1908 Toronto municipal election

In the 1908 Toronto municipal election, held January 1, 1908, former alderman Joseph Oliver was elected Mayor of Toronto in an open contest after incumbent Emerson Coatsworth decided not to seek a third term. Oliver defeated former alderman and future mayor George Reginald Geary (also a future Conservative Member of Parliament), former Conservative Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Dr. Beattie Nesbitt, socialist and future mayor James Simpson and former school trustee and hardware merchant Miles Vokes, in the election. Oliver's majority of almost 7,000 votes was the largest ever recorded up to that time in a Toronto mayoral election.^[1] A referendum was also held which approved the creation of a publicly-owned utility, the Toronto Hydro-Electric corporation, to replace a series of privately-owned power companies, and to also put into public ownership two private interurban radial streetcar companies, the Toronto Suburban Railway and the Toronto Eastern Railway (despite this, the streetcar companies remained privately owned).

Mayoral election[change | change source]

Results: Joseph Oliver - 14,003; George Reginald Geary - 7,162; Beattie Nesbitt - 6,523; James Simpson- 3,691; Miles Vokes - 979

Reference:^[2]

Board of Control[change | change source]

Four members were elected to the Toronto Board of Control in an at-large vote. Long-time Toronto Controller William Peyton Hubbard, the first and for decades only Black Canadian to sit on Toronto City Council, lost his seat to Frank S. Spence.

Results: Horatio Clarence Hocken (inc.) - 15,786; Frank S. Spence - 10,315; William Spence Harrison (inc.) - 9,784; J.J. Ward (inc.) - 9,672; William Peyton Hubbard (inc.) - 8,679; John Shaw - 6,122; Robert Fleming - 5,488; Oliver B. Sheppard- 4,884; John Dunn - 4,136; John Enoch Thompson - 1,259; James Lindala - 1,236; Hugh MacMath - 993; Robert Buist Noble - 709; James O'Hara - 359; Joel Marvin Briggs - 216

Reference:^[2]

Plebiscite[change | change source]

Votes were held in towns and cities across Ontario on a plan to create municipally-owned hydro-electric companies to buy electricity produced at Niagara Falls by the publicly-owned Ontario Power Company Generating Station. The by-law also authorized the creation of a "hydro-radial" streetcar system with streetcars travelling between towns and cities.

Power by-law: For - 15,468; Against - 4,548

Reference:^[1]

Aldermen elected to City Council[change | change source]

Map of Toronto's six wards (1892-1909), published in *The Globe*, 1 January 1892.

Three alderman were elected to sit on Toronto City Council in each of six wards.

First Ward: Daniel Chisholm (inc.) - 2,079; William Temple Stewart - 1,435; William J. Saunderson - 1,362; Edward Hales (inc.) - 1,291; Zephaniah Hilton - 998; William Worrell - 991; John Coatsworth Graham - 481; Charles Fletcher Leidy - 360; Elgin Schoff - 158
Second Ward: Tommy Church (inc.) - 2,656; Thomas Foster (inc.) - 2,253; James Hales (inc.) - 1,921; William Norton Eastwood - 1,293; Ewart Farquahar - 864; William Alexander Douglass - 721; John Clark - 445; Josiah Rogers - 199
Third Ward: John Wilson Bengough(inc.) - 2,583; Sam McBride (inc.) - 2,155; Mark Bredin - 2,136; Wesley Sandfield Johnston - 998; Frank W. Johnston - 907; William Earngey - 777; John Kirk - 772; Julius H. Humphrey - 749; Frederick Hogg - 707; David Lorsch - 663; James Phinnemore - 255
Fourth Ward: Robert Crawford Vaughan (inc.) - 3,492; George McMurrich (inc.) - 3,409; Thomas Alexander Lytle (inc.) - 3,240; George Eakins Gibbard - 2,299
Fifth Ward: Albert James Keeler (inc.) - 2,376; Robert Henry Graham (inc.) - 2,339; Peter Whytock (inc.) - 1,155; James Cooper Claxton - 1,221; Joseph May - 1,044; John Aldridge - 1,008; William Carlyle - 887; Alexander Stewart - 875; Thomas Gillies - 692; Frederick W. Jenkins - 554; William James King - 358
Sixth Ward: James Henry McGhie (inc.) - 2,574; John James Graham (inc.) - 2,037; John Henry Adams (inc.) - 1,368; James Arthur McCausland - 1,352; Fred McBrien - 1,036; Walter Mann - 849; Thomas Hurst - 797; John Edward Jarrott - 629; David Ruddick Bell - 603; Thomas Yates Egan - 551; George Fairles - 428; Walter Warrington - 267; Phillips Thompson - 267

Reference:^[2]^[3]

References[change | change source]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 "Oliver's Majority Biggest Ever". Toronto World. January 2, 1908. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 "Oliver's Majority 6,841", Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]. 02 Jan 1908: 1.
↑ "MANY IN FIELD FOR ALDERMEN: Seventeen Candidates Running in Sixth Ward OLD MEMBERS LINED UP Aldermanic Candidates Favor Power By-law A Number off Them Advocate Purchase of Toronto Electric Company's Plant-- Filtration of Water Favored by Many of Those Seeking Office", The Globe, 4 Dec 1907: 9

[world-1] 1.0 ^1.1 "Oliver's Majority Biggest Ever". Toronto World. January 2, 1908. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

[star-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 "Oliver's Majority 6,841", Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]. 02 Jan 1908: 1.

[3] "MANY IN FIELD FOR ALDERMEN: Seventeen Candidates Running in Sixth Ward OLD MEMBERS LINED UP Aldermanic Candidates Favor Power By-law A Number off Them Advocate Purchase of Toronto Electric Company's Plant-- Filtration of Water Favored by Many of Those Seeking Office", The Globe, 4 Dec 1907: 9

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