Duncan McLean Marshall (September 24, 1872 – January 16, 1946) was a Canadian journalist, publisher, rancher and politician in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta. Marshall represented the electoral district of

Olds Olds may refer to: People * The olds, a jocular and irreverent online nickname for older adults * Bert Olds (1891–1953), Australian rules footballer * Carl D. Olds (1912–1979), New Zealand-born American mathematician * Chauncey N. Olds (181 ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

, and served in the Cabinet of Premiers

Alexander Cameron Rutherford Alexander Cameron Rutherford (February 2, 1857 – June 11, 1941) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the first premier of Alberta from 1905 to 1910. Born in Ormond, Canada West, he studied and practiced law in Ottawa before ...

Arthur Sifton Arthur Lewis Watkins Sifton (October 26, 1858 – January 21, 1921) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the second premier of Alberta from 1910 until 1917. He became a minister in the federal cabinet of Canada thereaf ...

, and Charles Stuart as Alberta's second Minister of Agriculture from 1909 to 1921. Marshall later severed as a Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario for the electoral district of Peel, and was appointed to the Cabinet of Premier

Mitchell Hepburn Mitchell Frederick Hepburn (August 12, 1896 – January 5, 1953) was the 11th premier of Ontario, from 1934 to 1942. He was the youngest premier in Ontario history, appointed at age 37. He was the only Ontario Liberal Party leader in the 20th cent ...

, serving as the Ontario's Minister of Agriculture from 1934 to 1937. Marshall was then appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

in 1938, serving as a Senator from Ontario until his death in 1946.

Early life

Marshall was born on September 24, 1872 in Elderslie Township, Ontario to John Marshall and Margaret McMurchy. Marshall attended Walkerton High School and the

Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

. Marshall's first employment was as a teacher at Gillies Hill, Ontario, Canada. By 1891 he was involved in the

Patrons of Industry The Patrons of Industry in Canada were based on the Patrons of Industry of Michigan that had formed in 1889. It was dedicated to upholding and encouraging the moral, social, intellectual, political and financial situation of farmers and to preserve ...

movement and was identified as an organizer with the fraternal agricultural organization. In 1895 he was sent to

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

and began organizing there and in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Early success led to the creation of weekly newspaper under the banner The Patron of Industry in January 1896 but it was closed in November of the same year. During the period Marshall attempted to turn to organization into a political party in the province but did not succeed and he returned to Ontario. The Patrons of Industry was disbanded in 1898. Marshall moved on to become the Grand Secretary and editor and publisher of the official organ of the Order of Good Templars, a temperance organization. He later moved to Toronto where he was involved in newspaper publishing and eventually acquired a number of farm interest weeklies. Marshall made his first run at federal politics running in the Muskoka riding in the

1904 Canadian federal election The 1904 Canadian federal election was held on November 3, 1904 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 10th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier led the Liberal Party of Canada to a third term in governmen ...

he was defeated by

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

candidate William Wright. In 1905 Marshall moved to Alberta and was for three years managing editor of the Edmonton Bulletin. He subsequently purchased a farm near Olds, Alberta and found success as a cattle and horse breeder. He owned The Olds Gazette, a weekly newspaper in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Alberta politics

Marshall was an organizer for the Liberal Party of Alberta during Alberta's first provincial election in 1905. The Conservative leaning ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'' wrote a scathing article on his political history during the run-up to the election, describing Marshall as a

carpet-bagger In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical term used by Southerners to describe opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the l ...

. Marshall was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the first time in the

1909 Alberta general election The 1909 Alberta general election was the second general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada on March 22, 1909, to elect 41 members of the Alberta legislature to the 2nd Alberta Legislature. The incumbent Liberal Party led by Premi ...

to the new Olds electoral district. He won the new district easily over Conservative candidate George McDonald. Marshall was appointed to

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

by Premier

to serve as the new Minister of Agriculture and Provincial Secretary November 1, 1909 following the resignation of

William Finlay William Thomas Finlay (July 12, 1853 – May 9, 1914) was a merchant, politician and cabinet minister in Alberta and Northwest Territories, Canada. Finlay served as the second mayor of Medicine Hat, represented the electoral district of Med ...

due to his poor health. Shortly after the 1909 election, Rutherford's government came under intense scrutiney when they were accused of giving loan guarantees to private interests for the construction of the Alberta and Great Waterways (A&GW) Railway that substantially exceeded the cost of construction, and which paid interest considerably above the market rate. They were also accused of exercising insufficient oversight over the railway's operations. The

Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal The Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Scandal was a political scandal in Alberta, Canada in 1910, which forced the resignation of Liberal premier Alexander Cameron Rutherford. Rutherford and his government were accused of giving loan guarantee ...

reached the tipping point when Attorney General

Charles Wilson Cross Charles Wilson Cross (November 30, 1872 – June 2, 1928) was a Canadian politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the House of Commons of Canada. He was also the first Attorney-General of Alberta. Born in Ontario, he s ...

suddenly resigned from cabinet on March 9, 1910. In the next day there were unsubstantiated rumors that Marshall and Minister without Portfolio

Prosper-Edmond Lessard Prosper-Edmond Lessard (February 3, 1873 – April 11, 1931) was a Canadian businessman, militia officer and politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1909 to 1921 sitting with the Liberal caucus in government. ...

had also resigned, though these proved false. Rutherford held his silence until March 11, when he told the legislature that he had not accepted any resignations. He said that the only vacant cabinet post was the ministry of Public Works previously held by Cushing, and that he hoped to fill it soon. A commission of inquiry was called, and Premier Rutherford eventually stepped down on May 26, 1909. Marshall would be re-appointed Minister of Agriculture under the new government of

Arthur Lewis Sifton Arthur Lewis Watkins Sifton (October 26, 1858 – January 21, 1921) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the second premier of Alberta from 1910 until 1917. He became a minister in the federal cabinet of Canada thereaf ...

on June 1, 1910 but his Provincial Secretary position would be given to

Archibald J. McLean Archibald James McLean (September 25, 1860 – October 13, 1933) was a Ranch, cattleman and politician from Ontario, Ontario, Canada. He was one of the The Big Four (Calgary), Big Four who helped found the Calgary Stampede in 1912. Biography ...

. Marshall was the only member of Rutherford's cabinet to carry on in the new Sifton cabinet. One of his most notable achievements as Minister of Agriculture was the creation and setup of Demonstration Farms around the province in 1911. These farms would evolve into Agriculture training schools. The most notable of these schools are still in operation today as Lakeland College and

Olds College Olds College of Agriculture & Technology is an Alberta public post-secondary institution located in Olds, Alberta, established in 1913 as Olds Agricultural College. Total student enrollment for the 2020–2021 academic year was 5446. The college ...

. Duncan Marshall Place, the main administrative building at Olds College, is named after him. Marshall would seek a second term in office in the

1913 Alberta general election The 1913 Alberta general election was held in March 1913. The writ was dropped on 25 March 1913 and election day was held 17 April 1913 to elect 56 members to the 3rd Alberta Legislature. Elections in two northern districts took place on 30 July ...

. In that election he would defeat Conservative challenger George Cloakey by just 54 votes. Cloakley would run against Marshall again in the

1917 Alberta general election The 1917 Alberta general election was held on 7 June 1917 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Liberals won a fourth term in office, defeating the Conservative Party of Edward Michener. Because of World War I, eleven Mem ...

but would not succeed in defeating Marshall the second time, instead Marshall substantially widened his plurality winning comfortably. The

1921 Alberta general election The 1921 Alberta general election was held on July 18, 1921, to elect members to the 5th Alberta Legislative Assembly. It was one of only five times that Alberta has changed governments. The Liberal Party, which had governed the province since it ...

proved to be the end of the Liberal government and Marshall's political career in Alberta. The Charles Stewart led Liberals were defeated by the

United Farmers of Alberta The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...

losing control of the legislature. Marshall lost his seat to United Farmers candidate Nelson S. Smith, who received 60.5 per cent of the vote. Historian Lewis Thomas credits the collapse of the Liberal Party and rise of the United Farmers to the sudden collapse of agricultural prices, the post-war economy and the organizational superiority of the United Farmers. After Marshall's defeat in the provincial election, he ran for the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

for the second time in the

1921 Canadian federal election The 1921 Canadian federal election was held on December 6, 1921, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 14th Parliament of Canada. The Union government that had governed Canada through the First World War was defeated, and re ...

East Calgary Calgary East was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1953, 1979 to 1988, from 1997 to 2015. It was a lower income urban riding in Calgary, with a sizable visible min ...

. He was defeated by William Irvine and finished the race a distant third.

Ontario legislature

Marshall was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

for the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser (Ontario MPP), John Fraser since August 2022. The party esp ...

in the

1934 Ontario general election The 1934 Ontario general election was the 19th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on June 19, 1934, to elect the 19th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs"). The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Mitchell Hepbur ...

for the Peel electoral district. In that election, he defeated longtime incumbent Conservative Thomas Kennedy. He was appointed Minister of Agriculture from July 10, 1934 to October 12, 1937, serving one term in the legislature. Upon his appointment to the cabinet, he became one of the few in Canadian history to hold the same ministerial portfolio in two different provinces. Marshall and Kennedy would face each other again in the

1937 Ontario general election The 1937 Ontario general election was held on October 6, 1937, to elect the 90 Members of the 20th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs"). It was the 20th general election held in the Province of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Mitch ...

; this time, the results would be reversed, with Kennedy defeating Marshall.

Senate appointment

Marshall was appointed to the Senate of Canada on January 20, 1938 by

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...

. He served in the Senate representing the

until his death on January 16, 1946.

References

;Works cited *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Duncan 1872 births 1946 deaths Candidates in the 1904 Canadian federal election Candidates in the 1921 Canadian federal election Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Canadian senators from Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Liberal Party of Canada senators Members of the Executive Council of Alberta Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons