William Henry Edwards (August 7, 1857 – January 18, 1950) was an

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 ...

leather manufacturer and political figure. He represented

Toronto Northwest Toronto Northwest was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 1935. It was located in the city of Toronto in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1924 from parts of Parkdale, Toronto ...

and then

Bellwoods Bellwoods was a provincial riding in Ontario, Canada in the old City of Toronto's west-end. It was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1926 until 1987, when it was abolished and redistributed into the Dovercourt, and Fort Yo ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1924 to 1929 as a

Conservative 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 i ...

member.

Background

Edwards was born in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the son of John Edwards, came to

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

with his family in 1862 and was educated in

Toronto 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 ...

. He was a prominent businessman in the city as proprietor of J.E. Edwards & Sons Leather Good Manufacturers. He was also known as a mining pioneer working with Adam Wright in the early days of

Cobalt, Ontario Cobalt is a town in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 1,118 at the 2016 Census. In the early 1900s, the area was heavily mined for silver; the silver ore also contained cobalt. By 1910, the community was the fourth h ...

. In 1887, he married Elizabeth Ann Kerslake. Together they raised two children, a son and a daughter. He died in 1950.

Politics

Edwards was a prominent member of the Conservative Party establishment in Toronto. He was the first president of the South York riding association and also served as president for West York. He was elected in 1924 in a by-election in the riding of

. He defeated his only opponent, J.A. Young of the Labor party by 5,997 votes. Pundits remarked that the voter turnout was unusually light with less than 10,000 votes cast. He was re-elected in the 1926 provincial election in the newly created riding of

. He defeated Arthur Frost of the Labour-Prohibitionist Party by 4,622 votes. He declined to run in the 1929 election.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, William H 1857 births 1950 deaths People from Dover, Kent Politicians from Toronto Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs