Thomas Baker McQuesten (June 30, 1882 – January 13, 1948) was a politician in
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 C ...
, Canada. He was a
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 ...
member of the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1934 to 1943 who represented the riding of
Hamilton—Wentworth. He served as a cabinet minister in the governments of
Mitchell Hepburn
Mitchell Frederick Hepburn (August 12, 1896 – January 5, 1953) was the 11th premier of Ontario, from 1934 to 1942. He was the youngest premier in Ontario history, appointed at age 37. He was the only Ontario Liberal Party leader in the 20th cent ...
and
Gordon Conant.
Background
McQuesten was born in Hespeler (now
Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers. The city had a population of 138,479 as of the 2021 census. Along with Kitchener and Waterloo, Cambridg ...
) in nearby
Waterloo County, the youngest son of the five children
of Isaac McQuesten and
Mary Baker McQuesten
Mary Baker McQuesten (October 10, 1849 – December 7, 1934) was a Victorian-era Canadian letter writer and activist. She was the mother of politician Thomas McQuesten.
Biography
McQuesten was born Mary Jane Baker on October 10, 1849 in Brantf ...
. His father died from overdosing on sleeping pills leaving the family almost bankrupt
when Thomas was six years old, and the family homestead narrowly avoided being sold to cover these debts. His family remained staunch
Presbyterians,
except one (Rev. Calvin,
Chaplain of the Hamilton Sanitarium) and rejected joining the
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...
in 1925.
Thomas received his primary and secondary education in
Hamilton at
Central School,and the
Hamilton Collegiate Institute. In his graduating year of 1900, the HCI football team won the Ontario Championship.
Since there was no university in Hamilton at the time, McQuesten had to leave the city for his post-secondary education. He earned a
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in English, history, and classics at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
. Extracurricular activity included rowing for the
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...
(which was also a football team), president of
Zeta Psi
Zeta Psi () is a collegiate fraternity. It was founded in June 1, 1847 at New York University. The organization now comprises fifty-three active chapters and thirty-four inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand members, and is a ...
fraternity and editor of ''
The Varsity'' newspaper.
McQuesten's older sister, Ruby Baker McQuesten, played a vital role in Thomas' life and success, however there is not record of him acknowledging her sacrifices. Ruby took a job as a teacher and almost her entire salary home to pay for Thomas' education. In her time away, Ruby wrote home of her loneliness. She eventually contracted a cough and died of tuberculosis.
Although a fellow U of T student beat his application for a
Rhodes scholarship, McQuesten continued his education at
Osgoode Hall
Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is named for William Osgood ...
, also in Toronto. He received his
LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
law degree and was admitted to the bar in 1907. He began practicing law as a prelude to a planned political career, serving in firms in Toronto,
Elk Lake and Hamilton.
During his early adulthood, McQuesten served part-time in the
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
. In 1902, he was in the
Royal Canadian Artillery
, colors = The guns of the RCA themselves
, colors_label = Colours
, march = * Slow march: "Royal Artillery Slow March"
* Quick march (dismounted parades): "British Grenadiers/ The ...
and in 1904 he was a military surveyor. When the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
began, he wanted to enlist but his family pressured him not to.
Electoral politics
McQuesten served as an
alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...
between 1913 and 1920, and tirelessly promoted
parks as chairman of the Works Committee.
In 1917, he and others presented a well-written but ultimately unadopted report on
town planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
with emphasis on
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
lands.
Since his electoral ambitions reached higher, he began his climb in the
Liberal Party of Ontario
The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser (Ontario MPP), John Fraser since August 2022.
The party esp ...
. In the early 1920s, he was an executive of the Hamilton Liberal Association and by the early 1930s he rose to provincial president. Finally, in 1934, he was elected as an MLA (later styled MPP) for Hamilton (the Legislative Assembly site says the riding was
Hamilton Wentworth, but other sources say
Hamilton West).
The newly elected MLA entered the provincial cabinet, serving concurrently as minister of highways (a position he held until 1943) and minister of public works. Among the many construction projects he spearheaded across Ontario were:
* the
Queen Elizabeth Way
The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The freeway begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western ...
and the
Burlington Bay Skyway Bridge linking
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
with
Fort Erie
Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is directly across the river from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812.
Fort Erie is one of Ni ...
* the
Niagara Parkway along the
Niagara River and the
Rainbow Bridge over it in
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...
* the
Blue Water Bridge
The Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge across the St. Clair River that links Port Huron, Michigan, United States, and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Water Bridge connects Highway 402 in Ontario with both Interstate 69 ...
in
Sarnia
Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes w ...
* the Highway 20 link to the
Niagara Escarpment in
Stoney Creek.
* the
Highway 2A through
Oshawa, Ontario, now Highway 401.
Due in part to the start
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Liberal
Premier Mitchell Hepburn
Mitchell Frederick Hepburn (August 12, 1896 – January 5, 1953) was the 11th premier of Ontario, from 1934 to 1942. He was the youngest premier in Ontario history, appointed at age 37. He was the only Ontario Liberal Party leader in the 20th cent ...
decided to keep the legislature and its second term government going longer than was popular. McQuesten participated in this strategy, adding a shifting number of portfolios to highways: mines (1940, 1942–43), municipal affairs (1940–43), and public works again (1942–43).
McQuesten was defeated in the 1943 election which saw the Liberal Party defeated by the
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
, banished from government until
David Peterson
David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty.
Backgr ...
became premier in 1985. His government appointments, however, continued after he left elected office.
Cabinet posts
Appointed politics
Throughout his life, McQuesten was able to parlay electoral success into permanent appointments to non-partisan agencies. This suited his technocratic (and sometimes autocratic) nature, allowing him to focus on necessary and useful but rarely politically interesting or rewarding activities.
For instance, his advocacy for parks on
Hamilton, Ontario City Council earned him an appointment to the permanent position on the Board of Park Management in 1922, where he remained until his death in 1948. In this position, he supported the construction of the Rock Garden and other landscaped areas on the
Burlington Heights,
which became part of
Royal Botanical Gardens in 1932. After his retirement from electoral politics, McQuesten resumed his interest in RBG and became an executive member of that organization, active there until just before he died.
Among the many Hamilton civic leaders and boosters, McQuesten helped encourage
McMaster University
McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
to relocate from downtown Toronto to west Hamilton in 1930. His motivations may have included the fact he had to move himself to attend university and that while there he lost the Rhodes Scholarship to a full-time Toronto resident in what was regarded as a slight against Hamilton.
After being elected an MLA in 1934, he served for a decade as the appointed chairman of the
Niagara Parks Commission
The Niagara Parks Commission, commonly shortened to Niagara Parks, is an agency of the Government of Ontario which maintains the Ontario shoreline of the Niagara River.
History
The Commission was founded in 1885 and charged with preserving and ...
.
Fort George at
Niagara-on-the-Lake was rebuilt during his tenure.
He used his role as transportation minister to secure appointment as chairman of the ''Canada-U.S.
Niagara Falls Bridge Commission'' in 1939. In addition to the more usual transportation aspects of the job, he used his position to engage in petty rivalry with wartime
Prime Minister of Canada
The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...
and fellow Liberal
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 L ...
over an inscription on
carillon bells at the
Rainbow Bridge (Niagara Falls).
Death and tributes
In his last year of life, McQuesten suffered from intestinal cancer which had metastasized to his throat and he died on January 13, 1948. Shortly before dying, he was named Hamilton's Citizen of the Year.
After his death, the Hamilton High Level Bridge on
York Boulevard
York Boulevard is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Formerly known as Highway 2 and Highway 6, it starts in Burlington, Ontario at Plains Road West as a two-way arterial road that wraps around and over Hamilton Harbour, ...
was renamed Thomas B. McQuesten High Level Bridge. The structure was planned and built in the 1920s and '30s in conjunction with the North-Western Entrance to Hamilton program of the Board of Park Management, when he was most active on it. It spans the channel linking
Cootes Paradise
Cootes Paradise is a property of the Royal Botanical Gardens at the western end of Lake Ontario, and a remnant of the larger 3700 acre Dundas Marsh Crown Game Preserve established by the Province of Ontario in 1927. It is a 600 hectare environment ...
and the
Desjardins Canal
The Desjardins Canal, named after its promoter Pierre Desjardins, was built to give Dundas, Ontario, easier access to Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes system of North America. Although a technological achievement and a short term commercial succes ...
to
Hamilton Harbour. The elegant bridge was designed by
John M. Lyle.
His historic downtown family home was willed to the City of Hamilton after the death of the last of his five unmarried siblings in 1968. After its restoration was complete in 1971,
Whitehern
Whitehern Historic House and Garden in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, built shortly before 1850, is a Late Classical house that is now a historic house museum.
At one time, Whitehern was the home of the McQuesten family, including Mary Baker McQu ...
has been open as a civic
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
and has occasionally served as a period film location. It was designated a
National Historic Site of Canada in 1962.
The
McQuesten neighbourhood in Hamilton is named after him. It is bounded by
Barton Street East (north),
Queenston Road (south),
Parkdale Avenue North (west) and the
Red Hill Valley Trail. Landmarks in this neighbourhood include the
Red Hill Valley Parkway
The Red Hill Valley Parkway (RHVP) is a municipal expressway in the Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario. The route connects the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway, Hamilton's second municipal expressway, to the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) near Hamilton Har ...
, ''Red Hill Valley Trail'' and
Hillcrest Park
Hillcrest Park is located in the Riley Park-Little Mountain neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is located immediately north of Queen Elizabeth Park and west of Riley Park.
Next to Hillcrest Park is the site containing Nat Baile ...
.
McQuesten was awarded permanent, honorary membership at
The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America in 1947, shortly before his death. The organization sought to recognize his work in overseeing the construction of the
Rainbow Bridge,
Rainbow Tower
The Rainbow Tower is a tower located at the Rainbow Plaza Canada–US border station of the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Construction on the tower was completed in 1947. The tower, part of the Canadian plaza of the bridge, ...
, and the tower's 55-bell
carillon.
Thomas McQuesten is considered to be the founder of
Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario)
Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) is headquartered in Burlington owning extensive environmental protection areas, historic sites and culturally relevant gardens in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the major tourist attractions between Niagara ...
. Within RBG's headquarters building, RBG Centre, a large central foyer is named the T. B. McQuesten Theatre. A large plaque in the David Braley and Nancy Gordon Rock Garden also dedicates the garden to the memory of McQuesten. The formal Thomas Baker McQuesten Memorial is an elevated lookout platform along York Boulevard on RBG's Burlington Heights properties.
References
External links
Whitehernarchives
*
Thomas B. McQuesten family fonds Archives of Ontario
{{DEFAULTSORT:McQuesten, Thomas
1882 births
1948 deaths
People educated at Queen Victoria School, Dunblane
Deaths from cancer in Ontario
Members of the Executive Council of Ontario
Ontario Liberal Party MPPs
Hamilton, Ontario city councillors
People from Cambridge, Ontario