Hugh Cragg Farthing (July 17, 1892 – June 8, 1968) was a Canadian provincial level politician, lawyer and judge from

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 ...

. He served as a member of 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 sin ...

from 1930 until 1935 representing the electoral district of Calgary.

Early life

Hugh Cragg Farthing was born July 17, 1892 in

Woodstock, Ontario Woodstock is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The city has a population of 40,902 according to the 2016 Canadian census. Woodstock is the seat of Oxford County, at the head of the non-navigable Thames River, approximately 128 km from ...

to Revered John Cragg Farthing the Anglican Bishop of Montreal and Elizabeth Mary Kemp, he had one younger brother John Colborne Farthing. He was educated at Kingston Collegiate Institute and

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

completing his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in 1914, where he was also a member of The Kappa Alpha Society, and later

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the '' Osgoode Hall L ...

to complete a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

in 1919. His education at McGill was interrupted by service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Farthing was called to the bar in Ontario in 1919 and began to practice in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. He later moved to Calgary and was admitted to the Alberta bar on June 11, 1923.

Political career

Farthing ran for a seat in the Alberta Legislature in the Calgary electoral district for the

1930 Alberta general election Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

. He won his seat on the 7th vote count taking third place overall. He was defeated running for a second term in office in the

1935 Alberta general election The 1935 Alberta general election was held on August 22, 1935, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The newly founded Social Credit Party of Alberta won a sweeping victory, unseating the 14-year government of the United Farmer ...

. After his defeat from provincial politics Farthing ran for a seat in the House of Commons of Canada in the

1940 Canadian federal election The 1940 Canadian federal election was held March 26, 1940, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 19th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal Party was re-elected to their second consecuti ...

in the electoral district of

Calgary East 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 ...

under the National Government banner. He was defeated finishing a close third, in a race that ended in one of the most dramatic four way splits in Canadian History.

Judicial career

Following his time as an MLA, Farthing was named King's Counsel on January 3, 1935 and partnered to form the firm "Farthing and Tavender". On February 1, 1958 he was appointed a Judge of the District Court of Southern Alberta, and on April 7, 1960 he was appointed to the Trial Division of the

Supreme Court of Alberta The Court of King's Bench of Alberta (abbreviated in citations as ABKB or Alta. K.B.) is the superior court of the Canadian province of Alberta. Until 2022, it was named Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. The Court of Queen's Bench in Calgary w ...

. Farthing retired on July 18, 1967 and died in Calgary less than a year later on June 8, 1968 at the age of 75.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
* Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs 1892 births 1968 deaths People from Woodstock, Ontario McGill University alumni Osgoode Hall Law School alumni Canadian judges {{Alberta-politician-stub