Samuel Hume Blake (31 August 1835 – 23 June 1914) was a Canadian politician from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Early life

Blake was born on 31 August 1835 in

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 ...

. He was the second son of

William Hume Blake William Hume Blake (10 March 1809 – 15 November 1870) was an Irish-Canadian jurist and politician. He was the father of Edward Blake, an Ontario Premier and federal Liberal party of Canada leader, and the first Chancellor of Upper Canada. H ...

(1809–1870), an Irish-Canadian jurist and politician, and Catherine Honoria (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Hume) Blake (1804–1886). Among his siblings was the older brother,

Edward Blake Dominick Edward Blake (13 October 1833 – 1 March 1912) was a Canadian politician and lawyer who was the second premier of Ontario from 1871 to 1872 and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1880 to 1887. He is one of three federal perm ...

, the second Premier of Ontario, and younger sister, Sophie Eliza (née Blake) Cronyn. His maternal grandparents were Eliza and Samuel Hume and his paternal grandparents were the Rev. Dominick Edward Blake, and Ann (née Hume) Blake, a daughter of William Hume M.P. of Humewood Castle. Blake was educated at home by tutors and entered

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 ...

, where he studied for five years.

Career

After College, Blake began a four-year apprenticeship as a clerk at the Toronto mercantile firm of Ross, Mitchell and Company, beginning around 1850. After this he decided to follow his father and elder brother

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

into the legal profession, studying at 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 ...

, graduating in 1858. After being admitted to the

Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; ) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; ), its name was changed by statu ...

, he entered into a partnership with his older brother, thereafter, the firm was known as Blake & Blake (today the firm is known as Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP). He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1860 and practiced in Toronto. In 1872, Prime Minister Sir

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11January 18156June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political ...

appointed Blake junior vice-chancellor on the Ontario Court of Chancery to replace

Oliver Mowat Sir Oliver Mowat (July 22, 1820 – April 19, 1903) was a Canadians, Canadian lawyer, politician, and Ontario Liberal Party leader. He served for nearly 24 years as the third premier of Ontario. He was the eighth lieutenant governor of Ontario ...

, who had resigned to succeed his brother as premier. In 1875, Blake became senior vice-chancellor, and in 1876, Mowat appointed him tavern-license commissioner for Toronto even though Blake was a lifelong advocate of temperance. In 1881, Blake resigned from the bench and returned to the practice of law at his old firm, of which his partner, John Alexander Boyd, had just left following his appointment as Chancellor of the High Court of Justice of the Province of Ontario. While in practice, he represented the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

, the

Canadian Bank of Commerce The Canadian Bank of Commerce was a Canadian bank that operated from 1867 to 1961. It merged in 1961 with the Imperial Bank of Canada to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which today is one of Canada's Big Five banks of Canada, Big Five ...

, the

City of Toronto government The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the ''City of Toron ...

, and the University of Toronto. He was also an active Anglican layman, as well as a philanthropist, social reformer, and dedicated

pamphleteer A pamphleteer is a historical term used to describe someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (therefore inexpensive) booklets intended for wide circulation. Context Pamphlets were used to broadcast the writer's opinions: to articu ...

. He was a member of the Evangelical Association (which later became the Church Association in 1873) in 1877 that established the Protestant Episcopal Divinity School (later renamed

Wycliffe College Wycliffe College () is an evangelical Colleges of the University of Toronto, graduate school of theology of the University of Toronto located at the University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded i ...

) as a response to the "high-church teachings" of

Trinity College, Toronto Trinity College (occasionally referred to as the University of Trinity College) is a University of Toronto#Colleges, federated college of the University of Toronto located at the University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Down ...

. He also helped to establish Bishop Ridley College in

St Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

in 1889 and Havergal Ladies' College in Toronto in 1894.

Personal life

On 3 February 1859, Blake married Rebecca Cronyn (1837–1901), the third daughter of

Benjamin Cronyn The Rt. Rev. Benjamin Cronyn (11 July 1802 – 21 September 1871) was the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Huron. Cronyn was born in Kilkenny, Ireland and educated at Trinity College, Dublin."Alumni Dublinenses : a register of the ...

, the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Huron. Blake's brother, Edward, was married to Rebecca's sister, Margaret Cronyn, and Blake's sister, Sophia, was married to Rebecca's brother, Verschoyle Cronyn (parents of Hume Blake Cronyn). Together, Rebecca and Samuel were the parents of one son and two daughters, including: * Mabel Blake, who in 1889 married, and later divorced, Frank Haydn Moss, a son of former chief justice Thomas Moss. In 1908, she remarried Alexander Mackenzie of Brazilian Traction, Light & Power. * Katherine Blake (1873–1930), who married Thomas Newbold Rhinelander (1865–1928), son of Frederic W. Rhinelander, in 1894. His wife died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

while visiting her sister Margaret. After her death, the 74-year-old Blake married his 32-year-old housekeeper and private secretary, Elizabeth Baird (1876–1969) on October 18, 1909, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. Blake died at his home in Toronto on 23 June 1914. He was buried at St. James Cemetery in Toronto. His estate was valued at $206,819, which consisted of $50,000 in bonds in the Canada Bread Company.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Samuel Hume 1835 births 1914 deaths Upper Canada College alumni Canadian Anglicans Canadian people of Anglo-Irish descent Politicians from Toronto British social reformers Burials at St. James Cemetery, Toronto