David Henderson, (February 18, 1841 – December 7, 1922) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

merchant, banker and politician.

Biography

Born in Nelson Township,

Halton County Halton County is a former county in the Canadian province of Ontario, with an area of . It is also one of the oldest counties in Canada. History Halton County is named after Major William Mathew Halton (1746-1823), a British Army officer, who w ...

, Canada West, Henderson was educated at the Milton Grammar School and the Normal School of Toronto, and initially worked as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

in Nelson, later becoming a deputy registrar for the County. In 1869, he was elected a town councillor in

Milton, Ontario Milton (Canada 2016 Census, 2016 census population 110,128) is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Between 2001 and 2011, Milton was the fastest growing mun ...

, but not without controversy: he was accused of having switched allegiances on election day (known as there was no

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

) and thus had obtained his seat under false pretences.

In business

He later settled in

Acton, Ontario Acton (population 9,377 in 2021) is a community located in the town of Halton Hills, in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. At the northern end of the Region, it is on the outer edge of the Greater Toronto Area and is one of two of the primary popul ...

, and operated a general store in partnership with David Darling Christie, his brother-in-law. They also owned a quarry with related

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is :Calcium carbonate, Ca ...

s at Kelso in

Nassagaweya Township Nassagaweya Township is a geographic township and former municipality in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada, now part of Milton. The township was created in 1819, its name derived from the Mississauga word ''nazhesahgewayyong'', meaning 'river with t ...

. In 1881, he established the Acton Banking Company, a private bank allied with the

Bank of Hamilton The Bank of Hamilton was established in 1872 by local businessmen in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada under the leadership of Donald McInnes, the bank's first President. Like the other Canadian chartered banks, it issued its own paper money. ...

, as no other bank then had a

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

in the village. The bank remained in existence until 1901, and was considered to be financially sound during that time. When Acton was incorporated as a village in 1874, he served on the village council for fifteen years, including one year as

Reeve Reeve may refer to: Titles *Reeve (Canada), an elected chief executive of some counties, townships, and equivalents *Reeve (England), an official elected annually by the serfs to supervise lands for a lord *High-reeve, a title taken by some Englis ...

in 1880.

As an MP

He was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

for the electoral district of Halton in an 1888 by-election after the sitting MP, John Waldie, was unseated for bribery by agents. His election was seen as being significant, in that he won through the support of the rural parts of the riding while voters in Milton and Georgetown swung more towards the Opposition candidate. Henderson was then unseated for corrupt practices by agents, and was later defeated in the resulting by-election. A Conservative, he was elected in the 1891 federal election and re-elected in

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

, and

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

. In recognition of his long service in the House of Commons, he was made a member of the

King's Privy Council for Canada The 's Privy Council for Canada (french: Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada),) during the reign of a queen. sometimes called Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the ...

in February 1916.

Electoral record

Note: indicates change in popular vote from to 1891 general election.

References

External links

* 1841 births 1922 deaths Canadian bankers Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada {{HistoricalConservative-Ontario-MP-stub