Wallace Bickford Nesbitt (7 August 1918 – 21 December 1973) was a Progressive Conservative member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was born in

Woodstock, Ontario Woodstock is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The city has a population of 40,902 according to the 2016 Canadian census. Woodstock is the seat of Oxford County, at the head of the non-navigable Thames River, approximately 128 km from ...

and became a barrister and lawyer by career. During

World War II 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 opposing ...

, Nesbitt served with the Royal Canadian Navy between 1941 and 1945. After studies at

Woodstock Collegiate Institute Woodstock Collegiate Institute is a school in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Thames Valley District School Board. The school was founded in 1841 by an Act of Parliament as Woodstock's first grammar school. Its growth forced a serie ...

, the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...

and

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 ...

, he formally became a lawyer in 1947, then in 1954 was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

. He was first elected at Ontario's

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

riding in the 1953 general election and was re-elected there for eight successive terms. He attended the 12th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) as the head of the Canadian delegation and in 1959 became first vice-president of that Assembly. Until 1968, Nesbitt continued to represent Canada at the UN. After a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on 2 December 1973, Nesbitt was treated at Woodstock General Hospital where he died 19 days later, cutting short his political life during the

29th Canadian Parliament The 29th Canadian Parliament was in session from January 4, 1973, until May 9, 1974. The membership was set by the 1972 federal election on October 30, 1972, and it was dissolved prior to the 1974 election. It was controlled by a Liberal Party ...

. Nesbitt's great-uncle, Edward Walter Nesbitt, was also a member of Parliament for Oxford between 1911 and 1921.

References

External links

* 1918 births 1973 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Canadian officials of the United Nations 20th-century Canadian lawyers People from Woodstock, Ontario University of Western Ontario alumni Osgoode Hall Law School alumni Canadian King's Counsel {{ProgressiveConservative-Ontario-MP-stub