Thomas Edward Simpson (August 10, 1873 – July 16, 1951) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician and businessman. Simpson was born on a farm in

Dufferin County Dufferin County is a county and census division located in Central Ontario, Canada. The county seat is Orangeville, and the current Warden is Janet Horner. The current chief administrative officer is Sonya Pritchard. Dufferin covers an area of ...

, Ontario on August 10, 1873. In the 1890s he moved to Sault Ste. Marie and started a furniture business that he operated until 1943. He became involved in municipal politics, being elected a town councillor in 1908. He was elected town mayor in 1909 and acclaimed to that office in 1910. In April 1912, Sault Ste. Marie became incorporated as a city. Simpson became the city's second mayor and the first elected to the role. (Under the terms of incorporation, William H. Munro the town mayor in 1912 was made the first city mayor following incorporation until the end of his term.) Simpson was re-elected as mayor of the city in 1914. He served in federal politics from 1917 to 1935, representing the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Algoma West Algoma West was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1968. It was created in 1903 from parts of Algoma riding. The west riding of Algoma was defined to consist o ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. He was first elected in the 1917 federal election as a member of

Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942), Conservative politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known ...

's Unionist Party caucus. He was re-elected in 1921, as a member of

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 ...

's Conservative Party. He was re-elected in the general elections of 1925, 1926 and 1930. He served as

Chief Government Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

from 1930 to 1935. He served in parliament for nearly 18 years until announcing his retirement from politics in April 1935 due to his health. He completed his final term in parliament in October 1935. In 1895, he married Minnie Maxwell. The couple had two daughters, Helen and Gertrude. From 1900 to 1943, Simpson operated a furniture store in Sault Ste. Marie. He and his brother Albert operated a funeral home at Queen and Elgin streets until 1945. He was a charter member of the city's Rotary Club, and a volunteer with the Children's Aid Board, the Plummer Memorial Hospital Board and the public school board. He died in Sault Ste. Marie on July 15, 1951. His funeral was held two days later at Central United Church. He was interred in Greenwood Cemetery.

References

1873 births 1951 deaths Unionist Party (Canada) MPs Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Mayors of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario {{Mayors of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario