George Stewart Henry(July 16, 1871 – September 2, 1958) was a farmer, businessman andpoliticianinOntario,Canada. He served as the tenthpremier of Ontariofrom 1930 to 1934. He had acted as minister of highways while Ontario greatly expanded itshighway system.Henry continued the expansion as premier, but his party did not provide relief during theGreat Depressionand lost the1934 election.
George Stewart Henry | |
|---|---|
 Henry,c. 1941 | |
| 10thPremier of Ontario | |
| In office December 15, 1930 – July 10, 1934 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Lieutenant Governor | William Donald Ross William Mulock(acting) Herbert A. Bruce |
| Preceded by | Howard Ferguson |
| Succeeded by | Mitchell Hepburn |
| Member of Provincial Parliament | |
| In office September 8, 1913 – August 4, 1943 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander McCowan |
| Succeeded by | Agnes Macphail |
| Constituency | York East |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 16, 1871 King Township, Ontario |
| Died | September 2, 1958(aged 87) Toronto,Ontario |
| Resting place | Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Spouse | Anna Ketha Pickett |
| Residence | Village of Todmorden (Toronto) |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto |
| Occupation | Farmer, Lawyer |
Background
editHenry was born inTownship of King,York County,Ontario,the son of William and Louisa Henry (née Stewart).
He attendedUpper Canada Collegefor high school and moved on to theUniversity of Toronto,where he received a Bachelor of Arts. He earned his LL.B. atOsgoode Hall Law School.He also spent a year at the University of Toronto'sOntario Agricultural CollegeinGuelphand decided to become a farmer inEast York,Ontario.
He was a member ofYork Township Councilfrom 1903 to 1910, was Townshipreevefrom 1906 to 1910, and elected warden ofYork Countyin 1909.[1]
Political career
edit
He was elected to theLegislative Assembly of Ontarioin 1913 as aConservativein the riding ofYork East.In 1918, he was appointed asMinister of Agriculture.In 1920, he ran for the leadership of the provincial Conservatives at that party's first-everleadership conventionbut lost toHoward Fergusonwho led the party to victory in the subsequent general election. From 1923 to 1930, Henry served as Minister of Highways in the Ferguson government and expanded on the highway system that was initiated by the previous government ofErnest C. Drury.When Ferguson stepped down in 1930, barely a year into theGreat Depression,Henry succeeded him as Conservative Party leader and asPremier of Ontario.Henry continued his programme of building roads and extended Ontario's highway system from 670 kilometres (420 mi) to 3,888 kilometres (2,416 mi).
Construction of Canada's first four-lane controlled accesssuperhighway,theTorontotoNiagara FallsQueen Elizabeth Way,was the most lasting achievement of the highway program.
Henry was opposed to government intervention to deal with the economy. Aside from building roads, his government did little to alleviate public suffering during the Great Depression, such as unemployment in the cities, or the collapse of prices for farm products in the country. Henry's government, like the federal government ofRB Bennett,established work camps for jobless men. They were established not so much to provide social welfare but rather as social control: to evacuate the potentially-radical element from the cities. The work camps also provided a source of labour for the construction of Henry's highway system.
In the1934 election,Henry sought a new mandate from the voters in his first election as Premier. Some felt that the government had little to offer beyond more road construction, and the Tories were soundly defeated by theOntario Liberal Party,led byMitchell Hepburn.He became theLeader of the Oppositionfrom 1934 to 1936, when he retired as the Conservative leader.[2]
Henry Farm
editIn 1898, Henry bought the farm house and property in which he would spend almost all of his adult life after he had graduated from the Ontario Agricultural College.[2]The "Mulholland Homestead" had been settled by his great-grandfather Henry Mulholland, who sold it in the early 19th century.[3]
The farm was located in what was then known as Todmorden, and contained 460 acres (190 ha). He sold it in 1958 for approximatelyCA$2million to a British construction firm that was planning on building a housing division. He died ten days after he had completed the sale, on September 2, 1958.[2]It became a suburban housing subdivision in the 1960s,Henry Farm,in City ofNorth York,which is now part of the amalgamated City ofToronto.
A public high school near his former homestead was named after him,George S. Henry Academy.[4]
References
edit- ^Charlesworth, Hector, ed. (1919).A Cyclopædia of Canadian Biography.Toronto: Hunter-Rose. p. 282.
- ^abc"George S. Henry, 87, Dies".The Toronto Daily Star.Toronto. 1958-09-03. p. 10.
- ^Dunkelman, David (2012)."North York: Henry Farm".Toronto Neighbourhood Guide.Toronto: Maple Tree Publishing. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-02-04.Retrieved2012-01-08.
- ^"George S. Henry Academy".Toronto: Toronto District School Board. 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-01-17.Retrieved2012-01-08.
External links
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