James Herbert Bilton (April 10, 1908
in
Leeds,
England – July 4, 1988) was a
politician in
Manitoba, Canada. He was a
Progressive Conservative member of the
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1962 to 1977, and served as
Speaker of the Legislature for three years.
The son of Walter Bilton and Maria Mathersen,
Bilton was educated in England and moved to Canada in 1929. He served with the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police from 1931 to 1953, and retired with the rank of Staff Sgt. He was also the editor and publisher of the ''Swan River Star & Times'', and a member of the Winnipeg Press Club.
In 1938, he married Mildred Mary Izon.
Bilton was first elected to the legislature in the
1962 election, scoring an easy victory in the mid-northern riding of
Swan River. In the
election of 1966, he faced a surprisingly credible challenge from
Gerald Webb
Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Irish ...
of the
Social Credit Party, but won by 406 votes. He was appointed Speaker of the Legislature after the election, and served until 1969.
The Tories were defeated in the
1969 election, and Bilton faced a strong challenge from
New Democrat Alex Filuk
Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis.
People
Multiple
*Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people
*Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people
*Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peop ...
, winning by only 163 votes. He was re-elected again by a greater margin in the
1973 election, and did not run in 1977.
In 1977, Bilton and his wife moved to
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilton, James
Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
1908 births
1988 deaths
British emigrants to Canada