William Anderson Black, (October 9, 1847 – September 1, 1934) 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. He is the oldest person ever elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

, 76 years, 1 month, 26 days when he was first elected. He was 83 when he last won election and he died in office. He was born in

Windsor, Nova Scotia Windsor is a community located in Hants County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a service centre for the western part of the county and is situated on Highway 101. The community has a history dating back to its use by the Mi'kmaq Nation for sev ...

, the son of Samuel Gay Black and Sophia Wright.Eaton, Arthur WH ''The History of King's County'' (1910)
p. 489 In 1875, with Robert Pickford, Black founded Pickford and Black, a company that supplied ship's provisions. The company expanded into shipping passengers and freight as well as trading in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. He represented Halifax County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1894 to 1897. In 1922, he was a co-founder of the Maritime Life Assurance Company. Black was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the riding of Halifax in a 1923

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. A Conservative, he was re-elected in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

, and

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

. In 1926, he was the

Minister of Marine and Fisheries The minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for supervising the fishing industry, administrating all navigable waterways in the country, and overseeing the o ...

(Acting) and Minister of Railways and Canals in the short lived cabinet of

Arthur Meighen Arthur Meighen (; June 16, 1874 – August 5, 1960) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921 and from June to September 1926. He led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 and fro ...

. Black also served as president of Eastern Canada Savings and Loan and was a director for the Royal Bank. He married Annie Bell and had five children. In 1924, he established a chair of commerce at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, William 1847 births 1934 deaths People from Windsor, Nova Scotia Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Canadian Ministers of Railways and Canals Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs