Charles Clarke (Canadian politician)

Canadian politician (1826–1909) For other people named Charles Clarke, see Charles Clarke (disambiguation).

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Charles Clarke


Ontario MPP
In office 1886–1891
Preceded by	New riding
Succeeded by	James Kirkwood
Constituency	Wellington East
In office 1871–1886
Preceded by	Alexander David Ferrier
Succeeded by	Riding abolished
Constituency	Wellington Centre

Personal details
Born	(1826-11-28)November 28, 1826 Lincoln, England
Died	April 6, 1909(1909-04-06) (aged 82) Elora, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Occupation	Businessman

Charles Clarke (November 28, 1826 – April 6, 1909) was speaker of the Legislature of Ontario in 1880-1883 and served as Liberal MLA for Wellington Centre from 1871 to 1886 and for Wellington East from 1886 to 1891.

He was born in Lincoln, England, in 1826, studied there with George Boole, was apprenticed as a draper and came to Canada West in 1844. He joined his mother and stepfather on a farm in the Niagara District and later moved with them to Elora. He opened a store with his stepfather there. He was editor for the Journal and Express newspapers in Hamilton and helped establish the Elora Backwoodsman. He served on the town council for Elora and was reeve from 1859 to 1864 and from 1867 to 1868. He commanded a local militia unit during the Fenian raids, becoming lieutenant-colonel. In 1874, he helped introduce legislation that established the secret ballot for elections in the province. He became clerk of the legislature in January 1892 and served until 1907. He died in Elora in 1909.

Electoral history

v t e 1871 Ontario general election: Wellington Centre
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Clarke	1,465	64.94	+22.90
	Conservative	Mr. McLaren	791	35.06	−9.30
Turnout			2,256	58.89	−20.35
Eligible voters			3,831
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		+16.10
Source: Elections Ontario

v t e 1875 Ontario general election: Wellington Centre
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Charles Clarke	Acclaimed
Source: Elections Ontario

References

"Data Explorer". Elections Ontario. 1871. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
"Data Explorer". Elections Ontario. 1875. Retrieved April 6, 2024.

External links

Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history
J A Gemmill (ed), The Canadian Parliamentary Companion, 1891, page 214; Ottawa : J. Durie, 1891.
Dewar, Kenneth C. (1994). "Clarke, Charles". In Cook, Ramsay; Hamelin, Jean (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XIII (1901–1910) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
Charles Clarke fonds, Archives of Ontario

v t e Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Stevenson Scott Currie Wells Clarke Baxter Ballantyne Balfour Evanturel Charlton St. John Crawford Hoyle Jamieson Parliament Thompson Black Kidd Hipel Clark Stewart Hepburn Davies Downer Murdoch Morrow Cass Reuter Rowe Stokes Turner Edighoffer Warner McLean Doyle Stockwell Carr Curling Brown Peters Levac Arnott

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