Thomas Urquhart (April 16, 1858 – February 16, 1931) was a

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politician and

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

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Early life

Urquhart was born in Wallacetown, Dunwich Township,

Elgin County Elgin County is a county of the Canadian province of Ontario with a 2016 population of 50,069. Its population centres are St. Thomas, Aylmer, Port Stanley, Belmont, Dutton and West Lorne. The county seat is St. Thomas, which is separated from t ...

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. His parents were Sarah McCallum and Alexander Cameron Urquhart, a pioneer tailor and storekeeper who immigrated from

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...

, Ross and Cromarty,

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to Canada in 1847. He attended public school in Wallacetown until he was 13 years old. He then spent years working with his father. At 21, he was appointed municipal clerk of the Township of

Dunwich Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich was ...

. Later, he became secretary of the Agricultural Society of West Elgin and secretary of the West Elgin Reform Association. He decided to enter law, and after passing the matriculation examination in 1881, he entered a law office in St. Thomas. In 1882 he entered a second law as a student. In 1886, he graduated from

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the '' Osgoode Hall L ...

as barrister and solicitor.

Career

Urquhart entered into different law partnerships over the next many years. One partnership was with his brother Daniel Urquhart. He took a strong role in civic affairs, and was elected

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in Toronto’s Ward 4 in 1900 and re-elected in 1901-1902, prior to being elected to the mayor’s chair for three successive years. Thomas was elected mayor in 1903 over Oliver Howland and Daniel Lamb. In 1904 he was re-elected by acclamation, and in 1905 he defeated

George Horace Gooderham George Horace Gooderham (April 18, 1868 – December 22, 1942) was a Canadian businessman and politician. From 1908 to 1919, he was a Conservative member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing Toronto South and then Toronto Sou ...

. A strong

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, he was chosen by his party to contest the riding of

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for the legislature against Hon. Thomas Crawford. In 1904, he contested the riding of

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for Parliament against Sir George Foster. In 1906, he ran unsuccessfully for the Ontario legislature against W. K. McNaught in

in a provincial byelection. While he was mayor, he always guarded against encroachments of corporations to destroy the city’s sovereignty over its own streets. During that time, many applications were made by electric railway companies for franchises in adjoining municipalities, and it was feared the

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Co. would acquire a perpetual franchise in Toronto. He watched every move made and succeeded in keeping Toronto free of entanglements. He attended the first meeting in Berlin (now Kitchener) regarding the proposals to establish the hydroelectric system, and he also advocated public ownership of

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s. The

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occurred during his time as mayor.

Personal life

Urquhart was a leader in the Toronto

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

community, active in both the Walmer Road Baptist Church and the Aurora Baptist Church. He was also a member of the

Orange Order in Canada The Grand Orange Lodge of British America, more commonly known as the Grand Orange Lodge of Canada or simply Orange Order in Canada, is the Canadian branch of the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organization that began in County Armagh in Ire ...

. He was first married to Margaret S. McDonald of

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

, who died in 1925. He married Mary Ellen Hall in 1927. After becoming ill at his office, Urquhart was taken to his home at 136 Hillsdale Avenue in Toronto, where he died on February 16, 1931, from influenza. He was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery on February 18.

References

* Filey, Mike ''Mount Pleasant Cemetery'' (1990)

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City of Toronto official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urquhart, Thomas 1858 births 1931 deaths People from Elgin County Osgoode Hall Law School alumni Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian Baptists Mayors of Toronto 19th-century Canadian lawyers 20th-century Canadian lawyers Lawyers in Ontario Deaths from influenza 20th-century Canadian politicians