William Finlay

William Thomas Finlay (July 12, 1853 – May 9, 1914) was a merchant, politician and cabinet minister in Alberta and Northwest Territories, Canada. Finlay served as the second mayor of Medicine Hat, represented the electoral district of Medicine Hat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and served in the Cabinet of Alexander Cameron Rutherford as Alberta's first Minister of Agriculture and Provincial Secretary from 1905 to 1909.

For other people named William Finlay, see William Finlay (disambiguation).

William Thomas Finlay
A white man with receding light hair and a thick grey moustache, wearing a suit
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
In office
November 9, 1905 – June 6, 1910
Preceded byNew district
Succeeded byCharles R. Mitchell
ConstituencyMedicine Hat
Alberta Minister of Agriculture
In office
September 9, 1905 – November 1, 1909
Preceded byNew position
Succeeded byDuncan Marshall
Alberta Provincial Secretary
In office
September 9, 1905 – November 1, 1909
Preceded byNew position
Succeeded byDuncan Marshall
Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
In office
May 21, 1902 – August 31, 1905
Preceded byHorace Albertie Greeley
Succeeded byDistrict abolished
ConstituencyMedicine Hat
Mayor of Medicine Hat
In office
1900–1903
Preceded byWilliam Bradley Marshall
Succeeded byArchibald Courtice Hawthorne
Personal details
BornJuly 12, 1853
Lisburn, Ireland
DiedMay 9, 1914(1914-05-09) (aged 60)
Vancouver, British Columbia
Political partyLiberal
SpouseCatherine Anne Allott
ChildrenTwo sons, three daughters
Residence(s)Medicine Hat, Alberta
OccupationMerchant, rancher

Early life

Finlay was born in Lisburn, Ireland on July 12, 1853,[1] to John Finlay and Christina Brownlee.[2] He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and worked in the wholesale grocery business before moving to Montreal, Quebec in 1873.[2] Finlay continued to move around, living in Toronto and in and eventually Winnipeg, working as a travelling salesman for the Northwest Lumber Company in 1883[2] and later his own firm Finlay and Company. Finlay set up branches of the Northwest lumber Company along the Canadian Pacific Railway line as it moved west across the prairies, and settled in Medicine Hat shortly afterwards.[2] Finlay left his lumber agency in 1886 and joined Thomas Andrew Tweed and two other prominent men in the Medicine Hat Ranche Company.[2]

Finlay was active in the Medicine Hat community, serving on the hospital board from 1896 to 1904, as a justice of the peace from 1886 to 1896, as president of the local board of trade in 1888, and as director of the agricultural society in 1889.[2]

Finlay married Catherine Anne Allott in Winnipeg on February 10, 1883.[2][3]

Political life

William first ran for the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories in the 1898 Northwest Territories general election in the Medicine Hat district but was defeated, coming a close second to Horace Albertie Greeley.[4]

Finlay was elected the second mayor of Medicine Hat in 1900 and was acclaimed to the position the following year.[2][1] As mayor, Finlay oversaw the construction of a water system, a municipal building, and natural gas extraction.[2]

With his experience as mayor of Medicine Hat, Finlay ran again in the 1902 Northwest Territories general election this time becoming elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Medicine Hat.[2][4] During the discussions for province-hood for the North-West Territories, Finlay was strongly opposed to the concept of publicly-funded separate schools for Roman Catholics and Protestants, however, he eventually accepted the compromise solution for Alberta.[2][5]

Alberta politics

In February 1905, the federal government of Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier introduced legislation to create two new provinces (Alberta and Saskatchewan) from the Northwest Territories.[6] In August 1905, Laurier appointed George H. V. Bulyea the first Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, and on September 2, Bulyea asked Alexander Cameron Rutherford to form the first government of Alberta.[7] On September 9 Finlay was appointed to Rutherford's Cabinet as Alberta's first Minister of Agriculture and Provincial Secretary.[8][9] Finlay's inclusion in cabinet came after strong pressure on Rutherford from liberals in Medicine Hat to acknowledge the regions importance, as well as Finlay's virtues.[5] Finlay was the only member of the Rutherford cabinet born outside of Canada.[5]

In Alberta's first general election, Finlay was elected as a member of the Alberta Liberal Party for Medicine Hat defeating conservative candidate Francis O. Sissions by a narrow margin of 51.7 per cent to 48.3 per cent.[10][2]

Under Finlay, the department of Agriculture undertook educational initiatives including experimental agricultural stations, travelling dairy and grain schools, and support for farmers institutes and agricultural fairs.[2] Alberta also saw government creameries built, as well as government financing for factories for cheese, pork, and poultry.[2] As a representative for Medicine Hat, Finlay brought forward several projects in the region. In March 1909, just before the upcoming election, Finlay announced the construction of the $40,000 Medicine Hat Courthouse, a bridge, and a demonstration farm in the region.[11]

Finlay was re-elected in the 1909 Alberta general election defeating conservative Francis O. Sissons once again, with a larger margin of 71.7 per cent to 28.3 per cent.[12] Finlay resigned from his cabinet posts shortly afterwards on November 1, 1909, due to his failing health.[13] He stepped down as the member of his riding in 1910 after his health deteriorated to the point where he could no longer perform his duties, and made room for Charles R. Mitchell to run in a by-election.[2]

Death

Finlay moved to Vancouver, British Columbia after his retirement. He died in 1914.[2]

Electoral record
1909 Alberta general election results (Medicine Hat)[12] Turnout N.A.
  Liberal William Thomas Finlay 1,249 71.66%
  Conservative F. O. Sissions 494 28.34%
1905 Alberta general election results (Medicine Hat)[10] Turnout N.A.
  Liberal William Thomas Finlay 575 51.71%
  Conservative F. D. Sissons 537 48.29%
1902 Northwest Territories general election results (Medicine Hat)[4] Turnout N.A.
William Thomas Finlay 486 70.33%
J. A. Grant 205 29.67%
1898 Northwest Territories general election results (Medicine Hat)[4] Turnout N.A.
Horace Albertie Greeley 327 36.50%
William Thomas Finlay 285 31.81%
John George Calder 284 31.70%

References
  1. Chambers, Ernest J., ed. (1909). The Canadian Parliamentary Guide. Ottawa: Mortimer Company Ltd. p. 437. ISBN 9781414401416. ISSN 0315-6168. OCLC 266967058. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  2. Wilson, L. J. Roy (1998). "Finlay, William Thomas". In Cook, Ramsay; Hamelin, Jean (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XIV (1911–1920) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  3. "Pioneer profiles William T. Finlay". Pioneers Alberta. Retrieved October 15, 2006.
  4. Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan (2009). "North-West Territories: Council and Legislative Assembly, 1876–1905" (PDF). Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  5. Thomas 1959, p. 22.
  6. Babcock 1989, p. 22.
  7. Thomas 1959, p. 19.
  8. Babcock 1989, p. 27.
  9. "Alberta Gazette October 1905". Alberta government. Retrieved October 15, 2006.
  10. "Election results for Macleod, 1905". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
  11. Mittelstadt 2005, p. 216.
  12. "Election results for Claresholm, 1909". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
  13. Babcock 1989, p. 57.

Works cited
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