Matthew James Stanbridge (1876, – May 20, 1939) was a British-born Canadian politician who served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gen ...

from 1920 to 1922.

Early life

Stanbridge was born in Worth Parish, Sussex,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and came to

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

in 1903.

Career

Stanbridge operated an insurance and real estate business in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

and became the owner of a meat-packing plant in Stonewall in 1912. Stanbridge served 15 years on the school board for Stonewall. He married Frances Rudderham. He was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1920 provincial election as a Labour Party candidate in the St. Clements constituency. He defeated

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

incumbent Donald A. Ross by 127 votes, and sat with the Labour parliamentary group in the legislative opposition for the next two years. The Labour Party and its allies won eleven seats in the 1920 election, which occurred shortly after the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. Their support had declined by the time of the 1922 election, and fell to six seats. Stanbridge, running for the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

in St. Clements, finished fourth in a field of four candidates in his bid for re-election. He attempted to return to the legislature in the 1927 provincial election as a "Farmer-Labour" candidate, but finished a distant third against Progressive cabinet minister Robert Hoey.

Personal life

He died in the

Winnipeg General Hospital Winnipeg General Hospital is a hospital that was founded in 1872 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was built on the estate of Andrew McDermot. The driving force behind the hospital was McDermott's son-in-law Andrew Bannatyne Andrew Graham Ballenden Banna ...

at the age of 63.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanbridge, Matthew Dominion Labour Party (Manitoba) MLAs Independent Labour Party (Manitoba, 1920) politicians 1876 births 1939 deaths British emigrants to Canada