Murray Clement Biggar was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who served as mayor of

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

in 1895.Wallace, C. M.; & Thomson, Ashley (Eds.) (1993). ''Sudbury: Rail Town to Regional Capital'' (3rd ed.).

Dundurn Press Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult and children's fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history, biography, politics and arts. Dundurn has about 2500 books in print, ...

. . During his term in office, the municipal council embarked on the town's first major

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

projects, awarding contracts to M.N. McCarthy and W.H. Plummer for the construction of sewage, waterworks and electrical systems. However, the projects faced numerous delays, including a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

for higher wages by workers on the waterworks project, a cost overrun which forced the council to hold a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

for authorization to spend the additional funds, and scheduling problems which resulted in the projects' completion being delayed by almost a year after the council voided the

penalty clause Penal damages are liquidated damages which exceed reasonable compensatory damages, making them invalid under common law. While liquidated damage clauses set a pre-agreed value on the expected loss to one party if the other party were to breach th ...

which was its only mechanism for ensuring that the contractors finished the project on time. As a result, in that fall's municipal election, Biggar was defeated by former mayor

Stephen Fournier Jean-Étienne (Stephen) Fournier (1852–1929) was a Canadians, Canadian politician, who served as the first mayor of Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario. Born in Trois-Pistoles, Quebec, Fournier worked for the Central Canada Railway and the Ca ...

. Following his defeat, Biggar disappeared from Sudbury in 1896, abandoning his law practice and his family.Gary Peck, "The Not-So-Distant-Past: Strange Disappearance of Mayor in 1896 Still not Fully Explained." ''

Sudbury Star ''The Sudbury Star'' is a Canadian daily regional newspaper published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is owned by the media company, Postmedia. It is the largest daily paper in Northeastern Ontario by circulation. History The ''Sudbury Star'' began as ...

'', September 23, 1977, p. 21. He was rumoured to have drowned in

Lake Ramsey Ramsey Lake (french: Lac Ramsey) is a lake in Sudbury, Ontario, located near the city's downtown core. Until 2001, Ramsey Lake was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest lake located entirely within the boundaries of ...

, but Sudbury resident Gus Harwood found him living in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1898.Gary Peck, "The Not-So-Distant-Past: Ex-Mayor Believed Drowned in Ramsey, Surfaced in Frisco Heading for Klondike". ''

'', November 1, 1980, p. 3 He had gone briefly to

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

to prospect in the Klondike Gold Rush, but then moved to San Francisco after failing to stake a mining claim. In 2017, the

Sudbury Theatre Centre The Sudbury Theatre Centre is a professional theatre company, located in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Following an Ontario government report in 1967 which recommended the creation of a theatre company in Sudbury, local arts patrons Sonja D ...

staged a play written by local playwright Judy Straughan about Biggar's disappearance."New play explores Sudbury mystery"
''

'', August 28, 2017. The play's cast included the city's current mayor,

Brian Bigger Brian Bigger is a Canadian politician who was the mayor of Greater Sudbury, Ontario from 2014 to 2022. He was elected in the city's 2014 municipal election. Prior to serving as mayor, Bigger served as the first Auditor General for the city. Back ...

, as well as local writers

Matthew Heiti Matthew Heiti is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, novelist and playwright. As cowriter with Ryan Ward of the film '' Son of the Sunshine'', he was a Genie Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay at the 32nd Genie Awards in 2012. Born and rais ...

and

Roger Nash Roger Nash BA, MA, PhD (Exon) is a Canadian philosopher and poet. He was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England on 3 November 1942. He grew up in England, Egypt, Cyprus, Singapore and Hong Kong. He has a B.A. from the University of Wales (1965), ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biggar, Murray Mayors of Sudbury, Ontario Year of birth missing Year of death missing Canadian gold prospectors Lawyers in Ontario