William Arthur Summerville (July 8, 1879 – November 19, 1958) was a municipal and provincial 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 Ca ...

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. He was a Progressive Conservative member of 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 1937 to 1943 who represented the downtown

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 ...

riding of Riverdale. From 1922 to 1937 he was a municipal politician in Toronto.

Background

Summerville was born in Cargill,

Bruce County Bruce County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada comprising eight lower-tier municipalities and with a 2016 population of 66,491. It is named for James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, sixth Governor General of the P ...

on July 8, 1879 and moved with his family to Toronto at age three. His first career was as a musician. He played

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

for the 48th Highlanders and toured North America with different theatre orchestras. He also became a locally popular songwriter, with tunes like "Yes, Danforth". He settled in the east part of Toronto and became active in the theatre and real estate business. He became the owner of a small chain of theatres that presented both vaudeville shows and movies. He built structures such as the Prince of Wales Theatre at Woodbine and Danforth. He was also into real estate beginning in 1908 and founded his own firm (Summerville Properities) in 1912. He and his wife, Alberta, raised three children.

Politics

Summerville's first election victory was as a

Toronto Board of Education The Toronto Board of Education (TBE; commonly known as School District 15), officially known as the Board of Education for the City of Toronto, is the former secular school district serving the pre-merged city of Toronto. The board offices were l ...

trustee in 1920 and then elected as

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The cur ...

Ward 1 (Riverdale) alderman from 1922 to 1929. Summerville was elected to the

Toronto Board of Control The Board of Control of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was a part of its municipal government until it was abolished in 1969. It served as the executive committee of the Toronto City Council. When it was initially created in 1896 by mandate of the provin ...

in 1929. His election caused controversy when it was discovered he was on arrears on some of his municipal taxes, and was thus ineligible to run and to take his seat on the board. As a result, a by-election was called. Summerville, having paid his taxes, was allowed to run and he won the seat by a considerable margin. He stayed on the Board of Control for two years but lost his seat in 1930. He returned to council as Ward 1 alderman in 1935 and remained for two years until he was elected to the provincial legislature. In 1937 he was elected as the Conservative MPP for the riding of Riverdale. He served until 1943 when he was defeated by

Leslie Wismer Leslie Emery Wismer (February 21, 1909 – July 8, 1978) was a trade union official and a member of the Ontario legislature representing Riverdale for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) from 1943 to 1945 and again from 1948 until 195 ...

of the CCF. Summerville's son

Donald Summerville Donald Dean Summerville (August 4, 1915 – November 19, 1963) was a Canadian politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Toronto from January 1963 until his death that same year. Early life and family Summerville was born in Toronto to Willi ...

was elected to city council in 1955 for Ward 1 and was elected mayor in 1963, but died suddenly only months after his term in office. Donald's older brother William's grandson Paul Summerville was an NDP candidate in the 2006 federal election.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Summerville, William 1958 deaths 1879 births Toronto city councillors Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs