Jacob "Jake" Benson (March 13, 1892 – 1987) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-born farmer and politician in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. He represented Last Mountain in the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, in the na ...

from 1929 to 1934 as a

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

member and from 1938 to 1952 as a

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

(CCF) member. He was born in

Calder Bridge Calder Bridge (also Calderbridge) is a small village in Cumbria in England. It is located between the hamlets of Gosforth and Beckermet and lies on the River Calder. It is around 1 mile northeast from the Sellafield nuclear plant— Calder ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, the son of Jacob Benson and Letitia Barwise, and came to Canada with his parents in 1903. The family settled on a

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...

near

Last Mountain Lake Last Mountain Lake, also known as Long Lake, is a prairie lake formed from glaciation 11,000 years ago. It is located in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, about north-west of the city of Regina. It flows into the Qu'Appelle River via Las ...

. Benson studied at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

but did not graduate, instead turning to farming. In 1918, he married Hilda Ferris. He farmed near Semans. Benson was defeated when he ran for reelection to the provincial assembly in 1934 as a Farmer-Labour Group candidate. The following year, he was defeated when he ran as a CCF candidate in the

Yorkton Yorkton is a city located in south-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is about 450 kilometres north-west of Winnipeg and 300 kilometres south-east of Saskatoon and is the sixth largest city in the province. As of 2017 the census population of the ...

federal riding. He returned to the provincial legislature in the 1938 election as a CCF member. In 1950, after voting against the government on a number of issues, he left the CCF and sat as an independent in the assembly. Benson was defeated by Russell Brown when he ran for reelection as an independent in 1952. After leaving politics, he returned to farming, retiring in 1964. He then moved to

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

where he died in 1987.

References

Progressive Party of Saskatchewan MLAs Saskatchewan Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MLAs 20th-century Canadian legislators 1892 births 1987 deaths {{Saskatchewan-politician-stub