Hewitt Bostock, (May 31, 1864 – April 28, 1930) was a Canadian publisher, businessman and politician. He was born in Walton Heath, Epsom, England and studied at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

graduating with honours in mathematics. Bostock then studied law and was called to the bar in 1888. Rather than begin a legal practice he toured North America, Australia, New Zealand, China and Japan before settling in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

in 1893 In 1888 the Monte Creek Ranch (also known as the Ducks Ranch) he had purchased in 1888, taking up residence there in 1894. In addition to the ranch, he also operated a lumber company. He founded the ''

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

'' newspaper and then entered politics winning election 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 ...

as a

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 ...

in the 1896 election, representing the riding of

Yale—Cariboo Yale–Cariboo was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1896 to 1917. This riding was created in 1896 by combining the former Yale and Cariboo ridings. A redistrib ...

for one term (until the 1900 election). In 1904, he was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

by the prime minister,

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...

. A decade later he became

Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian Senate In Canada, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (french: Chef de l'opposition au Sénat) is the leader of the largest party in the Senate not in government. Even though the position's name is very similar to the Leader of the Oppositio ...

. Bostock broke with the

Laurier Liberal Prior to the 1917 federal election in Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada split into two factions. To differentiate the groups, historians tend to use two retrospective names: * The Laurier Liberals, who opposed conscription of soldiers to supp ...

s over the

Conscription Crisis of 1917 The Conscription Crisis of 1917 (french: Crise de la conscription de 1917) was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also b ...

, and became a Liberal-Unionist, campaigning in favour of the

Union government The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

of Sir Robert Borden during the 1917 election. Following World War I, Bostock reconciled with the Liberals and, in 1921, became Minister of Public Works in the Liberal government of

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...

. Several months later, in 1922, he became

Speaker of the Senate of Canada The speaker of the Senate of Canada (french: président du Sénat du Canada) is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentar ...

and held the position until his death in 1930. In 1925, he served as a member of the Canadian delegation to the Assembly of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. There is a Mount Hewitt Bostock (2183 m or 7162 ft) named in his honour in the northern end of the Canadian Cascades, about 20 kilometres northeast of the Fraser Canyon town of Boston Bar, which is in what had been the riding of

where his political career began (today in

Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon was a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015. Geography The district includes the City of Chilliwack, the Districts ...

). His eldest daughter

Marian Noel Sherman Marian Noel Sherman (nee Bostock, 25 December 1891 – 18 August 1975), was an English-born Canadian physician and humanist. Early life Marian Noel Bostock was born in Christmas Day 1891 in Epsom, the eldest daughter of Hewitt Bostock and Liz ...

was a physician in India and a prominent humanist in western Canada.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bostock, Hewitt 1864 births 1930 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Lawyers in British Columbia Canadian senators from British Columbia Liberal Party of Canada MPs Liberal Party of Canada senators Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Speakers of the Senate of Canada Canadian newspaper publishers (people) Canadian ranchers