William Hooey Spinks (July 23, 1873 – May 25, 1949) was a politician in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. He served in the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gener ...

from 1920 to 1932, as a member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Spinks was born in Blackstock,

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 Ca ...

, the son of William Spinks and Sussannah Hooey, and was educated at public schools in the Township of Cartwright. His family came west in 1894 and settled near

Treherne, Manitoba Treherne is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Norfolk Treherne within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to January 1, 2015. It is halfway between Winnipeg and Brandon on Provincial Highway 2. Pri ...

. He worked as a farmer, and was the

reeve Reeve may refer to: Titles *Reeve (Canada), an elected chief executive of some counties, townships, and equivalents *Reeve (England), an official elected annually by the serfs to supervise lands for a lord *High-reeve, a title taken by some Englis ...

of the Rural Municipality of South Norfolk in Manitoba for thirteen years. Spinks was a member of the Grain Growers' Association, was president of the Agricultural Society for eight years, and was a

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and Orangeman. In 1902, he married Mary Eleanor Jackson. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1920 provincial election, defeating

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 ...

incumbent

Andrew W. Myles Andrew Watson Myles (February 18, 1884 – May 9, 1970) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1915 to 1920 as a Manitoba Liberal Party, Liberal, and made an unsuccessful bid for the lea ...

by 180 votes in the rural constituency of

Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...

. Spinks was one of only eight conservatives elected to the fifty-five member legislature in this cycle. He was again successful in the 1922 election, defeating

John Young John Young may refer to: Academics * John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow * John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Coll ...

of the

United Farmers of Manitoba The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party that developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba (UFM), an agrarian movement that became politically active following World War I. See also * List of political parties in Canada ...

by 47 votes as the Conservatives fell to seven seats across the province. The Conservative Party recovered to fifteen seats in the 1927 election, as Spinks defeated

Progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

candidate Andrew Moore by 144 votes. Five years later, in the 1932 election, he lost to

Liberal-Progressive Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1925 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no Liberal-Progressive party: it was an alliance between two parties. In Manitoba, a party existe ...

James Christie by 256 votes. He campaigned for 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 ...

in the 1935 federal election as a candidate of the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

, but lost to Liberal-Progressive candidate

William Gilbert Weir William Gilbert Weir (July 1, 1896 – December 12, 1971) was a Canadian politician and was the longest serving Liberal-Progressive Member of Parliament in Canadian history sitting in the House of Commons of Canada for 27 years. Born in Por ...

. Spinks had retired from active farm work by this time. In 1937, he moved to

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

. Spinks died in 1949 while visiting

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 ...

., His daughter Olive married

Lloyd Stinson Lloyd Cleworth Stinson (February 29, 1904 – August 28, 1976) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada, and the leader of that province's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) from 1953 to 1959. Although widely regarded as a capable leader, he ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinks, William 1873 births 1949 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs