Victor Quelch (13 December 1891 – 2 September 1975) was a farmer, soldier in the Canadian Army, and long-serving Canadian federal politician.

Military service

Born in Georgetown,

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

, Quelch was the son of British parents. He was educated at Fulneck School,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, before coming to Canada in 1909. Quelch served in the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

from 1914 to 1918. During his distinguished military career, he achieved the rank of Captain and was awarded the prestigious

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

for bravery.

Political career

Quelch first ran for public office in the 1935 Canadian federal election as a candidate from the Social Credit Party of Canada in the

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

district in

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 ...

. In that election, he defeated incumbent Robert Gardiner and two other candidates in a landslide victory. Quelch stood for re-election for a second term in office in the 1940 Canadian federal election. In one of the closest contests in that election, he retained his seat by a margin of 27 votes, defeating Liberal candidate Arthur Day, whom he had previously faced in 1935. Quelch was re-elected to his third term in the 1945 Canadian federal election by a much more comfortable margin, and was re-elected to a fourth term in the 1949 Canadian federal election. In 1950, Quelch was appointed by Liberal Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent to serve as one of six members from all parties as a Parliamentary adviser to the Canadian staff to the United Nations Assembly. He was re-elected to his fifth term in office in the 1953 Canadian federal election. In that election, he once again faced and defeated Liberal candidate Arthur Day for the third time in another close election. Quelch would run for his final term in office in the 1957 Canadian federal election; he won in a landslide and retired from federal politics a year later when the government dissolved in 1958. Over his 23 years of service in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

, he served as critic for finance, agriculture, and fisheries. Quelch died of pneumonia in September 1975 but, due to an oversight, no tribute was paid to him as was custom with deceased former members from the Canadian House of Commons. Twenty-four years later, Member of Parliament David Chatters paid tribute to the memory of Quelch during the Statements by Members period on 15 December 1999. Quelch's great-granddaughter was working for Chatters at the time and she wrote the tribute read by Chatters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quelch, Victor 1891 births 1975 deaths British expatriates in British Guiana British emigrants to Canada People educated at Fulneck School Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Social Credit Party of Canada MPs Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Canadian recipients of the Military Cross 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada