Thomas Mitchell March Tweedie (4 March 1871 – 4 October 1944) was a Canadian politician, lawyer and chief justice in Alberta, Canada.

Early life

Tweedie was born in River John,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, on 4 March 1871, to James Tweedie a Methodist Minister, and his wife Rachael Susannah. He graduated from

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in 1902 and subsequently entered

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he earned a law degree in 1905. He was admitted to the bar in Nova Scotia in 1905, and then moved to

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

where he would be one of the last individuals admitted to the bar in the Northwest Territories on 10 July 1907. Settling in Calgary, he would begin to practice law with future MLA

Alexander McGillivray Alexander McGillivray, also known as ''Hoboi-Hili-Miko'' (December 15, 1750February 17, 1793), was a Muscogee (Creek) leader. The son of a Muscogee mother, Sehoy II, and a Scottish father, Lachlan McGillivray, he was literate and received a ...

, and was named

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

on 19 March 1913.

Provincial career

Tweedie was first elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

in a 1911 by-election and served the Calgary seat that had been previously vacated by Richard Bennett. In this elected he ran under the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

banner. Tweedie defeated popular municipal alderman Thomas Skinner who ran as a Liberal candidate. Tweedie was re-elected to his second term in the 1913 Alberta general election. The Calgary riding was broken up into 3 different ridings under the redistribution bill passed by the Sifton government. Thomas ran in the new riding of Centre Calgary. He won his second term in the legislature with a large margin defeating Liberal candidate John McDougall. In the 1917 Alberta general election he ran for re-election in Calgary Centre, this time being defeated by

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book creator, comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which ...

who ran as a Labor candidate. Thomas would quickly make the jump to federal politics running in the federal election later that year.

Federal career

After Thomas lost his seat in the 1917 provincial election, he attempted a run at federal politics. Thomas ran as a Unionist member in the new

Calgary West Calgary West was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1953, and from 1979 to 2015. It was in the western part of the City of Calgary. The electoral district was or ...

federal riding during the 1917 federal election. He won a comfortable victory and served as the first Member of Parliament for the riding in the coalition government. Thomas served most of his first in term parliament, until he vacated his seat on 14 October 1921, after he was appointed as a Justice to the Bench.

Judicial career

Thomas was appointed as a judge to the Supreme Court of Alberta Trial Division in Calgary on 15 September 1921 and subsequently resigned his seat in the House of Commons. He served as a justice for 23 years, where he was known for his judgements on civil actions including contracts, bankruptcies, and torts, before being appointed as a Chief justice on 16 August 1944. Tweedie's reputation as a popular and well respected legal mind would be somewhat tarnished after his involvement assisting the Alberta Minister of Public Works Oran McPherson with his divorce in 1932. Tweedie would hold court in the judge's library in Edmonton to expedite the process, and when McPherson's wife challenged the divorce, the matter ended up in front of the Privy Council. He would die a short time later on 4 October 1944, after attending a dinner in his honour hosted by the Lethbridge Bar Association at the age of 73.

References

External links

*
Justice Thomas Tweedie: Alberta Archives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tweedie, Thomas 1871 births 1944 deaths Harvard Law School alumni Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Unionist Party (Canada) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Mount Allison University alumni Judges in Alberta Politicians from Pictou County 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta