Manning William Doherty (September 27, 1875 - September 26, 1938) was a farmer, businessman and politician serving as Ontario's Minister of Agriculture during the

United Farmers of Ontario The United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) was an agrarian and populist provincial political party in Ontario, Canada. It was the Ontario provincial branch of the United Farmers movement of the early part of the 20th century. History Foundation and r ...

- Labour government of 1919 to 1923 and as leader of the Progressives (as the UFO had become known) in Opposition before leaving provincial politics.

Early life

Doherty was the descendant of an old

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

family that immigrated to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

from Ireland. His great-grandfather, Bernard Doherty, arrived in York (present-day Toronto) in 1812 and was offered a farm on the land now bordered by

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original eas ...

Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...

, University Avenue, and College Street - then on the outskirts of town but today the heart of

Downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...

. He rejected the offer as too low and wet for agricultural purposes and instead accepted of the original homestead was inherited and farmed by Manning Doherty, Bernard Doherty's great-grandson. As a child, Doherty attended Toronto Township School Section No. 11, Hanlan. Doherty graduated from

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an independent day and boarding school for boys in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as Canada's most prestigious preparatory school, and ha ...

and then earned a Bachelor of Scientific Agriculture from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Ontario Agricultural College The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) originated at the agricultural laboratories of the Toronto Normal School, and was officially founded in 1874 as an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto. Since 1964, it has become affil ...

(became part of the

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

since 1964) in 1895. He then studied at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

where he received his master's degree before returning to the Ontario Agricultural College to teach from 1898 to 1902 as an associate professor.

Political career

UFO

He was a supporter of the Conservative Party initially before being attracted to the agrarian movement and the fledgling United Farmers. He became vice-president of the United Farmers of Ontario and director of the United Farmers Co-operative Company. Shortly after the 1919 provincial election in which the UFO won an upset victory Manning was appointed agriculture minister in the government of E.C. Drury and entered the Ontario legislature by means of a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

. As Agriculture Minister, Doherty encouraged co-operative marketing for agricultural products serving until the government's defeat in the 1923 provincial election. Doherty was personally re-elected to the legislature in his riding of Kent East.

Progressives

Doherty served as acting leader of the Progressives through the 1924 legislative session but announced at the beginning of this tenure that he would not be seeking the leadership permanently."Progressive Party to meet in Toronto and select leader", ''Globe and Mail'', September 27, 1924 Doherty remained leader until January 1925 when the Progressive caucus chose

William Raney William Edgar Raney (December 8, 1859 – September 24, 1933) was a lawyer, politician and judge in Ontario, Canada, in the early twentieth century. He was known for his opposition to gambling on horse racing and the sale of alcohol. Early lif ...

as its leader after Doherty refused to reconsider his retirement."Progressive Group chooses Mr. Raney as its leader", ''Globe and Mail'', January 21, 1925 Despite the fact that the UFO/Progressives were the second largest party in the

Ontario legislature The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

following the 1923 provincial election, Doherty did not become

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

since Conservative Premier

Howard Ferguson George Howard Ferguson (June 18, 1870 – February 21, 1946) was the ninth premier of Ontario, from 1923 to 1930. He was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1905 to ...

used an announcement from UFO general secretary James J. Morrison was withdrawing from party politics as a pretext to recognise the third place Liberals as the official opposition, despite Doherty's protests. The parliamentary wing of the UFO and its non-parliamentary wing had been at loggerheads throughout the party's time in government and Morrison's statement was issued without consulting UFO members of the legislature, who subsequently became officially known as the Progressive group due in part to the dispute with Morrison's wing of the UFO.

Conservatives

Doherty resigned his seat in the provincial legislature in 1926 in order to campaign in support of the federal Conservatives led by

Arthur Meighen Arthur Meighen ( ; June 16, 1874 – August 5, 1960) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921 and from June to September 1926. He led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 and ...

."M.W. Doherty is dead at 62", ''Globe and Mail'', September 27, 1938 He considered running as a federal Conservative candidate against former Liberal Labour minister

John Campbell Elliott John Campbell Elliott, (August 25, 1872 – December 20, 1941) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. Early life He was born in Ekfrid, Ontario, the son of George Elliott and Jane Campbell. He was educated at the University of Trinity Co ...

Middlesex West Middlesex West was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It was created by the ...

win the 1926 federal election but, in the end, did not run.

After politics

Following his retirement from politics, Doherty focussed his efforts on his business interests, principally in the brokerage firm of Doherty, Roadhouse and Company.Subsequently part of Midland Doherty (since 1998 part of

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

) He became treasurer of the

Toronto Stock Exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; ) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the List of stock exchanges, 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in th ...

in 1936 and was its vice-president when he died in 1938."Manning W. Doherty dead, once Agriculture Minister", ''Toronto Daily Star'', September 26, 1938 His son Brian Doherty was a playwright.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Manning United Farmers of Ontario MLAs Leaders of the United Farmers of Ontario/Progressives Members of the Executive Council of Ontario University of Toronto alumni Ontario Agricultural College alumni 1875 births 1938 deaths 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario