William Beverley Lewis (August 8, 1906 – November 14, 1972) was a 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 ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member from 1955 to 1967 who represented the riding of

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...

Background

Lewis was born in the County of York to William Walter Lewis and Hannah Thornton, and grew up in Toronto where he attended Harbord Collegiate and

Central Technical School Central Technical School (CTS or Central Tech) is a Canadian composite high school in Toronto, Ontario. The school is run by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB); before 1998, it was run by the Toronto Board of Education (TBE). Central Tech ...

. He married Gladys Edith Victoria Edgerley on July 17, 1926, at age 19. Lewis worked as a pressman for the ''

Toronto Daily Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', '' The Globe'', and the '' Toronto Telegram'' and was elected president of the Toronto local of the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants Union of North America, on three occasions. He later went into business selling construction supplies and as a land development consultant. In his youth, Lewis was the Ontario

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...

champion and played semi-pro baseball. In the 1950s, he led a campaign to build Etobicoke's first indoor public swimming pool. Lewis owned a bowling alley in

New Toronto New Toronto is a neighbourhood and former municipality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the south-west area of Toronto, along Lake Ontario. The Town of New Toronto was established in 1890, and was designed and planned as an indust ...

and his daughter, Beryl, became a champion swimmer with the Lakeshore Swim Club.

Politics

Lewis was elected as an Alderman in

Etobicoke Township Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamation of Toronto, amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 17 ...

in 1951. He served as

Reeve Reeve may refer to: Titles *Reeve (Canada), an elected chief executive of some counties, townships, and equivalents *Reeve (England), an official elected annually by the serfs to supervise lands for a lord *High-reeve, a title taken by some Englis ...

of the Township from 1953 to 1956. In 1953, the Province of Ontario passed legislation that created a new level of government to assume many of the functions previously administered by Cities and Townships surrounding the City of

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 ...

. The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, or "Metro" as it was colloquially known, had, as its Council, representatives from 14 communities, including Etobicoke Township, and, as a result, Lewis served as one of the founding members of Metro Council, from 1953 to 1956. As reeve in 1954, he organized relief efforts following Hurricane Hazel. In 1955, Lewis ran for, and won, the nomination as the PC candidate for the newly created riding of

. At that time, it was possible to serve in more than one political office, in Ontario, and Lewis subsequently won in the 1955 provincial general election. He was re-elected in the general elections in 1959, and 1963, but he was defeated by the

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 ...

candidate, George Ben, in the 1967 general election. Lewis served as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

member of a succession of PC majority governments led by Premiers

Leslie Frost Leslie Miscampbell Frost (September 20, 1895 – May 4, 1973) was a politician in Ontario, Canada, who served as the province's 16th premier from May 4, 1949, to November 8, 1961. Due to his lengthy tenure, he gained the nickname "Old Man O ...

and then John Robarts. During his 12 years in the legislature he participated in various parliamentary committees dealing with energy and the environment. After leaving provincial politics, Lewis moved to Mara Township on the shores of Lake Simcoe, where he had a cottage. He was elected reeve in 1969 and was successful in having a medical clinic and attracting a doctor to the community of 1,000. He was reeve when he died of a heart attack at 65."W. Bev Lewis, 65 was Humber MPP reeve of Etobicoke", ''Toronto Star'' (1971-2009); Toronto, Ontario oronto, Ontario0 July 1972: 10.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Bev 1906 births 1986 deaths People from Etobicoke Politicians from Toronto Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Mayors of Etobicoke Metropolitan Toronto councillors