in Shannonville, Ontario (then Canada West), on July 17, 1854. He was
the eldest of four children who reached maturity. While he was still a
child, his parents removed with their family to Toronto, where he
continued to reside until his death. He was educated in the public
schools, and went to work while still only a lad, serving under his
father, who held an administrative position in the Toronto office of the
old Lancashire Fire Insurance Company. About 1880 he joined his father
in the publication of a monthly insurance journal called “The Budget.”
From its first issue the new paper was independent in policy and
aggressive in tone, and its strictures upon some of the loose practices
of insurance companies, and especially its denunciations of wild-cat
concerns carrying on a business of plunder in the name of insurance,
made it a power in its field. A fairly extensive printing business was
developed as a side line of the business, but ultimately this proved too
complex a load for the periodical to carry. The result was that other
people acquired the rights in “The Budget.” But the Campbells, father
and son, at once came out with a new venture, “The Bulletin,” virtually
a continuation of the old. In 1905, feeling the need of greater freedom
in editorial and business policy than his surroundings permitted, Mr.
Campbell dissociated himself from his father, and began the publication
of “Office and Field,” a weekly—in its time the only weekly journal in
the world wholly devoted to life insurance. The world-wide upheaval in
life insurance business arising from the investigation by a committee of
the legislature of the State of New York in 1905 threatened the new
venture with early extinction, but by daring and skilful guidance Mr.
Campbell brought his craft to success. He demanded and insisted upon
service of the public as the one justification for life insurance. It
was largely through his influence that the life insurance agents were
organized as the Life Underwriters’ Association of Canada, an
institution which, carrying out the policy which he and other leaders
laid down, has achieved a splendid success. His work, both as editor and
propagandist was a distinct factor in making life insurance in Canada
the great financial and social force it has become. Mr. Campbell was
married in September, 1887, to Jessie G., eldest daughter of the late
George Maclean Rose. Of this union there were born two daughters and a
son. The son, Wilfrid Maclean Campbell answered the call to the colours,
and served as a private in France and Flanders from February, 1916, to
the end. He was one of the glorious Canadians at Vimy Ridge, was wounded
at Hill 70, but returned to the ranks, and was among those who marched
as victors into Germany. Too great devotion to business broke down Mr.
Campbell’s health, and after a short illness he died in June, 1914, in
his sixtieth year.
* * * * *
=Henderson, Alexander, B.A., K.C.=, is one of the most prominent members
of the British Columbia Bar, and practises at Vancouver. He was born at
Oshawa, Ont., in 1861, the son of Alexander Henderson, a native of
Caithness, Scotland, and Grace (KilPatrick) Henderson, a native of
Paisley, Scotland. His father, after coming to this country, became
mechanical superintendent of one of Oshawa’s leading industries, and the
subject of this sketch was educated at the public and high schools of
his native town and at the University of Toronto. He graduated from the
latter institution in 1884 with the degree of B.A., and subsequently
qualified for the law. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1889, and
two years later decided to take up his residence in New Westminster,
B.C. He was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1892, and has ever
since pursued an active legal career. In 1896, he was appointed agent
for the Minister of Justice of Canada on the mainland of British
Columbia. In 1898, he was elected to the Provincial Legislature as
member for the city of New Westminster, and sat for two years. In 1899,
he became Attorney-General for British Columbia, and in 1901 was
appointed judge of the County Court of Vancouver, an office he held
until 1907, when he was appointed Commissioner of the Yukon Territory.
For four years he lived at Dawson City, and won distinction by his wise
and able administration. In 1911, he resigned, and resumed the practise
of law at Vancouver, where he has a large and lucrative practice. He has
taken an active interest in military affairs, and was formerly major of
the 6th Regiment, Duke of Connaught’s Rifles, and was placed on the
Reserve of Officers in 1907. His recreation is rifle shooting, and he
accompanied the Canadian Bisley Team to England in 1901, acting as
adjutant. He is a Presbyterian in religion, a Liberal in politics, and a
member of the Vancouver Club. On September 14, 1895, he married Susan
Crawford, daughter of William McCraney, of Oakville, Ont., and
Vancouver, B.C. The latter was a very prominent lumberman, and formerly
represented Halton (Ontario) in the House of Commons. Mr. and Mrs.
Henderson have one daughter, Grace Kilpatrick Henderson, and reside at
1424 Burnaby Ave., Vancouver.
* * * * *
=Russell, Adam Lothian=, of Vancouver, B.C., is one of the leading
commercial figures of the Coast province. Like so many others who have
made their mark in Canada he is a native of Scotland, and was born at
Alexandria, Dumbartonshire, on March 27, 1864, the son of James and
Annie (Knox) Russell. He was educated at Glasgow High School and Glasgow
University, and his business training began in 1882 with the firm of
Rutherford Bros., in the Scottish commercial metropolis. With this firm
he remained three years and in 1885 became Manager of the firm of Taylor
Bros., in Glasgow, in which capacity he remained until 1891. His Glasgow
training had rendered him familiar with international shipping, and in
1891 he decided to come to Canada and establish himself at Vancouver as
a Ship Broker and Commission Agent. In this capacity he continued until
1901, after which he acquired his present interests. He is now
Vice-President and Managing Director of Evans, Coleman & Evans, Ltd.,
Vancouver; and Vice-President of Clayburn, Ltd., in the same city. His
business offices are 301-304 Credit Foncier Building, Vancouver. He is a
member of the following clubs: Vancouver, Union (Victoria), Jericho
Country (Vancouver), British Columbia Golf, Vancouver Athletic,
Shaughnessy Golf Club, and Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. His favorite
recreation is golf; he is a member of the Masonic Order and a
Presbyterian in religion. In 1898 he married Rosamund Bickford of
Newcastle, England, and has one daughter, Sheila. Mr. and Mrs. Russell
reside at 1306 Burnaby St., Vancouver.
* * * * *
=Shillington, Lieut.-Col. Adam Tozeland, M.D.C.M., M.C.P. & S.,
F.A.C.S.=, Surgeon, of Ottawa, was born in Prospect, Lanark County,
Ontario, August 12, 1870. He is the son of Samuel Kerfort and Ann Eliza
(Poole) Shillington, whose ancestors came to Canada from Ireland in 1812
and settled in Goulbourn, Carleton County, Ontario. Col. Shillington was
educated in the public and high schools of Kemptville, Ontario, McGill
University, Montreal, where he attained the degrees M.D., C.M., M.C.P.&
S., F.A.C.S., Post Graduate Course, London, England, 1902. Col.
Shillington has practised in Ottawa since 1894, and was appointed to the
Medical Board of St. Luke’s General Hospital in 1901, and gynaecologist
in that hospital in 1913; consulting physician in the Ottawa Maternity
Hospital, a member of the Canadian Medical Association, and was chairman
of legislation at the time the Association was incorporated, a member of
the Ontario Medical Association, and was First Vice-President in
1913-1914; Association of Officers of the Medical Service of Canada, of
which he was President in 1913; Ottawa Medical Society, of which he was
President in 1903; Ottawa Medico-Chirurgical Society, of which he was
President in 1918; National Geographical Society; Clinical Congress of
the American College of Surgeons; Fellow, Royal Society of Medicine,
London, England; Fellow, American College of Surgeons, 1914, and a
Justice of the Peace for the County of Carleton. Col. Shillington served
as Lieutenant in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1901, as Captain in
1902, Major in 1904, and as Lieutenant-Colonel in 1911. From 1904 to
1910 he was Officer Commanding No. 2 Field Ambulance; Administrative
Medical Officer, M.D. No. 4, in March and April, 1911; represented Army
Medical Corps of Canada at the Convention of the Military Surgeons of
the United States at Milwaukee in 1911; was A.D.M.S. at Barriefield Camp
in 1913. September 22, 1914, Colonel Shillington went overseas with the
First Canadian Expeditionary Forces in command of No. 2 Canadian
Stationary Hospital, and the following November (8th) established the
First Canadian Military Hospital to be opened in the war zone. This
hospital unit was the first Canadian unit to reach France. On November
27, 1915, Colonel Shillington was appointed A.D.M.S., of the Canadians
at Bramshott, England, and in May, 1916, was appointed A.D.M.S.,
A.M.D.I. to the D.M.S. office. On October 25, 1916, he was appointed
A.D.M.S., C.T.D., at Shorncliffe, England, and March, 1917, Officer
Commanding at the Kitchener Military Hospital, Brighton, England.
February 9, 1918, Colonel Shillington, having served overseas for three
years and five months, during which time he was mentioned in despatches
and awarded the “Mons Star,” returned to Canada, and was transferred to
the C.E.F. Reserve of Officers. Colonel Shillington was married to Ethel
Florence Jones, daughter of John Henry Jones, of Montreal, July 31,
1899, and has two sons and one daughter: John T., James G. K., and Ethel
Maud. Clubs: Rideau, Royal Ottawa Golf, Wawa Keshi Fish and Game, Army
and Navy of London; Societies: A.F. & A.M. and I.O.O.F. In religion a
Methodist, in politics a Conservative, he resides at the Bedford House,
281 Gilmour Street, Ottawa, Ont.
* * * * *
=White, James, F.R.G.S., F.R.S.C., M. Eng. Inst. Can., E.=, is the
Assistant to Chairman and the Deputy Head of the Canadian Commission of
Conservation, with headquarters in the Temple Building, Metcalfe Street,
Ottawa. He is the eldest son of David White and Christina, daughter of
George Hendry, and was born February 3, 1863. In 1888, he married
Rachel, daughter of Thomas Waddell, and has two daughters. He was
educated at the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario. In January,
1884, he was appointed topographer on the staff of the Geological Survey
of Canada, and made surveys in the Rocky Mountains during 1884-5. In
1886, he made surveys in the Madoc, Ontario, gold district; in 1887-90,
in the Ottawa County, Quebec, phosphate district; and in 1891-93, in the
Kingston and Pembroke, Ontario, district, and in the latter year was
employed on the Alaska Boundary Commission. In 1894, he was appointed
Geographer and Chief Draughtsman to the Geological Survey. In 1899, he
was appointed Chief Geographer of the Department of the Interior, in
which branch he organized the map work. In 1907 he made investigations
respecting fast Atlantic passenger steamships (the All-Red Line), and in
1909 was appointed Secretary to the Commission of Conservation and
Assistant Chairman and Deputy Minister in 1913. The following valuable
publications are to his credit: 1901 and 1915, Altitudes in Canada, 1st
and 2nd editions; 1903 and 1916, Dictionary of Altitudes, 1st and 2nd
editions; Maps and Mapmaking in Canada; Derivation of Place-Names in
Northern Canada, of Quebec, of Thousand Islands, of Rocky Mountains, and
of Georgian Bay; Treaties and Boundaries affecting Canada; Fuels of
Western Canada; various other articles, etc.; 1906, Atlas of Canada. For
recreation, Mr. White takes pleasure in travelling, and he belongs to
the Authors and the Rideau Clubs. He resides at 450 Wilbrod Street,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
* * * * *
=Dunlop, Edward Arunah, M.P.P.= (Pembroke, Ont.), born at Pembroke,
Ont., October 26th, 1876, son of Mary Deacon and Arunah Dunlop,
ex-M.P.P. Began his business career as clerk for Dunlop & Chapman,
hardware merchants, Pembroke, in 1892, and in 1897 took charge of the
business, changing the name to Dunlop & Company. In politics he is a
Conservative. Declined nomination to the Ontario Legislature for North
Renfrew in 1899. Was elected at the by-election December 26, 1903, by a
majority of 598, after a contest of nineteen months, during which time
the constituency was unrepresented in the Ontario Legislature. This is
said to be the longest vacancy in the parliamentary records of Canada.
Was re-elected 1905. Declined nomination in 1908. Re-elected by
acclamation in 1911, and re-elected in 1914. Was a member of the Town
Council of Pembroke from 1908 to 1913 inclusive. Is connected with many
commercial concerns, being President of the Pembroke Lumber Company,
Steel Equipment Co., Ltd., Pembroke Electric Light Co., Ltd., and
MacFarlane Neil Mfg. Co. of Fredericton, N.B.; also a director of the
Pembroke Woollen Mills, Ltd., Massey Lumber Co., Ltd., Pembroke Southern
Railway, Pembroke Iron Works, Ltd., Superior Electrics, Ltd., Victoria
Foundry Co., Ltd., Ottawa, and other companies. Is First Vice-President
of the Canadian Electrical Association for 1919. He is a member of the
Rideau and Country Clubs of Ottawa and the National and Albany Clubs of
Toronto. Is a member of the Methodist Church. On June 17, 1908, he
married Mabel Ferguson, daughter of Donald Ferguson, of Beamsville,
Ont., and has three daughters.
* * * * *
=Reid, William Brown=, President and Managing Director of United Cigar
Stores, Ltd., of Canada, with head office at 284 King Street West,
Toronto, Ont., was born in Rothes, Scotland, April 7, 1866, the son of
Alexander and Helen (Simpson) Reid. His father was an extensive and
prosperous farmer, and this afforded the subject of this sketch the
opportunity of exercising in his boyhood his innate love of horses which
he still retains. While afforded, like other members of his family, all
the facilities for pursuing the highest educational course, he was
satisfied with that of the common schools which have produced so many
successful Scotchmen. He served with the Rothes (Elginshire) Volunteers
from 1882 till 1888, when he came to Canada, and shortly afterwards
joined the 48th Highlanders, serving for five years. After leaving
school he pursued his own inclinations, and before coming to Canada had
gained practical experience in a general way, besides having
considerable knowledge along useful technical lines as a reserve to fall
back on. In 1888, he became connected with the Empire Tobacco Co., with
which he remained as Toronto representative till 1897, when he
established in Toronto the wholesale tobacco and Cigar firm of W. B.
Reid & Co., which was the foundation of the present extensive
corporation of which he was the originator, and has always been the head
and controlling genius. The firm was incorporated as the United Cigar
Stores, Limited, in 1902, with a capital of $20,000, and opened several
cigar stores in Toronto. In May, 1914, the company’s capital stock was
increased to $250,000, and the number of stores largely increased and
extended to outside cities. A year later, United Cigar Stores, Limited,
of Canada was incorporated with a capital of $3,800,000, with Mr. Reid
still in full control. The Company now has 164 stores, extending from
Quebec City to Port Arthur, including 39 in Toronto, 13 in Ottawa, 11 in
Hamilton, and one or more in almost every important town in the
province. Remarkable as this achievement is in so short a time, it falls
far short of the goal set by Mr. Reid, who intends to have stores in
every city and town of consequence in the Dominion, and no doubt would
have already made this goal an established fact before now if the war
had not put a temporary stop to further expansion. Besides operating
this great chain of stores, the company has two large cigar factories,
and as a holding company, also controls a chain of Drug Stores with
about a dozen branches, and a constantly and rapidly increasing
business. The annual turnover of the cigar stores and cigar factories is
between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000, all directed by Mr. Reid personally
from the head office. This immense volume of business enables the
company to buy goods in such large quantities that it obtains better
terms than are available by small purchasers, and at the same time
minimizes the percentage of overhead expenses. Mr. Reid married Edith E.
Rogers, daughter of A. C. Rogers, Newmarket, Ont., November 8, 1896. He
is a member of the Toronto and Montreal Boards of Trade, of the
Scarborough Golf Club, Lakeview Golf, Mississauga Golf and Ontario
Clubs; member of the A.F. & A.M., a Presbyterian, and independent in
politics. His chief recreations are bowling and golf. He resides at 42
Lakeview Ave., Toronto. Mr. Reid is genial in manner, a systematic
organizer, with sufficient of the imaginative faculty to prompt
enterprise and enough determination and reserve force to ensure the
carrying out of anything to which he lays his hand. He was the first man
in the province of Ontario to place on the market the product of
Canadian grown tobacco, and the expansion of this business has proven
his foresight beyond question. The great war made heavy drafts on the
staff of the Company, but Mr. Reid is too good a Britisher to complain
of that; in fact, in addition to contributing thousands of dollars to
patriotic purposes, so strong along this line is he that he never has
allowed any foreign element to obtain a footing in his company, which he
says will be strictly Canadian, without outside influence, so long as he
is at its head—and that means as long as he desires to remain in active
business.
* * * * *
=Johnson, Hon. Thomas Herman, B.A., LL.D.=, Attorney-General of
Manitoba, is a type of those Icelandic Canadians who, going into the
West in the early days, have done so much for its development. He was
born in Iceland on February 12, 1870, the son of John and Margaret
Johnson. When he was a boy of eight years old his father resolved to try
his fortunes in the virgin country of Western Canada, and settled in
Manitoba as a farmer, bringing his family with him. The subject of this
sketch was from early boyhood bent on a professional career. He attended
the public schools of Winnipeg, and later took a course at Gustavus
Adolphus College, Minnesota, from which he graduated in 1895 with the
degree of B.A. As a youth he taught school during the summer in the
Glenboro district to secure funds to continue his studies during the
winter. After obtaining his degree he entered the legal offices of
Richards (afterwards Mr. Justice Richards) and Bradshaw, with a view to
qualifying himself for the law. He was admitted to the Manitoba Bar in
1900, and immediately commenced practice at Winnipeg. His abilities and
knowledge of the different races of Manitoba were such that in 1901 the
Laurier administration appointed him census commissioner for Manitoba to
take the decennial census of that year. In 1904 he was elected as member
of the Winnipeg School Board, and continued to act until 1907, when he
resigned to stand as Liberal candidate for the Legislature in the riding
of West Winnipeg. He was successful, and was also re-elected in 1910. At
the general elections of 1914 he was Liberal candidate in Centre
Winnipeg, and was again successful. As a prominent member of the
opposition, he took an active part in the campaign which resulted in
driving the Roblin administration from office. In 1915, when the
Liberals, under Hon. Mr. Norris, came into power, he was again elected
for Centre Winnipeg, and on the formation of the Norris government was
offered, and accepted, the post of Minister of Public Works.
Subsequently, he was transferred to the more important portfolio of
Attorney-General. Mr. Johnson is a fine public speaker, and his
shrewdness and judgment on all public questions are highly esteemed by
his fellow citizens and colleagues in the Legislature. He is a Lutheran
in religion, and his chief recreation is golf. On June 21, 1898, he
married Aurora, daughter of F. Frederickson, merchant, Glenboro,
Manitoba, and has three children, M. Ethel, Elswood B., and Cecil F.
Johnson.
* * * * *
=Farrow, Robinson Russell=, Assistant Commissioner of Customs, was born
at Bluevale, Huron County, Ontario, March 7, 1864, and was educated at
the public schools in Huron. He is the son of Thomas Farrow, (who came
to Canada from England in 1849, and for years was Superintendent of
Schools for Wawanosh, Morris and Turnberry, and who, establishing
himself in business, made progress and prospered as the country advanced
in population, industry and wealth), and Mary Macdonald, of London,
Ontario. His father also became popular in the County of Huron, and at
the general election in 1872 was chosen to represent North Huron in the
House of Commons. He was re-elected at the general election in 1876, and
again at the general election in 1882 was the successful candidate for
East Huron. June 1, 1881, Mr. Farrow first entered the Civil Service of
Canada in the Customs Department, and May 8, 1907, was appointed
Assistant Commissioner. In lawn bowling and curling, Mr. Farrow holds a
prominent station for competency, and is ever sought when championship
contests are listed. He usually carries his team to victory. He is
honorary President of the Ontario Lawn Bowling Association; member of
the Executive of the Dominion Lawn Bowling Association; Past President
of the Ottawa Lawn Bowling Club; and a member of the Finance Committee
of the Ottawa Curling Club. In his official capacity as Assistant
Commissioner, he is one of the busiest men in the Civil Service, and one
of the most competent, coupled with which there is an ever evident
promptness in action and courtesy in manner. January 5, 1887, Mr. Farrow
married Miss R. J. Bradley, daughter of Samuel T. Bradley, a mill owner,
and Margaret Alexander, of Huntley, Ontario. Mr. Farrow has one
daughter—Ethel, B.A. (now Mrs. C. H. Bland), whose son, Corpl. C. H.
Bland, B.A., served during the world war in the 20th Battery, Overseas
Forces, and was with the army of occupation in Germany; and Bombdr.
Russell Farrow, who, with the 20th Battery, C.E.S., served in France,
Belgium, and with the army of occupation in Germany. Mr. Farrow belongs
to the Laurentian Club, and is a member of the following societies:
Scottish Rite Masons; A.F. & A.M.; Oddfellows; A.O.U.W.; Canadian Order
of Foresters; Sons of England. He resides at 7 McLeod Street, Ottawa,
Ont., and he attends the Methodist Church.
* * * * *
=Veale, Philip Henry=, Assessment Commissioner for the City of Ottawa,
was appointed to that position February 5, 1917. He is well known among
Canadian municipal officials and civic legislators as a reliable
authority on assessments, both as to the application of the Ontario
Assessment and Local Improvement Acts, and as to land values, of which
he has been a close student. Prior to his appointment as Assessment
Commissioner, there were, besides the Commissioner, an Assistant
Commissioner; and when Mr. Veale was appointed the latter position was
abolished, the civic government considering that in the new appointment
they had secured a man who was competent to perform the duties alone,
although the responsibilities and duties of the office had increased
considerably, and were daily increasing. That they were not mistaken is
amply proved by the fact that the affairs of the Assessment
Commissioner’s office were never working in such regular clock-like form
as they are to-day. When Mr. Veale first became an employee in the
Assessment Commissioner’s Office in 1892, the taxable assessment of the
city of Ottawa was but $18,236,160, and the population only 43,942. In
1919—twenty-seven years later—the taxable assessment had increased to
$114,392,261, and the population to 104,007; and, strange to say, of all
the aldermen who were in the city council at that time, but one man,
Alderman (now Controller) Napoleon Champagne, is still in civic life,
and most of the others have crossed the line and joined the great
majority. Mr. Veale has contributed largely to newspapers and magazines
on assessment and other like important subjects, and few, if any, are
better able to handle such subjects in newspaper discussion than he. It
was in the re-organization of the civic assessment department in 1892
that Mr. Veale was appointed to a clerkship. It was not long before he
was appointed chief clerk, and then Assistant Commissioner; and when Mr.
William Stewart retired in 1917, Mr. Veale was called upon to assume the
duties and responsibilities of both offices. Besides being an authority
on real estate values, Mr. Veale is well known in Eastern Ontario as a
breeder of White Wyandotte chickens, as a consistent exhibitor and
prize-winner. At his summer home. River Park, every year he raises
hundreds of thoroughbred fowl. Mr. Veale is the son of Philip Veale, who
for many years was manager of the Dominion Fisheries at Ottawa, and Jane
(Smith) Veale. He was born at Merrickville, Ontario, January 7, 1865,
and was educated in the public school, New Edinburgh, now a portion of
Ottawa. On April 27, 1887, Mr. Veale married Emma M. Payne, daughter of
Abraham Payne, civil servant, Ottawa, resulting in a fine family of nine
children—seven girls and two boys—Ethel Alberta, Mabel Mildred,
Kathleen Gwendeline, Philip McDougal, Beatrice Jean, Albert Newell,
Annie Edna, Lois Evelene, Constance Winifred. Mr. Veale is a member of
the following clubs and societies: St. George’s, Sons of England, Knight
of the Maccabees, and St. Matthew’s Church Men’s. In religion he is an
Anglican, in politics a Conservative, and his recreations are fishing,
and amateur gardening. His residence is at Woodroffe, Ont.
* * * * *
=Finlayson, George Daniel, B.A., A.I.A.=, is the son of Edward
Finlayson, a farmer who was born at Merigomish, N.S., and Catherine
(Smith) Finlayson, and a brother of Professor J. N. Finlayson of
Dalhousie University, Halifax. Mr. Finlayson was born in Merigomish,
Pictou County, Nova Scotia, December 31, 1882, and received his
education in the country school, Merigomish, Pictou Academy, and
Dalhousie University, graduating in 1907 with B.A. and great
distinction. On May 6, 1907, Mr. Finlayson entered upon his duties in
connection with the Dominion Insurance Department, and at once became a
valuable acquisition to the staff of that branch of the Civil Service.
It was not long before his great ability as an authority on, and his
general knowledge of, all phases of insurance brought him prominently to
the notice of the Ottawa authorities and the heads of insurance
companies throughout Canada, and his promotion, as a consequence, was
rapid. Seven years later, from the time he entered the service on
September 1, 1914, and at the early age of 32 years, he was appointed to
the highest position in the Insurance Department, viz., that of
Superintendent, which position he holds to-day. In the execution of his
duties, he is noted for his courtesy to all who seek information from
him. In 1914, Mr. Finlayson married Isabel M. Grant, daughter of A. M.
Grant, of Moncton, New Brunswick, and has one daughter, Catherine Smith
Finlayson, and one son. Mr. Finlayson is a member of the Canadian,
University, and Riverside Golf clubs. For recreation he indulges in
tennis, golf and walking. He is a Presbyterian in religion, and his
residence is 200 Carling Avenue, Ottawa.
* * * * *
=McLean, Angus Alexander, LL.B., K.C., Ex-M.P.=, Controller of the Royal
North-West Mounted Police, since 1917, was born December 17, 1854, at
Belfast, Prince Edward Island, and received his education at the Prince
of Wales College, Charlottetown, P.E.I., and Harvard Law School. He is
the son of William and Flora McLean, both of Prince Edward Island.
Having read law in the office of the late Chief Justice, Hon. Sir
William Sullivan, Mr. McLean was called to the bar in 1876, and became a
partner in the law firm of Sullivan, McLean & Morsen. Afterwards he was
senior member of McLean & McKinnon, barristers and solicitors, Victoria
Row, Charlottetown, P.E.I. In June, 1894, he was appointed Q.C., and
revising officer for East Queen’s, and was elected President of the
P.E.I. Law Society. For eight years, Mr. McLean was law clerk for the
P.E.I. Legislature, and was Official Assignee under the old Dominion
Insolvent Act for five years. During 1888, 1889 and 1900, Mr. McLean
represented the constituency of Belfast in the P.E.I. Legislature. He
was a candidate at the by-elections of 1902 and 1904 for the House of
Commons, and was elected at the General Election of 1904. In the General
Election of 1908 he was defeated, but in 1911 was elected by a large
majority. October 15, 1917, he was appointed controller of the Royal
North-West Mounted Police. In June 14, 1882, Mr. McLean married Leah
Yeo, daughter of the late John Yeo, of Charlottetown. She died in 1897.
In 1898, he married Frances H. Longworth, daughter of the late Henry
Longworth, of Charlottetown. He has two sons, both of whom served with
distinction in the Overseas forces during the great world war. In
religion Mr. McLean is a Presbyterian, in politics a
Liberal-Conservative, and he is a member of the A.F. & A.M.; the
I.O.O.F.; and the S.O.S. Societies. He resides at 312 Cooper Street,
Ottawa, Ontario.
* * * * *
=Robertson, Hon. Gideon Decker, P.C.=, Federal Minister of Labor, was
the first actual representative of organized labor to be called to
either the Dominion Cabinet or the Senate of Canada, He was born at
Welland, Ont., on August 26, 1874, the son of Gavin E. Robertson and
Laretto Goring, both native Canadians. His paternal grandfather was a
native of Scotland, who became a member of the bar and later went to
Jamaica, where he took an active part in the agitation for the abolition
of slavery, which became a fully accomplished fact in 1838. In this
movement Robertson was in correspondence with Clarkson, Macaulay (father
of Lord Macaulay), Wilberforce and others active in freeing the British
Empire from this reproach. Later, he came to Canada, where Gavin
Robertson, father of the subject of this sketch, was born, and where he
became a farmer and school teacher on the Niagara peninsula. Gideon
Decker Robertson was educated at the public and high schools of Welland
and as a youth took up telegraphy in connection with railroad work. A
strong believer in trades unionism, he soon became active in the Order
of Railroad Telegraphers, an international body, of which he was some
years ago elected Vice-President, an office he still holds. His duties
brought him in contact with the chiefs of organized labor on this
continent, and he won a high reputation for clear thinking and executive
ability. In 1917, when Sir Robert Borden decided to abolish party lines
and form a Union Government, he offered Mr. Robertson a position in the
Senate and a seat in his Cabinet. The offer was accepted, and in the
autumn of that year he was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council and
a Minister without Portfolio. In May, 1918, he was appointed Chairman of
the sub-Committee of the Council on Labor Problems, and also Chairman of
the National Registration Board in connection with the war. On November
7, 1918, he was sworn in as Minister of Labor in succession to Hon. T.
W. Crothers, who had announced his intention of retiring some months
previously. The appointment was made just at the psychological moment,
for the armistice, which had been signed just one week previously,
created a host of labor problems more serious than Canada had ever
previously been called upon to face; and only a statesman enjoying
practical knowledge and the confidence of organized labor could have
dealt with the situation. In the spring and summer of 1919 he was called
upon to combat a conspiracy affecting all Canada to introduce a modified
form of Russian Bolshevism, fathered by the Industrial Workers of the
World, known as the “One Big Union.” The aim was to unite all existing
labor organizations in one body, and by sympathetic strikes and a policy
of terrorism destroy capitalism, and reduce all other classes to
subjection. This movement came to a head with a general strike called in
Winnipeg early in May, on the pretext of a dispute between the metal
workers and their employers. Winnipeg was chosen as a strategic point,
because of its peculiar geographical position as the chief divisional
point of three transcontinental railways. The aim was to cut Canada in
two in the matter of communications, and then by broadening the strike
Eastward and Westward secure complete control of Canadian transportation
and industry, after which the movement was to be carried into every
section of the United States. Senator Robertson himself went to the
scene of operations, and by his fearless, though moderate handling of
the situation, and his influence with the saner labor elements, rendered
the conspiracy abortive so far as the rest of Canada was concerned, and
fruitless in Winnipeg. He thus secured a triumph for legitimate trade
unionism, of which he is the chief sponsor in Canada. He is a Freemason,
a Presbyterian, and in politics a member of the Independent Labor Party.
On June 10, 1896, he married Mary Berry Hay, daughter of Alexander Hay,
Watford, Ont., and has six children—Edwin J., John McElroy, Gain
Elliot, Alexander Lorne, Mabel Letitia, and Alma Lauretta. He formerly
resided at Welland but his home is now at Ottawa.
[Illustration: W. H. DWYER
Ottawa]
=Hutchison, Col. William= (Ottawa, Ont.), the subject of this sketch,
was born in New Edinburgh in 1843, a suburb of the city of Ottawa. He
was educated in the Public and Grammar Schools. When about seventeen
years of age Col. Hutchison commenced to learn the Milling business with
his uncle, the late Thos. McKay, who was then owner of the McKay Mills
at the Chaudiere and also a partner in the New Edinburgh Mills. At the
age of twenty Col. Hutchison left for the United States where he
followed the milling business for several years. On his return he took
charge of his uncle’s business and shortly afterwards was made a
partner. In 1885 he was elected to City Council, and served for seven
years. It was during Col. Hutchison’s service in the City Council that
the question of the proper drainage of the city attained its greatest
importance, and it is owing to his keen foresight and wise counsel and
persistence that Ottawa to-day has the excellent drainage system of
which it now boasts, and that is but one of the many happenings for the
benefit, progress and beautification of Ottawa that were brought into
existence through his instrumentality during his term of office in the
City’s Civic affairs. From 1888 to, and including the year 1905, a
period of eighteen years, Col. Hutchison was a member of the Board of
Directors of the Central Canada Exhibition Association, and from 1895 to
1905, 10 years, he was President. On retiring in 1906 he was elected
Honorary President of the Association and has been re-elected to that
position every year since. Col. Hutchison, with the assistance of
Messrs. Ahearn and Topper, was instrumental in converting the old horse
car line to electric, giving Ottawa one of the best street car services
on the continent. He ran for the Dominion House in 1896, with the result
that both he and his French colleague, Napoleon A. Belcourt, were
elected by a sweeping majority. At the time the Conservatives felt that
they had a serious grievance, but ere long the good-hearted,
good-natured and genial new Member became the friend and companion of
both Liberals and Conservatives in the House of Commons. In 1901, when
Sir Wilfrid Laurier needed a competent man to travel to all parts of the
world to exhibit Canada’s mineral, cereal and industrial resources, Col.
Hutchison was asked to accept the position of Canadian Exhibition
Commissioner. He accepted and since his appointment he has had charge of
Canada’s exhibits at the following times and places:—1901, Buffalo,
U.S.A.; 1902, Osaka, Japan; 1903-04 St. Louis, U.S.A.; 1905, Liege,
Belgium; 1906, Milan, Italy; 1907, Dublin, Ireland; 1908, Shepherds
Bush, London, England; 1909, Seattle, U.S.A.; 1910, Brussels, Belgium;
1911-12, Crystal Palace, London, England; 1913, Ghent, Belgium; 1914-15,
San Francisco, U.S.A.; 1916-17, San Diego, U.S.A. The great world war
has caused a cessation of the valuable exhibits, but the whole display
is located in commodious quarters on Wellington St. in Ottawa, under
Col. Hutchison’s special care, waiting and ready to be shipped at a
moment’s notice. In 1902 Col. Hutchison was decorated by the Emperor of
Japan with the Order of the Rising Sun (with rank of Colonel in the
Army). In 1905 he was decorated by the late King Leopold II. of Belgium,
with the Order of Leopold, and in 1906 by the King of Italy with the
Order of the Crown of Italy, in 1910 he was made Commander of the Order
of the Crown of Belgium by King Albert I. Col. William Hutchison is the
son of the late Robert Hutchison of Ayrshire, Scotland, who came to
Canada in 1830 and in New Edinburgh married Mary McKay, niece of the
late Hon. Thos. McKay, who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. In
September, 1874, he married Electa Blanche, daughter of S. T. Willett of
Chambly, Quebec. Two sons have blessed the union. In religion he is a
Presbyterian, and in politics a high tariff Liberal. He is also a member
of the Rideau Club, Ottawa, and his residence is 443 Albert St., Ottawa.
* * * * *
=Gibson, Brigadier-General Sir John Morison, K.C.M.G., M.A., LL.D.,
K.C.=, born January 1, 1842, township of Toronto, in the County of Peel,
and is therefore a “Peel Old Boy.” His father, William Gibson, a farmer,
came from Glamis, Forfarshire, Scotland, in 1827. His mother, Mary
Sinclair, was born in Scotland. Her people had settled in the township
of Nelson, in the County of Halton. The family removed from Toronto
township when the subject of this sketch was only eight or nine years of
age to the County of Haldimand, where he had some experience in the Log
School House education of the primitive settlements of that County in
the early 50’s. He afterwards went to the Central School in Hamilton,
the late Dr. Sangster then being Superintendent and Head Master. In due
course, and working against great disadvantages, he became head boy of
the public schools of Hamilton, a position which he maintained until he
passed the matriculation examination of the University of Toronto in
1859. As head boy of the school, he with the second boy, was selected to
open the waterworks system of the city of Hamilton in 1858. His course
at the University was a very successful one, taking scholarships all the
way through the various years, and graduating in 1863 as the highest
honor graduate with the Prince of Wales Prize, then given for general
proficiency, including honors at graduation, the Silver Medals in
Classics and Modern Languages, and the prize in Oriental languages,
including Hebrew, Chaldee and Syriac. After taking his B.A. degree, he
commenced the study of law in the office of the late Sir George Burton
in Hamilton, at the same time taking the law course of the University,
and receiving the degree of LL.B. in 1869 with the gold medal. One thing
of note in connection with General Gibson’s life is that he has always
endeavored to repay the educational institutions from which he received
his education. For many years he was a member of the Board of Education
in Hamilton, and was its Chairman for two years. During that time the
Collegiate Institute was brought into prominence as one of the leading
secondary educational institutions of the country. He served as a
Senator of the University of Toronto, being elected at the first
election of graduates in 1873 and re-elected in 1878 and 1883. He
subsequently founded a general proficiency scholarship for matriculation
candidates. When a student of the University during the Trent affair, he
joined the University Rifles, being one of the first to sign the roll of
that company in 1860. He has been in the Militia ever since, for now
nearly 59 years, and at the present time is the senior officer in the
Canadian Force among all who are not following military life as their
regular occupation. In 1863, he transferred to the 13th, and has served
from private up through all the ranks to the position of commanding
officer, which position he held for 9 years, and at the present time is
the Honorary Colonel of that corps. He was present at Ridgeway as a
lieutenant. He subsequently commanded the 15th Brigade, having
headquarters at Hamilton, and later on at the beginning of the great war
received the rank of Brigadier-General. As a marksman he always has had
a very high reputation, having been a member Canadian Wimbledon teams in
1874, ’75, and ’79, being a frequent prize winner, and taking the much
coveted Prince of Wales prize in the last-named year. He took part in
several of the early international long range rifle contests with
British, Australian, and American rifle teams. In 1881 he commanded the
team which defeated the British team in the competition for the Kolapore
Cup. He was president for three years of the Ontario Rifle Association,
was also President of the Canadian Military Rifle League, and from 1893
for thirteen or fourteen years was President of the Dominion Rifle
Association. In 1907 he again commanded the Canadian rifle team at
Bisley. He has also been President of the Canadian Military Institute,
and was President of the Canadian Red Cross Society from its original
organization throughout the South African War, and subsequently for a
period of about 14 years, and has been throughout the recent great war
one of the most active members of the Executive Board. He was for two
years President of the Hamilton St. Andrew’s Society. From an early age
he has been a very prominent Freemason—was Grand Master of the Masonic
Grand Lodge of Canada during the years 1892 and 1893, being now the
representative of the Grand Lodge of England, and for nine years was
Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite
Masons in Canada. He has always taken a prominent part in politics. As a
young man he was Secretary of the Hamilton Reform Association, which
position he held for many years. He was first returned to the
Legislature in 1879, representing Hamilton for a period of 19 years, and
afterwards East Wellington for 7 years. He entered the Government as
Provincial Secretary in 1889, became Commissioner of Crown Lands in
1896, and Attorney-General in 1899. He was an honorary A.D.C. to their
Excellencies, Lord Aberdeen and Lord Minto, when Governors-General, and
in 1897 was selected by the Militia Department to proceed to England in
connection with the celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee; was
present by invitation, at the coronations in Westminster Abbey of the
late King Edward VII, and of the present King George V. He has always
taken a leading part at the Bar, and was made a Queen’s Counsel in 1890,
is a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and as a young man was
an examiner in the Faculty of Law at Toronto University. In 1903 he
received the honorary degree of LL.D. from that institution, and
subsequently also from McMaster University. In 1908 he became
Lieut.-Governor of the Province of Ontario, being the last to occupy the
old Government House on King Street West, Toronto, continuing for over
six years. During his term, on the recommendation of His Royal Highness
the Duke of Connaught, then Governor-General of Canada, he was created a
Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. As a public
man he shrank from prominence in the public eye; he was most industrious
and faithful in the performance of any duties he undertook to discharge.
He had an excellent training for many years under the greatest of law
makers this country has ever produced, Sir Oliver Mowat. While a private
member of the Legislative Assembly he was selected as Chairman of the
Private Bills Committee, which for fifteen years he presided over with
eminent ability, fairness and impartiality. During the short period when
the license branch was under his control some of the most advanced
measures of temperance legislation were introduced by him, including the
local option law, the validity of which was stoutly contested, but in
the end affirmed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Though
not himself a practical sportsman, almost immediately after entering the
legislature he led a movement for better protection of game birds and
fur-bearing animals, first securing the abolition of spring shooting and
other improvements in the law, and afterwards the appointment of a Royal
Commission followed by a thorough revision of the game laws and the
establishment of a departmental branch, with a chief game warden and
other provincial wardens entrusted with the enforcement of the laws
relating to game protection. While Provincial Secretary he was always an
industrious legislator. The laws relating to Joint Stock Companies were
thoroughly revised, modernized, and simplified by him. The old laws
relating to building societies and loan companies were completely
overhauled, and became the present Loan Corporations Act. It was at this
time also that he undertook to stem the tide or flood of benefit
societies, many of them of the fake order, which threatened to inundate
this Province—a subject of legislation requiring at the time very
cautious and skilful handling, but which, with the able assistance of
Mr. J. H. Hunter, M.A., was ultimately put on a very satisfactory
footing. One of the most important laws of comparatively recent years
owes to him its existence, and has generally been referred to as the
“Gibson Act”—the Act relating to neglected and dependent children—and
the establishment of the Children’s Branch, with Mr. Kelso as its chief
officer. This law has been most beneficial in its operation, and has
been followed more or less closely in most of the other Provinces.
During his comparatively short incumbency as Commissioner of Crown Lands
he introduced and carried through the House the important legislation
prohibiting the exportation of saw logs—a measure affecting very large
interests but meeting the entire approval of the public. He also dealt
with important changes in the mining laws during a period of great
mining excitement in the Province. It is probably not generally known
that while Commissioner of Crown Lands he introduced a short but very
important measure preventing any absolute alienation by the Crown of
Provincial water powers, and providing for leasing same for short
renewable terms of years subject to conditions in the public interest.
It is somewhat singular that a public man who has often been unfairly
criticized as a champion of monopolies should never have been credited
with this act directly aimed against and prohibitive of monopoly. In the
matter of forest preservation or reforesting, Mr. Gibson aimed at
carrying out a programme which probably time would justify as the most
effective and productive policy possible. He aimed at the selection and
setting apart every year a portion of the Crown domain unfit for
agricultural purposes as a timber growing reserve. Many such sections in
Northern Ontario, which have been cut over or burnt over, and now more
or less covered over by new growth, could be set apart and treated as
territory to be guarded as timber growing areas. In the Eastern part of
the Province certain old limits were repurchased from the license
holders and so set apart, and again another area in Western Ontario. The
plan of year after year reserving areas in this way would in a
generation or so result in well defined sections of the Province
producing a new crop of timber which would not fail to become an
extremely valuable asset to posterity. It was in Sir John Gibson’s time
that the first steps were taken for the establishment of the Temagami
Reserve very effectively carried out by Mr. Davis, his successor. As
Attorney-General he had, of course, the responsibility of legislation
generally. The assessment laws had been the subject of investigation and
report at the hands of two Royal Commissioners, and amid the distressing
conflict of opinion on the various questions which arise whenever this
subject is touched, the difficulty of framing a generally acceptable
measure seemed insuperable. Whatever may be thought of the present act,
Sir John Gibson’s tact as a legislator was mainly instrumental in having
it passed through the House, and probably as time has passed and the
public have become more and more familiar with its provisions it may be
considered to give general satisfaction. The collection and revision of
Imperial Statutes in force in this Province in the shape of a brief
third volume of the Revised Statutes carried out with the aid of a
committee of the judges has been a boon to law students, and a great
convenience to the legal profession. (The foregoing facts and
observations regarding Sir John’s career have been contributed by Mr.
James Innes Macintosh, who was for several years his private secretary
when a Minister of the Crown.) He was one of the pioneers, along with
the late John Patterson and the late John Moodie, in introducing
Hydro-Electric power and long distance transmission of same in this
country utilizing surplus water from the Welland Canal, and transmitting
the power to Hamilton, where very soon many of the industrial and
electric railways adopted the same, to the great advantage of the
companies. For many years he was President of the Cataract Power
Company. He is a Director of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, the Canada
Life Assurance Company, the Toronto General Trusts Corporation, the
Toronto Conservatory of Music, the Homewood Retreat at Guelph, the
Dominion Power and Transmission Company, the Canadian Westinghouse
Company, and several other industrial companies in Hamilton. He was
married first in 1869 to Emily Annie, daughter of the late Rolph
Birrell, of London, who died in 1874; second, in 1876 to Caroline,
daughter of the late Senator Adam Hope, who died in 1877; and third, on
May 18, 1881, to Elizabeth, daughter of the late Judge Malloch, of
Brockville. He had six children, viz., John Gordon Gibson, who died
shortly after taking his B.A. degree at the University of Toronto;
Eugenia Elizabeth Emily; Margaret Mary Stewart, wife of Robert S.
Waldie, of Toronto; Archibald Hope Gibson, Barrister; Captain Colin W.
G. Gibson, of the Royal Fusiliers, who was twice severely wounded; and
Francis Malloch Gibson, who went to the front as an officer of the 48th
Highlanders at the commencement of the war and was killed in action near
Armentieres. Sir John’s manner is dignified but affable, his style of
speech clear and precise; in his movements he is deliberate, but with
the elasticity of well-preserved middle age, while his expression is
kindly but alert, with evidence of unlimited determination and
unmistakable inclination and power to lead. When an active officer of
the Militia he was recognized by his fellow-officers as a master of
field manœuvres. The beautiful family residence, “Ravenscliffe,” is
delightfully situated on the lower slope of the mountain, looking down
Ravenscliffe Avenue, through a vista of stately elm trees.
[Illustration: W. C. KENNEDY
Windsor]
=Mitchell, The Hon. Walter George= (Quebec City), Treasurer of the
Province of Quebec, was born at Danby, in the County of Drummond. He is
the son of the Hon. Senator William Mitchell, his mother’s maiden name
being Miss Dora Goddard. His early education was matured at the Montreal
High School and at the Bishop’s College school of Lennoxville.
Thereafter he entered McGill University as an undergraduate, finally
taking his degree of B.C.L. in 1901. On being admitted to practice at
the Bar, he became connected with the law firm of Greenshields,
Greenshields & Heneker. Two years after he became a prominent member of
the firm of Laflamme, Mitchell and Callaghan, receiving his K.C. in
1912. In view of his being chosen by the Lieutenant-Governor to assume
the duties of the Hon. P. S. G. Mackenzie, who had died suddenly, he was
subsequently elected by acclamation as representative of the
constituency of Richmond, a county which he continues to represent as
Member of the Provincial Parliament, after a second election by
acclamation. Prior to his assuming the office of Provincial Treasurer,
Mr. Mitchell was in possession of a large and lucrative practice in
Montreal. While actively engaged with his professional duties, as a
leading lawyer, he did not fail to take an active interest in political
affairs, and came into public prominence in the administration of the
Montreal Reform Club. Through his efforts in co-operation with his
associate members, new and attractive quarters for that club were
erected on Sherbrooke Street; and, in 1913, he was chosen, by way of
reward for his active services, the President of that flourishing
institution, and in the following year was re-elected to the same
office. From the date of the famous Drummond-Arthabaska election contest
in 1910, Mr. Mitchell became more and more intimately identified with
the political life of the Eastern Townships and its various electoral
movements. During the winning of the constituency of Drummond-Arthabaska
back to the Liberal interest in 1910, he was associated with Dr. Beland,
later a prisoner of war in Germany, and was acclaimed everywhere as an
eloquent and persuasive pleader in behalf of the naval policy of Sir
Wilfrid Laurier. In fact, in 1911, it was to a large extent through Mr.
Mitchell’s influence as an organizer, not to speak of his father’s
unbroken popularity as a public man, and other influences, that the
constituency of Drummond-Arthabaska was won over to the Liberal
interest. As Provincial Treasurer, Mr. Mitchell has made a name for
himself as a most successful financier, taking a prominent rank almost
immediately as a parliamentary debater. Nor has he failed to share in
remedial legislation, whenever such came up for consideration in the
Provincial Parliament. He has interested himself particularly in
modifying the Quebec License Law, fathering amendments to that law
restricting the number of licenses, increasing the license fees,
prohibiting treating, increasing the age limit, shortening the hours of
sale, and urging an enactment to abolish the bars on the 1st of May,
1918, with immediate sanction to the Minister of Militia and Defence to
declare any or all districts throughout the Province of Quebec “out of
bounds” for soldiers and sailors. At his instance also the Quebec
Insurance Act has been amended from time to time, so as to give better
protection to the public. One of his most notable and highly patriotic
acts in parliament since the war in Europe began, was his presentation
of a Bill, asking authority to subscribe out of the public revenues in
behalf of his native province a million of dollars to the Canadian
Patriotic Fund—a proposal which met with an instant and unanimous
approval from both chambers. Under his mature financial advice the
Province of Quebec has spent millions of dollars in constructing and
improving highways of nearly every district. And yet so prudently have
the finances of the province been husbanded under his judicious
oversight, that the provincial debt has virtually remained as easy a
burden on the people as it ever has been, notwithstanding the large
amounts spent on the highways, and the large increase in the grants to
education, agriculture, and public works. Altogether Mr. Mitchell has
won the highest credit as a parliamentarian and a financier, enjoying
the full confidence of his colleagues and of many of his fellow
legislators, irrespective of party lines. He was married on February the
4th, 1907, Mrs. Mitchell’s maiden name having been Miss Antonia
Pelletier. Their family comprises two sons and three daughters.
* * * * *
=Lesperance, Albert Paneran= (Montreal, Que.), General Manager, was born
at Longueuil, Que., on September 17, 1860, and was educated at Longueuil
and Montreal Business College, he is the Executor of the Estate of Henry
Hogan, also the Estate Masson; is a Roman Catholic in religion and
styles himself an Independent in politics; is a member of the Canadian
Club, Montreal Board of Trade, and Chambre de Commerce, also Governor of
Notre Dame Hospital. On May 10, 1890, he married Delima Bovin, the
daughter of Leonard Bovin, a merchant, of St. Hyacinthe, Que., and has
ten children: Juliette, Henri, Germain, Annette, Arthur, Simmonne,
Irene, Therese, Suzanne and Paul.
* * * * *
=Parsons, S. R.= (Toronto, Ont.), President of the British-American Oil
Co., Ltd., Oil Refineries, was born in Port Hope, Ont., in 1854. Son of
William and Margaret (Trick) Parsons. He received his education in the
Public and Grammar Schools of that town and began business with the firm
of James Campbell & Son, at that time extensive manufacturing
stationers, and publishers of Toronto. After six years’ association with
this firm he removed to Winnipeg and subsequently engaged in the
wholesale stationery business as senior partner in Parsons, Bell & Co.,
which afterwards merged with the Consolidated Stationery Co., Ltd., of
which he was President for a number of years. In 1882 Mr. Parsons
married Anne Kate Helliwell, daughter of Rev. Thomas Lord Helliwell of
Winnipeg, and has three daughters, Mrs. Chas. A. Withers, Mrs. Henry F.
Gooderham, and Mrs. Errol A. Hethrington, all of Toronto. After sixteen
years of successful business in Winnipeg, Mr. Parsons was compelled to
leave the northern climate in the interest of his health and returned to
Toronto where in 1906, along with others, he established the extensive
business of which he continues the moving spirit. He has always taken an
active interest in religious, social and philanthropic work and for many
years has been a director of the Methodist Union. Since 1900 he has been
Chairman of the Ontario Board of Directors, Canadian Fire Insurance Co.,
and is a member of the Northern Ontario Fire Relief Committee, and the
Organization of Resources Committee of the Province of Ontario, also of
the Ontario Executive of the Bonne Entente at whose meeting in the
Chateau Frontenac, Quebec, in 1916, he was one of the principal speakers
and put forward this three-plank platform: First—We ought to live
together in sincerity, friendship and justice; Second—We ought to
strive for a cleaner public life; Third—We ought to help maintain the
integrity and strength of our great Empire. But it is in connection with
his work in the Canadian Manufacturers Association that Mr. Parsons has
come most prominently before the public, for though naturally being far
from an aggressive man, when the burden of office was laid upon him he
realized his responsibilities to the full and has frequently from the
platform, in the press and in action given evidence of the reserve force
that was in him. He was elected for four successive years (1911-1915)
Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the Association; Second
Vice-President in 1915, First Vice-President in 1916, and President at
the Annual Meeting of the Association in Winnipeg in 1917. He was
Chairman in 1917 of the Committee of Employers of Labor for the Province
of Ontario to secure men to help in the harvest fields, an organization
responsible for the saving of many millions in food stuffs. On assuming
office as President of the C.M.A. Mr. Parsons delivered an inspiring
inaugural address of a thoroughly business character, but progressive,
loyal, ethical, liberal and humanitarian as well. In 1918 he was
appointed a representative of the C.M.A. on the Federal Board for the
settlement of Labor disputes. Writing of him on this occasion, “The
Monetary Times” says: “He is a capable, energetic business man, with a
frank and alert manner that wins confidence. The welfare of the Canadian
Manufacturers Association is in good hands under his care. He is a type
of Association President well able to smooth out many of the
difficulties between capital and labor, having appreciation of the
problems met by both.” Mr. William Lewis Edmonds writes at the same time
in “Industrial Canada”: “While Mr. Parsons is strong as a business man,
and particularly in the quality of executive ability, that is not the
only direction in which his strength lies. He is a strong man all the
way round. He is a man of strong opinions and particularly on subjects
that approach the ethical in character, and having cultivated the habit
of looking at controversial subjects from the other fellow’s perspective
as well as his own, it is not a difficult thing to persuade him to
change his attitude, provided the other fellow is right and he is wrong,
but when once after carefully weighing the pros and cons, he is
persuaded that he is right he’ll not surrender principles, although
where non-essentials are the issue he will readily agree to a
compromise. In judgment he is sound, and in insight keen and quick.
Although not connected with either political party, Mr. Parsons takes a
keen interest in public affairs, and practical movements which have for
their object a betterment of conditions in state and society have his
warm, and in many instances, his active sympathy.” Writing in the
“Toronto Star Weekly,” Arthur Hawkes says: “Mr. Parson’s service in the
Manufacturers Association has been real service, and not a still hunt
for glory. In committee he is as cautious as strong, and as strong as
wise. He looks often before he leaps and he can take a pretty good
leap—the fundamental condition of which is that he shall have examined
the jumping-off place and surveyed the spot where he intends to land.
When he has made up his mind he doesn’t change it, which is because he
is sound in judgment.” In concluding his quite lengthy sketch and
referring particularly to Mr. Parsons’ political platform he says: “This
is a pretty good creed. It is just like Parsons. If you know him you
know an honest manufacturer, a broad Methodist, and a friend who is with
you till daylight.” Of him, “Motoring” says: “He presented an excellent
report to the C.M.A. convention as Chairman of the Special Committee on
the Co-ordination of recruiting and production. He is a clear thinker
and speaker and could probably quote from half a hundred authors. He is
a keen business man and one who puts his best efforts into all he
undertakes.” Mr. Parsons is not only a clear thinker but an apt phraser
as may be judged from this clause in his inaugural address as President
of the C.M.A.: “These are surely days for plain living and high
thinking, days when there is a compression of life, and days which
summon all that is heroic within us to stand like men in meeting our
duties, whether they be personal, social, local or national.” In a
speech before the Canadian Club of Orillia, in February, 1918, on
“War-Time Business and Profits” which was endorsed by the C.M.A.
Executive and published in the principal papers of Canada, Mr. Parsons
said: “Canadians, let us know each other better, let us understand and
sympathize with each other’s problems, for in that knowledge lies
increased production, good feeling between city and country, prosperity
in reason and fair play to all.” A strong desire for fair play and
justice to all is the outstanding characteristic of Mr. Parsons’ whole
attitude towards any question, and, while conservatively progressive he
is so liberally and humanely so that his influence in the important
association of which he is President cannot fail to be productive of
better feeling between employer and employees. In manner Mr. Parsons is
genial and easy of approach, a good conversationalist, well-read and
with a ready and apt style of expression, but views every question
apparently through ethical spectacles—a habit unfortunately not
generally in vogue. He is a member of the National Club, Canadian Club,
and Toronto Board of Trade. He is a Unionist in politics, and a member
of the Methodist Church. His office is the 13th floor of the Royal Bank
Building and his residence 139 Crescent Road, Toronto.
* * * * *
=Forman, James C.= (Toronto, Ont.), Assessment Commissioner, a son of
the late James Forman, one of the 93rd Highlanders, was born November
23, 1851, and received his education in the Public and Model Schools and
British-American Commercial College. He occupied a position in a
broker’s and insurance office for about two years, and then entered the
employ of the wholesale dry goods firm of Dobbie and Carrie, remaining
there for over four years. Mr. Forman, afterwards, while in the employ
of the late George Warin, was offered a temporary position in the City
Hall by the late Stephen Radcliff, City Clerk. He was permanently
appointed in 1878 as Assessment Clerk, and gradually worked his way up
the ladder until he assumed his present position in 1905, succeeding Mr.
R. J. Fleming on the latter’s resignation. Mr. Forman has taken a close
interest in assessment matters, having read papers before the Ontario
Municipal Association and International Tax Association and is
frequently selected to represent the City Council at their meetings. In
1903 he was in close touch with former Attorney-General Sir John Gibson
in the preparing of the new Assessment Act. In October, 1908, he read a
paper before the Internation Tax Association on “Business Assessments as
a Substitute for Personal Property.” He takes the deepest interest in
town planning and represented the City Council at Philadelphia, May,
1911, and the Board of Trade at Boston, reading a short paper at the
latter city in May, 1912. He has prepared a report on the Single Tax
Situation as he found it in the West, from Winnipeg to Victoria. Mr.
Forman is in every respect a man who has done his share toward placing
Toronto on its present high pinnacle of fame, and has won the esteem of
all citizens by his safe and able administration of the office of
Assessment Commissioner. He is a man of undoubted integrity, with keen
instinct and a pleasing countenance. He is a warm adherent, an active
worker and for several years occupant of the post of “People’s Warden”
of St. Matthew’s Church, First Avenue. He has refused several flattering
offers from the leading real estate concerns of this city, preferring to
remain in his present position.
* * * * *
=Foster, Thomas Wilfred= (Kirkland Lake, Ont.), was born in Dundalk,
County of Grey, Ontario, on February 25, 1885, and educated at the
public school of that village, his parents being John and Christina
Foster, who moved to Alberta where the father of the subject of this
sketch died in June, 1916, at Wainwright. A brother, David Albert,
enlisted in the 51st Battalion from Edmonton, in the Canadian
Expeditionary Forces. Mr. Foster carries on the business of a general
merchant at Kirkland Lake, Ont., of which place he is the Police
Magistrate and postmaster. He married Mary Greer, daughter of James and
Sofia Greer, and is the father of the following children: Leonard,
Ralph, Vivian and Irene. Mr. Foster has been for some years prominently
identified with the Masonic Order, being Past Master for Porcupine
Lodge, and also is a member of the Orange Order. In religion, he is a
Methodist and politically, is a Conservative.
* * * * *
=Shortly, Orville Benjamin=, began his career with the Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company on July 6, 1903. In 1904 he was appointed
Superintendent of the Ottawa district. Arriving in Ottawa he immediately
entered upon his duties in that capacity. It was not long before he had
secured for his company a large number of policy-holders who, as the
days, months and years passed by, grew larger and larger in numbers
until, up to 1918, his large and greatly increased staff of employees at
the head office, The Metropolitan Life Building, corner Metcalfe and
Queen Streets, Ottawa, and his numerous agents, are kept busily and
industriously employed. Previous to his arrival in Ottawa the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company had failed to make itself well
established. His advent in the Capital of Canada, however, changed all
this and activity and progress began and has been in operation ever
since. As a recognition of the value of his services, in March, 1918,
the General Management of The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
promoted him to the Chief Agency for the whole of Canada—a
well-deserved and well-earned promotion, while he still retained the
Superintendency of the Ottawa district, which up to the date of his
promotion controlled no less than forty-three thousand policyholders. On
October 28, 1918, Mr. Shortly was again promoted by his company, having
been transferred from Ottawa to take charge of the Toronto district of
the Metropolitan Life. He resides at 15 Whitney Ave., North Rosedale,
and his office address is 4 Richmond St. East. Although Mr. Shortly only
came to reside in Toronto on October 28, 1918, he has already been
placed on the executive of the Life Underwriters’ Association of
Toronto; has been made a member of the Association of Life Managers, and
been elected to membership in the Ontario Club, the Royal Canadian Yacht
Club, the Canadian Club, and the Scarborough Golf Club. Mr. Shortly is
the author of several essays on Life Insurance Salesmanship, and has
given addresses before several Life Insurance associations. He is a past
President of the Life Underwriters’ Association of Ottawa. He is an
enthusiastic sportsman. In his earlier days, when he was quite an
athlete, he was an expert bicyclist and captured many first prizes in
racing contests. When, in 1914, the terrible war hostilities commenced,
Mr. Shortly placed his services, such as he could give, at the services
of the State and forced his way into the midst of the greatest war
activities in the City of Ottawa. In collecting funds for the several
patriotic objects, and in helping to make the Victory Loans successful
he was one of the most active and his services were of inestimable
value. Prior to engaging in the insurance business Mr. Shortly was
salesman and manager for Eastern Ontario for the Canadian Typograph
Company of Windsor, Ontario. He has travelled considerably throughout
the continent and Europe. On August 27, 1917, Governor Whitman, Governor
of New York State, appointed Mr. Shortly Commissioner of Deeds for the
State of New York. Mr. Shortly was born in Peterborough, Ontario,
Canada, August 13, 1875, and was educated in the Peterborough Public
Schools. He is the son of Benjamin and Hattie Robertson Shortly. His
father is a merchant in Peterborough and holds the distinction of being
in business there longer than any other man. A prominent relative is
James E. Kavanagh, 3rd Vice-President of the Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company. On September 28, 1904, Mr. Shortly married Mabel Louise Howe,
daughter of Etna D. Howe, 24 Whitney Avenue, Toronto, President Northrop
& Lyman Drug Company. Two children have blessed the union—Orville Dean,
born August 3, 1905, and John Benjamin, born February 24, 1910. He is a
member of the Laurentian, Canadian, the Rivermead Golf, and the Wright
Fish and Game Clubs, of the Board of Trade, the Y.M.C.A., Masonic Order,
Scottish Rite, Murphy Chapter Rose Croix. For recreation he enjoys golf,
fishing and hunting.
[Illustration: JOHN ANGUS MACKENZIE, OTTAWA
W. B. REID, TORONTO]
=Cotton, Major-General W. H.= (Toronto, Ont.), commanding 2nd Division
H.O. at Toronto, was a Lieut.-Colonel Commandant Royal School of
Artillery, was born in Montreal on January 7, 1848. He is the eldest son
of the late Henry Cotton, of the civil service of Canada. Henry Cotton
was the son of William Miles Cotton, of England, and was born in St.
Petersburg, Russia, in 1817, coming to Canada in 1836, and serving in
the civil service for upwards of forty years. The late Mr. Cotton
married in 1847, Eleanor, daughter of David Ross, Q.C., of Montreal, who
now survives him. David Ross, who died in Montreal in 1837, aged
sixty-seven, married Jane Davidson, daughter of Judge Davidson, of
Montreal. Arthur Davidson, afterwards judge, was clerk of the Court of
Appeals in the Province of Quebec, in 1778, during the period that His
Excellency Sir F. Haldimand was Governor-General of that Province. John
Ross, an officer in Wolfe’s army at the taking of Quebec, was the
great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. W. H. Cotton was
educated at Toronto and Quebec, receiving a general English education,
embracing the study of classics. At the time of the organization of the
schools of artillery, and the permanent corps connected therewith, Col.
Cotton was then (1871) a Captain in the Ottawa Garrison Artillery,
having been transferred from the Quebec Garrison Artillery. He was the
first Captain of A Battery Regt. C.A., and in 1882 succeeded to his
present appointment on the promotion of Lieut.-Colonel Irwin. He twice
visited Wimbledon, in connection with the Wimbledon team, in the years
1871 and 1875. Gen. Cotton is a staunch member of the Church of England.
He married in April, 1876, Jessie, daughter of the late John Penner, of
Montreal, and granddaughter of the late Chas. Penner, of Lachine, who
afterwards resided in Kingston. He has six children living, three sons
and three daughters, and is a member of Rideau Club, Ottawa, and York
Club, Toronto.
* * * * *
=Nesbitt, Arthur Russel= (Toronto, Ont.), born at Nestleton, County of
Durham, Ontario, on November 1, 1884. Son of George M. and Letitia
(Hyland) Nesbitt. Educated at Wellesley School, Jarvis Street
Collegiate, Trinity College, and Osgoode Hall, Toronto, being called to
the Bar in 1910. He commenced practising his profession at the
Provincial capital, where he has achieved a marked degree of success.
Married on July 16, 1913, to Sadie Harrison, daughter of W. J. Brown,
broker, of Toronto. Mr. Nesbitt has taken a deep interest in municipal
affairs, and is at present Alderman for Ward Four of the city of
Toronto, and Chairman of the Legislative Committee, which position he
has held for the last two years. He entered the City Council at the
elections in 1915, when he headed the poll, and has had that distinction
in the subsequent elections. He is a man of indefatigable energy, and a
very valuable member of the city council. He has been prominently
identified for several years with the Liberal-Conservative party, and is
past Secretary of the Conservative Association of Ward Four of the City
of Toronto. He is also prominent in fraternal societies. He is a member
of the Masonic and Orange Orders, being Past-Master of McKinley Lodge,
L.O.L. He is an Oddfellow, a member of the Independent Order of
Foresters, and the Canadian Order of Foresters.
* * * * *
=Marchand, Pierre= (Ottawa), Controller of Expenditure, Department of
Interior, when appointed to a position by Sir Clifford Sifton, who was
then Minister of the Interior, took office as an accountant whose
talents and ability as such had been well tested and approved on several
previous occasions. As accountant in the offices of the Lake
Temiscamingue Colonization Railway at Mattawa, Ontario; in his occupancy
of a similar position with Leblanc & Lemay, wholesale and retail
clothiers and gent’s furnishers, and afterwards with D. V. Ranger,
wholesale merchant at Ottawa, he was always found quick and reliable in
his work, and, besides gaining and retaining the full confidence of his
employers, he firmly established himself as an accountant of enviable
reputation. It was in 1899, owing to the increased and rapidly
increasing work that the Department of Interior was called upon to
handle, attributable to Sir Clifford Sifton’s able and progressive
administration, that Mr. Marchand’s services were secured, and the
expenditure branch of that Department required carefulness, watchfulness
and efficiency, and had to be placed in charge of one whose past record
had stamped on it faithfulness and reliability. Since Mr. Marchand’s
advent into that part of the Civil Service, the expenditure of the
Department of Interior has had a painstaking, reliable and efficient
public official, and one whose ever-attentive industry and care has
elevated it to a high standard of excellent management. Prior to
entering the Civil Service, Mr. Marchand was an active political worker
in the Liberal party’s interests in Ottawa. At one time, and for several
years, he was Secretary for the Club National, a French-Canadian Liberal
organization, and was recognized as a strong and effective political
worker. The late Hon. F. G. Marchand, who became Premier of Quebec, was
one of Mr. Marchand’s many prominent relatives. Mr. Marchand was born at
Ottawa, December 25, 1866, and is the son of Amable Marchand and Adelina
Belair. His father was a prominent accountant, who saw that his son
received a good commercial and classical education in Ottawa, Montreal
and Quebec. Mr. Marchand was twice married. On October 6, 1891, he
married at Ottawa, Josephine, daughter of Mrs. O. Lafleur, a widow. She
died in May, 1916. On January 10th, 1917, he married in Ottawa, Bertha,
daughter of P. Girard, whose residence is at Carillon, Quebec. By this
second marriage, his home is blessed with a son and a daughter, Rosaire
and Carmen. Mr. Marchand is a member of the Institut Canadien-Français
and Monument National. In religion he is a Roman Catholic, and he
resides at 81 Stewart Street.
* * * * *
=Northrup, William Barton, K.C., M.A.= (Ottawa, Ont.), Clerk of the
House of Commons, is an eminent lawyer, and was for many years head of
the legal firm of Northrup and Roberts, of Belleville, Ontario. For many
years he sat in the House as the representative for East Hastings,
Ontario, and was noted for his able debates and the eloquent and
persistent manner in which he advocated the establishment of divorce
tribunals where the poor as well as the rich would be accorded fair play
and justice, and the abolition of the costly Senate procedure, which was
antiquated, unjust and farcical and unreliable. Mr. Northrup was first
elected to Parliament at a by-election to fill the vacancy caused by the
death of Mr. S. B. Burdell, who was returned to Parliament at the
general election in 1891. He was unsuccessful in his candidature in the
general election in 1896, but at the general elections of 1900-4-8 and
1911 he was successful. He did not run in the war election in 1917. In
1902 he accompanied the Rt. Hon. Sir R. L. Borden on the North-West
tour. Succeeding Dr. T. B. Flint, M.A., LL.B., D.C.L., he was appointed
Clerk of the House of Commons in 1918. Like the late Dr. Flint, Mr. W.
B. Northrup has had a long experience as a member of the House of
Commons, and is an expert in parliamentary practice. His natural
geniality and uniform courtesy made him friends on both sides of the
House. With distinguished ability, grace and dignity he fills the
position of Clerk of the House of Commons. William Barton Northrup is
the son of the late A. G. N. Northrup, Deputy-Clerk of the Crown and
Pleas, County Hastings, Ontario. He was born in Belleville, Ontario,
October 19, 1856, and was educated at the Belleville Grammar School,
Upper Canada College, and Toronto University (B.A. with honors 1877,
M.A. 1878). June 1, 1879, he married Minnie, eldest daughter of the late
J. E. Procter, Brighton, Ontario. She died June, 1905. In June, 1907, he
married Mary Schryver, daughter of the late J. C. Fitch, Toronto, and
relict of F. C. Clemow. He was created K.C. in 1902, bencher Law
Society, 1906, and was re-elected. In the House of Commons in 1892 he
moved the address in reply to the Speech from the Throne, and in 1906
seconded the address inviting King Edward and Queen Alexandra to visit
Canada. In his youth he was a noted cricketer.
* * * * *
=Braden, Norman Short= (Hamilton, Ont.), is an electrical engineer by
profession and one of the industrial chieftains of that city. He was
born at Indianapolis, U.S.A., on June 15, 1869, the son of James Braden,
a physician, and Lydia E. Braden. The Braden family are of Scottish
descent, and his ancestors emigrated from the North of Ireland to the
United States in the eighteenth century. Mr. Braden was educated at the
public schools of Indiana and at Whitman College, Walla Walla,
Washington. After leaving college in 1892 he entered the employ of the
Jenney Electric Motor Company of Indianapolis, and seven years later
joined the staff of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company,
of Pittsburgh. Upon the formation of the Canadian Westinghouse Company,
Limited, of Hamilton, Ont., in 1903, he moved to the latter city, and
was appointed manager of the sales department, in charge of the
commercial electrical development and activities of his Company for the
entire Dominion. Under his direction the growth of the Canadian
Westinghouse Company’s business has expanded with great rapidity,
requiring an increase of capital from $1,500,000 in 1903 to $10,000,000
in 1918. It gives employment to upwards of three thousand hands, and is
the largest manufacturer of electrical apparatus in Canada. In 1919, Mr.
Braden was elected third vice-president of the company with executive
charge of its commercial organization. The subject of this sketch is
also identified with another of Hamilton’s leading industries, the B.
Greening Wire Co., Ltd. On November 29, 1906, he married Mabel, daughter
of Samuel Owen and Jennie H. Greening. The Greening family have been
prominent manufacturers of wire products in England since the year
Columbus discovered America, 1492, and have been established in Hamilton
since 1858. Of that company Mr. Braden, who entered the family by
marriage, is now a Director. He is a member of the American Institute of
Electrical Engineers and of the Jovian Order, and belongs to the
Hamilton Club, the Rotary Club of his city; the Golf and Country Club;
the Engineers’ Clubs of Toronto and Montreal; the Electric Club of
Toronto, and the Transportation Club of New York City. He is a
Presbyterian in religion, and his recreations are hunting, golf,
motoring, and motor boating. Mr. and Mrs. Braden have three children,
Eleanore Greening Braden, William Greening Braden, and Margaret Owen
Braden.
* * * * *
=Bowie, Lieut.-Colonel Henry William= (Ottawa, Ont.), Sergeant-at-Arms
of the House of Commons and a Commissioner of Parliament, is the son of
the late Captain Alexander Bowie, who, during his lifetime, was one of
the most popular men residing in the capital of the Dominion of Canada,
and Esther Shepherd, and was born at Ottawa, November 10, 1862, and
educated in the public and private schools. In 1892, Lieut.-Colonel
Bowie married Helen Louise Gouin, daughter of James A. Gouin, who for
thirty-three years was postmaster for the City of Ottawa. There are five
children, Guy Gouin, Henry William Shepherd, Louis Alexander, Marion
Faith, and Adelaide Esther—three boys and two girls. An enthusiast in
military matters, at the age of nineteen, in 1881, Lieut.-Col. Bowie
became a member of the Canadian Militia, and qualified at the Royal
Military College and the Royal School of Artillery, and for several
years was a member of the Governor-General’s Foot Guards. In 1882
Colonel Bowie entered the service of the Ottawa River Navigation
Company, in which his father was Ottawa Manager, and qualified as
Master, Marine Department, Ottawa, in 1884. From 1891 to 1896, and again
from 1911 to 1915, Colonel Bowie was Secretary to the Honourable the
Speaker of the House of Commons, and from 1891 to 1918 (for 28 years)
served as Deputy-Sergeant-at-Arms in that honourable Assembly. On the
death of Lieut.-Col. H. R. Smith, I.S.O., C.M.G., J.P., A.D.C., Colonel
Bowie was recalled from overseas, and, March, 1918, was appointed as
Sergeant-at-Arms. Shortly after the Great War was declared Colonel Bowie
made every effort to follow those who had already gone overseas, or to
join those who were preparing to go, but, owing to official and other
duties over which he had to preside he was unable to leave until 1916,
when he went as second major of the 77th Overseas Battalion. In August,
1916, he became attached to the 60th Battalion in France, but was
shortly afterwards, October, 1916, called from France to Bramshott,
England, to command a Provisional Battalion, C.E.F. It was at this time,
October, 1916, that Colonel Bowie’s eldest son, Lieut. Guy Gouin Bowie,
left Canada for overseas with the 154th Infantry Battalion, C.E.F.
Colonel Bowie remained in command of the Provisional Battalion until
July, 1917, when he was seconded for duty with the Imperial Forces and
proceeded at once to France. Arriving there he served under the
Administrative Commandant, Third Army Railheads, as Staff Officer and
O.C., Railheads Detail Detachment, till recalled to Canada in March,
1918. In the meantime his son, Lieut. Guy Gouin Bowie, who was born in
Ottawa, October 10, 1892, followed in his father’s footsteps and had
quite an eventful military career. He was appointed to the Active
Militia, G.G.F.G., as Lieutenant on December 15, 1915, and received his
certificate of qualification from the Officers’ Training School,
Kingston, on January 20, 1916. On March 5, 1916, he was appointed
Lieutenant in the 154th Infantry Battalion, C.E.F., and went overseas
with that battalion on October 20, 1916. Arriving in England, October
31, he was appointed Lieutenant in the Imperial Land Forces, and on
January 31, 1917, was transferred from the 154th Battalion to the 6th
Reserve Battalion at Seaford, Sussex. On August 7, 1917, he was
transferred to the 21st Battalion, C.E.F., France, and was dangerously
wounded in front line trenches, Lens sector, December 14, 1917. Arriving
at Clearing Station, Aubigny, December 14, 1917, he was transferred to
the 24th General Hospital, Estaples, France, January 1, 1918, and on
February 6, 1918, was transferred to Prince of Wales Hospital, London,
England, where he remained until May 6, 1918, when he was invalided
home. Lieut. Bowie was married October 10, 1916, at Ottawa to Lily
Wright Brigham, daughter of T. G. Brigham, and has two sons, Thomas Guy
and James Henry. Col. Bowie is a member of the Wellington Club, London,
England, and the Royal Ottawa Golf Club, Ottawa. His home address is 82
Park Avenue, and his official address, House of Commons, Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada.
* * * * *
=Robinette, Thomas Cowper, K.C.= (Toronto, Ont.), enjoys an enviable
reputation as a brilliant criminal lawyer, and as such has appeared with
success in many famous cases, notably Macwherrel and Caledon wreck cases
at Brampton, Healey and Blythe at Toronto, Mrs. Kyle at Woodstock, Dr.
Robinson at Napanee and many others. Mr. Robinette is of U.E.L. descent,
his family having come from Pennsylvania to Peel County, Ontario, in
1781. He was born at Dixie, Ont., near Cooksville in 1861, the son of
the late Josiah Robinette and Esther J. Goodison. Educated at Public
Schools, Strathroy High School and Toronto University, he graduated from
the Faculty of Arts in 1884, and from that of law in 1887, with the
Governor-General’s Gold Medal. He was Silver Medallist in Modern
Languages and English Prizeman, also holding a Scholarship in General
Proficiency. Although taking an active part in politics, Mr. Robinette
has never yet represented any constituency, having contested Centre
Toronto against E. F. Clarke unsuccessfully in 1904 and again in 1908
against Edmund Bristol, also North York, in 1911. He married Edith May
Lindsay, of Pickering Township, Ont., in 1899, and has four sons,
Thomas, Jr., John, George and Allan, also one daughter, Minnie. Thomas
Robinette was made K.C. in 1902, a Bencher of the Law Society in 1911
and 1916; Member of the Royal Colonial Institute, London, Eng., in 1913;
Director of the Moral and Social Reform League, Toronto, in 1913;
President of the Methodist Young Men’s Association in 1906; President of
the University Literary and Scientific Society in 1907; Chairman of the
Young Liberal Convention, Toronto, in 1885; also Joint Secretary of the
Dominion Young Men’s Association, formed at Montreal in 1886. Mr.
Robinette is a Liberal in politics and a Methodist in religion. He is a
member of the National Club, Ontario Club, R.C.Y.C., Canadian Club and
Empire Club, all of Toronto, also of the Masonic, I.O.O.F., C.O.O.F.,
A.O.U.W., and Maccabean Societies. An ex-officer of the Queen’s Own
Rifles and 34th Regiment, he is to-day engaged in the practice of law at
Toronto as head of the firm of Robinette, Godfrey, Phelan and Lawson, in
which J. S. Fullerton, K.C., late Corporation Counsel of Toronto, is
associate counsel. “As a pleader, energetic, clear and
painstaking”—“Toronto News.” “Has a trained mind, is accessible to new
ideas, and has unusual gifts for the exposition and enforcement of his
opinions”—“Toronto Globe.”
* * * * *
=Murray, Hon. Robert, K.C.=, Provincial Secretary-Treasurer of the
Province of New Brunswick, is one of the best known and widely respected
public men of the Maritime Provinces. He was born at Chatham, N.B.,
where he still resides, on July 17, 1855, the son of Robert and Jane
Murray. His father was a millwright, and the younger Robert was educated
at the Presbyterian Academy in his native town, from which he graduated
in 1871. At school he had shown himself to be of a naturally studious
turn of mind, and decided to qualify himself for the bar. He was Police
Magistrate for the town of Chatham, N.B., from 1887 to 1891, when he
resigned. For upwards of forty years he followed his profession as a
barrister in the town of Chatham, and has built up a large practice in
the County of Northumberland, where he is held in general esteem and
confidence. Subsequently, in 1902, his standing was recognized when he
was created a King’s Counsel. In addition, he devoted himself to public
and municipal affairs, and was identified with the Liberal party. His
first public service was as a member of the County Council of
Northumberland, and he was later an alderman of the town of Chatham. In
1905 he was elected by acclamation in a by-election as one of the
representatives of Northumberland County in the Provincial Legislature,
where he served till 1908. During the past few years, there have been
several political upheavals in the province of New Brunswick, and in
1917, when the Conservative ministry, headed by Hon. G. Clarke, sought
the franchise of the people, there was a demand for new men. In that
contest, Mr. Murray was induced to stand as one of the Liberal
candidates for Northumberland, which sends four members to the
Legislature. He was elected, and at the same time the Murray
administration, of which Hon. J. A. Murray was Premier, was defeated.
Hon. Walter E. Foster, who was called upon to form a ministry, at once
sent for Mr. Murray and offered him the portfolio of Provincial
Secretary-Treasurer, in succession to Hon. D. V. Landry. The offer was
accepted, and Mr. Murray has since conducted the finances of the
province to the satisfaction of everyone. From his youth Mr. Murray took
an active interest in the militia of his district, and retired in 1910
with the rank of Major, receiving the long service decoration. During
the late war he played an energetic, useful part in promoting Canada’s
military and patriotic effort. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and is
a member of the A.F. & A.M., and the I.O.O.F. His recreations are
hunting, curling and quoit playing. On June 11, 1889, he married Jane,
daughter of Simon F. Simpson, of Negnac, Northumberland County, N.B.,
and has three children, Nina Helen, Vera Alice, and Robert Blaine, all
of whom are now married. Though his public duties compel him to spend
much of his time in Fredericton, his home is still at Chatham, N.B., and
he continues the practice of his profession there.
* * * * *
=Wood, Rev. William Robertson= (Winnipeg, Man.), General Secretary of
the Manitoba Grain Growers’ Association. Was born on June 6, 1874, at
Weir, Orkney, Scotland. Son of William Wood and Margaret Robertson. Came
to Canada in 1887. Educated at primary school in his native island, and
at Port Elgin High School, Owen Sound Model School, Toronto University
and Knox College. From this latter institution he graduated in 1904. On
his ordination, he served the Presbyterian Church as Minister in
Dunbarton, Ont., 1904-8; Claremont, Ont., 1908-13; Franklin, Man.,
1913-16. Opposed Hon. J. H. Howden, Attorney-General for Manitoba, for
the constituency of Beautiful Plains, Man., and was defeated by
thirty-two votes. First elected a member of the Manitoba Legislature for
Beautiful Plains, August, 1915, opposing J. H. Irwin, Neepawa. General
Secretary of the Free Trade League of Canada, 1916-17. Became Secretary
of the Manitoba Grain Growers’ Association, August, 1917. Married, in
June, 1904, to Margaret, daughter of Andrew and Ellen Workman, of
Rothsay, Ont., and has one daughter, Rhoda Marguerite, born in December,
1906. In politics Rev. Mr. Wood is an Independent Liberal.
* * * * *
=Weld, John=, publisher (London, Ont.), was born on a farm in Middlesex
County, Ont., on September 7, 1854. His father, the late William Weld,
son of an Anglican Church clergyman, emigrated from Tenterden, Kent,
England, in 1843, and made a home for himself amid the forests of
Delaware Township. After living the life of a pioneer farmer for twenty
years, he founded “The Farmer’s Advocate” of London in 1866 as a means
of assisting other settlers who were continually coming to him for
advice, and it is through his long association with this journal and its
colleague, “The Farmer’s Advocate and Home Journal” of Winnipeg that the
subject of this sketch became so widely known. After receiving his early
education in the London schools, Mr. Weld learned the printing business
in a local shop and completed his apprenticeship with a short
post-graduate engagement with a large New York publishing house.
Returning to Canada, he was attracted by the West, which was then
opening up for settlers, and he staked his claim in Saskatchewan, where
he “proved up” on a half-section in 1885. The growth of “The Farmer’s
Advocate” then necessitated his return to London, where he became
business manager of the publication until his father’s death on January
3, 1891. He then became general manager, and when the Wm. Weld Company,
Ltd., was organized and incorporated in July of the same year, he
acquired a controlling interest in the firm, which he has since held.
The first issue of “The Farmer’s Advocate” of Winnipeg appeared in 1890.
It was edited in the West, but a separate company was not organized
until July 31, 1905, when The Farmer’s Advocate of Winnipeg, Ltd., was
incorporated with Mr. Weld as President. A building was erected on
Princess Street in that year, but it proved inadequate to meet the
ever-growing requirements of the business, so it was sold in 1911, and a
five-story concrete, fire-proof building was constructed at the corner
of Notre Dame and Langside Streets. In order to keep the two
publications inseparably linked with practical and progressive farming,
as well as to provide means whereby the editors might keep constantly in
touch with varying agricultural conditions, a farm was purchased in the
neighbourhood of London, and, incidentally, a separated portion of this
is a part of the Weld homestead which has always been owned by the
family under the original Crown grant. The subject of this sketch spends
many enjoyable hours on Weldwood Farm, where pure-bred Yorkshire swine
and one of the largest herds of pure-bred dual-purpose Shorthorns in
Canada are maintained. The Bryant Press, Toronto, of which Mr. Weld is
President, was acquired in 1903, and he is also President of the London
Printing and Lithographing Company, Ltd. He has held various offices in
the Canadian Press Association, and was the only representative of the
Agricultural Press to visit Britain and the war zone in company with
Canadian publishers and editors, the party being the guests of the
Imperial Government in the summer of 1918. He is a member of the
Anglican Church, and a life member of the Masonic Order, Tuscan Lodge
195, A.F. & A.M.
* * * * *
=Foster, Hon. Walter Edward=, Premier of New Brunswick, is also one of
the most prominent business men of that Province. He was born at St.
Martins, N.B., on April 9, 1874, the son of Edward H. and Elizabeth
(Pattison) Foster, and educated at the public and grammar schools of St.
John, N.B. As a boy of fifteen he entered the Bank of New Brunswick as a
junior clerk, and remained in its service until 1899, when he became a
member of the firm of Vassie & Co., Ltd., wholesale dry goods merchants,
St. John. Of this firm he is now Vice-President and Managing Director.
He is also actively connected with transportation and shipping
interests, and is President of the St. Martins Railway Co. He was
Vice-President of the St. John Board of Trade in 1906-7, and President
in 1908-9. He was Third Arbitrator and Chairman of the Conciliation
Board which successfully settled differences between the longshoremen of
the Port of St. John and the Shipping Federation, 1913. In the autumn of
1915 differences having again arisen between the Longshoremen’s
Association and the shipping companies at St. John, he was appointed
Chairman of the Conciliation Board by the Minister of Labor of Canada,
and succeeded in effecting an agreement for two years. Coming as it did
in the midst of the war, this settlement was of the highest importance
in a military sense. Hon. Mr. Foster was formerly an officer in the New
Brunswick Regiment, Canadian Artillery, retiring with the rank of
Captain in 1903. He has been for a good many years identified with the
Liberal party, and is a Past President of the Young Liberals Club of St.
John, but not until comparatively recently did he become a candidate for
political office. In 1916 the Liberal party in the Legislature decided
on reorganization, and offered the leadership of the Opposition to Mr.
Foster. He accepted, and at once threw himself with energy into the task
of putting the party on a fighting basis. At the general elections of
February 24, 1917, he was victorious at the polls, and he was shortly
afterward sworn in as First Minister. His business-like and economical
administration in a difficult period has given satisfaction to all
classes of citizens. He is a member of the Union Club, St. John, and was
President of the Cliff Club, 1915-7. In religion he is an Anglican. On
January 18, 1900, he married Jehan Mary, daughter of William Vassie, St.
John, and has one son and three daughters. His residence is at 36
Cobourg Street, St. John, and his summer residence at Rothesay, N.B.
* * * * *
=Charlesworth, Hector=, journalist (Toronto, Ont.), was born at
Hamilton, Ont., September 28, 1872, the son of Horatio G. and Charlotte
(McEachern) Charlesworth. He is a Canadian of several generations, some
of his forbears having come to Quebec after the British conquest in the
eighteenth century. His maternal grandfather, John McEachern, whose
parents went to Manitoba with Lord Selkirk’s party, was born at Fort
Garry on the site of the present city of Winnipeg, in 1811. When he was
but very young, his parents travelled in canoes through the waterways of
Northern Ontario to Montreal, and later made their home at Chateauguay
Basin, Que. Mr. Charlesworth has lived in Toronto since 1876, and was
educated at Wellesley School and Jarvis Street Collegiate Institute. His
father was a shoe manufacturer; and in 1887 he was articled as a
chartered accountant with a view to his ultimately becoming office
manager of the firm. At seventeen he commenced writing anonymously under
the _nom de plume_ of “Touchstone” for Toronto “Saturday Night.” In 1891
Mr. E. E. Shepherd, editor of the journal, inserted an advertisement
asking the contributor to disclose his identity, and on learning it
offered him a position on the staff of that journal. He remained with
Mr. Shepherd for a year, and then resolved to qualify himself by
practical experience as a reporter. During the next eighteen years he
worked on several daily newspapers, including “The World,” “The News,”
and “The Mail and Empire,” of which latter journal he was City Editor
from 1904 to 1910. Shortly after the reorganization of “Saturday Night”
as a national weekly he was offered and accepted the post of Assistant
Managing Editor, which he still holds. Though he has been a copious
writer on political, financial and social topics, he is perhaps best
known as a musical and dramatic critic. He acted as Chairman of the
Board of Judges at the Earl Grey dramatic competitions, Toronto, 1911,
and of Winnipeg, 1912, and eliminating judge in the Duke of Connaught’s
competition, 1913. He was also chief judge in the “Collier’s Weekly”
competition to secure suitable English words for “O Canada” in 1909. He
has written essays and sketches for many publications, including the
“International Studio,” the “New York Evening Post,” “Christian Science
Monitor,” “New York Times,” the “Canadian Bankers’ Journal,” and the
“Canadian Magazine.” His name appears among the contributors to volume
one, number one, of the latter publication. He was one of the special
writers engaged in connection with the Victory Loan Campaigns of 1918
and 1919, his work being syndicated throughout Canada, and has edited
and contributed to many Canadian books of reference. His other published
work includes a treatise on modern methods of treating tuberculosis
published by the National Sanitarium Association, and the narrative
introduction to Dr. Herbert A. Bruce’s controversial book “Politics and
the Canadian Army Medical Service.” In 1900 he was personally thanked by
the family of the late Robert Louis Stevenson for two sonnets protesting
against a movement to remove the remains of that author from Samoa,
which have since been reprinted in the “Oxford Book of Canadian Verse.”
He was also one of nine accredited Canadian correspondents who
accompanied the present King and Queen (then Duke and Duchess of
Cornwall and York) on the Royal tour of 1901, and later reported His
Majesty’s visit to the Quebec Tercentenary in 1908. On February 15,
1897, he married Katherine, second daughter of Peter Ryan, Toronto, and
has two children, Constance Charlotte (born 1904) and Lionel Victor
(born 1906).
* * * * *
=Bennett, Richard Bedford, K.C., LL.B.= (Calgary, Alta.), is one of the
leading barristers and publicists of the Canadian West. He was born at
Hopewell, Albert County, New Brunswick, on July 3, 1870, the son of
Henry J. and Henrietta (Stiles) Bennett. His father was of U.E. Loyalist
stock, and his mother’s people settled in Canada immediately after the
British conquest of 1759-60. On both sides Mr. Bennett represents the
ninth generation born on this side of the Atlantic. He was educated in
the Public and High Schools of New Brunswick and at Dalhousie
University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he qualified for the law and
received the degree of LL.B. He was called to the New Brunswick Bar in
1893, and for a time practised at Chatham, N.B., as the partner of the
late Hon. L. J. Tweedie, afterward Prime Minister and
Lieutenant-Governor of the Province. In 1897 he removed to Calgary, and
was called to the Bar of the North-West Territories, forming a
partnership with Mr. (now Sir) James Lougheed, at present Government
leader in the Dominion Senate and Minister of Civil Re-establishment, a
partnership which has continued ever since. In 1907, Mr. Bennett was
created King’s Counsel. In 1898, one year after his arrival in the West,
he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories
for West Calgary, and sat in that body until its dissolution in 1905, on
the granting of autonomy to Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1909, he was
elected for his old constituency to the Alberta Legislature, and was
recognized as the ablest debater in that body. Among his public services
was the exposure of the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway transaction,
which led to a change from the Rutherford to the Sifton administration
and Cabinet reconstruction. At the Federal elections of 1911 he resigned
from the Alberta Legislature to run for the House of Commons as
Conservative candidate for Calgary. He was elected, and the same
campaign placed Sir Robert Borden in power. At Ottawa, Mr. Bennett was
at once recognized as one of the leading figures on the Government
benches, and in the trying period which followed the outbreak of the war
in 1914 proved a source of strength to the administration. Actively
identified with the Canadian Patriotic Fund and Red Cross Society.
President of the Alberta Provincial Branch of the latter, member of
Central Council and of Executive of Patriotic Fund. He accompanied Sir
Robert Borden to Great Britain and France in 1915 on the occasion of the
Prime Minister’s first visit of inspection to the Canadian army
overseas, and later became Chairman of the National Service Commission
to report on Canada’s war possibilities in men and resources. At the
general election of 1917 declined re-nomination, but supported Union
Government. In addition to his renowned forensic abilities, Mr. Bennett
has a deep grasp of commercial and development questions. Shortly after
going to the West he became identified with the irrigation projects of
the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. He resigned his position as
counsel to that company in Alberta on being elected to the House of
Commons. He is to-day interested in and director of several industrial
and financial corporations, including the Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company of New York. In religion he is a Methodist, and in politics an
Independent. He is a Bencher of the Law Society of Alberta, Fellow of
the Royal Colonial Institute, and a member of the following clubs:
Ranchmen’s and Golf and Country, Calgary; Rideau and Country, Ottawa.
* * * * *