Thomas Farquhar (January 28, 1875 – December 24, 1962) was a Canadian politician and businessman from northern Ontario. Farquhar served in municipal politics in

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...

becoming the city’s seventh mayor from 1920 to 1922. He represented

Manitoulin Manitoulin District is a district in Northeastern Ontario within the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1888 from part of the Algoma District. The district seat is in Gore Bay. It comprises Manitoulin Island primarily, as well as a ...

in the

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from 1926 to 1929 and represented the federal riding of

Algoma East Algoma East was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1968. It was created in 1903 from parts of Algoma riding. It initially consisted of the territorial district ...

in the

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from 1943 to 1948. 480910-T-Farquar-Telegraph

In 1948, Farquhar accepted an appointment to the Senate. The subsequent by-election allowed Prime Minister

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...

’s Minister of External Affairs, and future

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Lester B. Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

the opportunity to be elected to the House of Commons. In 1945 Farquhar founded a family-owned dairy on

Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia. With an area of , it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 ...

that today operates as Farquhar’s Dairy Limited.

Life and early work

Farquhar was the third of ten children of William and Jane Farquhar. He was born on a farm in

Barrie, Ontario Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

(then in

Simcoe County, Ontario Simcoe County is located in the Central Ontario, central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County f ...

) in 1875. In 1877 the family moved to a farm near Kagawong on

where Farquhar was educated. In 1896, he traveled west to British Columbia's Slocan Valley where he mined several claims and became a prominent member of the

Western Federation of Miners The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a trade union, labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mining#Human Rights, mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and ...

, serving one year as president of the union. In 1903, Farquhar returned to Manitoulin to take up the family farm. Five years later he moved to Sault Ste. Marie to work at his father's meat business. After a stint in real estate, he and a partner purchased the Star Clothing Company at Queen and Gore Streets where he became a successful merchant. In June 1905, he married Kathleen Wiber who died six months later. He married his second wife, Florence Amy Wiber in October 1914.

Political career

Farquhar was active in Sault Ste. Marie politics. After serving as secretary-treasurer of the public school board from 1915 to 1916, he won a seat as city alderman by acclamation in 1918 and was elected in 1919. Local labour leaders persuaded Farquhar to run for mayor in 1920. He defeated then-mayor George Boyd, and was re-elected with a large plurality in 1921. He was renominated for the office in 1922 but declined to run against Boyd and James Dawson. Farquhar was a candidate for the

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Algoma West Algoma West was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1968. It was created in 1903 from parts of Algoma riding. The west riding of Algoma was defined to consist of ...

in the 1921 federal election but finished third with 27 per cent of the vote. In 1922 he sold his clothing business to purchase a farm in Mindemoya on Manitoulin. From 1922 to 1925, Farquhar served as the reeve of Carnarvon Township. He then entered provincial politics and represented

in the

from 1926 to 1929 as a United Farmers member. He ran for re-election in

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as a

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but was defeated. On 14 October 1935, he was elected to the

under the

banner, representing the riding of

. He was subsequently re-elected on 26 March 1940 and 11 June 1945. Prime Minister

appointed Farquhar to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on 10 September 1948 so that his new Minister of External Affairs

could contest the by-election in Algoma East and enter the House of Commons. In 1955 he sponsored legislation in the Senate to create the St. Mary's River Bridge Company to facilitate the eventual construction of the International Bridge between

and

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is the only city in, and county seat of, Chippewa County, Michigan, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 13,337 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most populated ...

. In 1960, Farquhar suffered a severe stroke and resigned from the Senate on 27 September 1962.

Later work

In 1935, Farquhar went into the dairy business, eventually buying the dairy in Little Current. Farquhar's Dairy continues to operate as an independent dairy company in

Northeastern Ontario Northeastern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario, which lies north of Lake Huron and east of Lake Superior. Northeastern Ontario consists of the districts of Algoma, Sudbury, Cochrane, Timiska ...

. In 1945, he and his sons founded Thos. Farquhar & Sons Co. Limited. He was also a director for a mine in

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Death and memorials

Farquhar died on 24 December 1962 at the age of 87 and was interred in Mindemoya on Manitoulin Island. His wife, Amy died in November 1964. Both are memorialized in a stained glass window at Little Current United Church, in Little Current, Ontario. His son

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later served in the Ontario legislature.

References

* Sault Star, 27 December 1921, page 1 * ''Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1928'', AL Normandin

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farquhar, Thomas 1875 births 1962 deaths United Farmers of Ontario MLAs Canadian senators from Ontario Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Liberal Party of Canada MPs Liberal Party of Canada senators Mayors of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario People from Barrie