Weld, Edmund (London, Ont.), Barrister, is the member of a well-known English county family, his grandfather having been the Rev. Joseph Weld, Rector, Tenterden, Kent. His father, the late Wm. Weld, was the founder and owner of the “Farmer’s Advocate,” London, Ont. The subject of this sketch was born at Delaware, Ont., in 1859, and educated at London, Ont., where he became a Barrister, in 1884, and successfully practised his profession, as also at Toronto. He has been an Alderman and a member of the Public Library Board of his native town, also President of the Western Ontario Bowling Association. In 1907 Mr. Weld was appointed to his present position as Deputy Clerk of the Crown, Registrar of the Surrogate Court and of the County Court, Middlesex County, Ont. He married Gertrude Isobel, daughter of Richard Gibson, Delaware, Ont., in 1890. He has a family of five, viz.: Helen G., Constance G., Rowena G., Hume G., and Stanley G. He is a member of the London Club, a Conservative in Politics, and a member of the Church of England.
Brodeur, Hon. Louis Philippe, is one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Canada, Ottawa, to which position he was appointed August 11, 1911. Mr. Brodeur was born at Beloeil, Quebec, August 21, 1862. He is the son of Toussaint Brodeur, a patriot of 1837, and of Justine Lambert. He was educated in the College of St. Hyacinthe, was graduated LL.B. at Laval University, and, in 1904, received the degree of LL.D. from that university. Called to the bar in 1884, he was in 1899 created a K.C. He has written largely for the press, and, in 1896, was editor of “Le Soir.” In 1891, Mr. Brodeur was elected to the House of Commons for Rouville, Quebec. He was re-elected in 1896, and became Deputy-Speaker of the House, and on his re-election in 1900 was appointed Speaker. He was re-elected at the next two general elections, viz., in the elections of 1904 and 1908. Mr. Brodeur gained much prominence owing to his keen knowledge of parliamentary procedure, and while Speaker was noted for the able and dignified manner in which he gave his decisions on all questions that came before him for solution. Before entering Parliament, Mr. Brodeur had gained an enviable reputation in the legal profession, and, as a member of the House of Commons—he being a fluent and eloquent speaker in both English and French, and one who had studiously labored to acquire a masterly knowledge of parliamentary procedure—he soon rose in the estimation and confidence of his fellow members; and his affability in politics, as in social life, made him a great favorite. In 1904, Mr. Brodeur was called to the Laurier Cabinet, and was sworn in as Minister of Inland Revenue. In 1906, on the death of Hon. Raymond Prefontaine, Mr. Brodeur was transferred to the Department of Marine and Fisheries, and when the Department of Naval Service was organized he was appointed head of it. It was Mr. Brodeur who was the author of the first Naval Bill introduced in the Canadian Parliament in 1910, calling for the organization of the Navy. It was Mr. Brodeur who introduced in Parliament a Bill against the American Tobacco Trust, which proved successful in checking the methods the Tobacco Company wanted to employ in Canada. The success resulting from the passing of this legislation attracted the attention of the people of Canada, and even the United States press commented favorably upon it. Taking a keen interest in navigation in all Canadian waters, Mr. Brodeur was instrumental in having established along the St. Lawrence River innumerable aids to navigation which have made that river, night or day, or in fog, navigable. In 1907 and 1911, Mr. Brodeur was a member of the Imperial Conference at London, and, by Imperial Order-in-Council of August 8, 1907, Mr. Brodeur was appointed by the King one of the joint-plenipotentiaries to negotiate the first treaty which has been exclusively negotiated by Canadians or representatives of any other sister nations of the Empire, viz., the Franco-Canadian Treaty. In 1909, Mr. Brodeur represented Canada at the Imperial Defence Conference, and was Canada’s representative to the Washington Conference held in pursuance of the decision of the Hague Tribunal on the North Atlantic fisheries. Mr. Brodeur was created an officier of the Legion d’Honneur in 1908. He is one of the Governors of the Notre Dame Hospital. In 1887, Mr. Brodeur married Emma Brillon, daughter of J. R. Brillon, notary, of Beloeil. He has four sons and one daughter. One of his sons was during the war a Lieutenant in the Imperial Navy. Mr. Brodeur is a member of the following clubs: Hunt, Rideau, Rivermead, of Ottawa, Montreal (Montreal), Winchester (Montreal), and Country Club of Montreal. He resides at 229 Chapel St., Ottawa.
Côté, Narcisse Omer, I.S.O., Controller of the Lands Patents Branch and Registrar of Dominion Lands Patents, Department of Interior, is a descendant of Jean Côté, a native of France (being the eighth generation of this ancestor residing in Canada), one of the first settlers of Quebec, having been married there in 1635, to Anne, daughter of Abraham Martin, the owner of a piece of ground in Quebec known as the plains of Abraham. Entering the Department of the Interior in the Canadian Civil Service in 1879, which Department was then presided over by the late Rt. Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, K.C.B., Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Mr. Côté soon made himself an attentive, valuable and trusted employee. He rapidly rose from one station to another until 1904 when he became chief clerk, in 1906 registrar of Dominion Land Patents and chief of the Lands Patents Branch, and in 1913 controller. Mr. Côté was a member and secretary of the Royal Commission on the claims of half-breeds in the North-West Territories, now comprising the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, during 1885, 1886, 1887, and chairman in 1900 of the Royal Commission on claims of the half-breeds of the Provisional District of Saskatchewan, and of persons who had served as scouts, or otherwise, during the Rebellion of 1885. Mr. Côté is the author of many valuable publications, some, if not all, of which will remain for all time to come as useful reference for historical, parliamentary, and other purposes, and which, as the years pass, will increase in value and become indispensable. The following are to be found among his literary works already published: “Political Appointments, Parliaments, and the Judicial Bench in the Dominion of Canada 1867 to 1895,” published in 1896; Supplement thereto up to 1903, published in 1903; Volume II. to the original work, for period 1896 to 1917, published in 1917; “Appendix 1865 to 1867 and Index,” published in 1918, to his father’s work published in 1866, entitled “Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1865.” The whole series providing an indispensable record for present and future reference of public men and public events in Canada during the last seventy-six years, 1841 to 1917. Mr. Narcisse Omer Côté, I.S.O., was born in Quebec, September 14, 1859. He is the son of the late Joseph Olivier Côté, a notary public for the Province of Quebec, and clerk of H.M.’s Privy Council for Canada, and Marie Julie Léocadie Leprobon. He was educated at de la Salle Commercial Academy, Ottawa, and the University of Ottawa. On the occasion of the coronation of His Majesty King George the Fifth, in 1911, Mr. Côté was created a Companion of the Imperial Service Order. In 1907, Mr. Côté married Mabel Edna, daughter of the late Hon. Désiré Girouard, D.C.L., Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Canada. For several years, Mr. Côté was connected with the Canadian militia; and was formerly captain in the Governor-General’s Foot Guards. Mr. Côté is a member of the Rideau Club and the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. He is a Roman Catholic in religion and resides at 54 Russell Avenue, Ottawa, Ont.
Bole, David W., President National Drug and Chemical Company of Canada, Limited, with head office in Montreal, was born in the county of Lambton, Ont., February 15, 1856, the son of James Bole, a farmer, and Ann Murdock Bole, his wife. He was educated at the Watford Public School and Woodstock College, and graduated from the Ontario College of Pharmacy in 1880, and on March 3 of that year married Isabella Lennox, daughter of Thomas Lennox, merchant, of Thedford, Ont. He has three children, the sons being Frederick H. Bole and David L. Bole, President and Managing Director respectively of the Mutual Elevator Co., Fort William, Ontario, and a daughter, Florence, wife of W. D. Muirhead, of Fort William. Mr. Bole moved to Regina, Sask., in 1882, and established the first drug store in the north-west between Brandon, Man., and Kamloops, B.C. He was a member of the Provisional School Board in Regina before schools were established by law, and also President of the Board of Trade. In 1889, he moved to Winnipeg where he established a wholesale drug house, and built up an extensive business. He was elected in 1906 President National Drug and Chemical Co., with head office in Montreal, and branches in all of the leading cities of Canada. This company is one of the largest drug concerns in the British Empire, employing about $5,000,000 active capital. He was elected by acclamation to the Winnipeg School Board for eight years, during three of which he was chairman. For thirteen years he was a member of the Council of the Winnipeg Board of Trade, and one year its President. Mr. Bole was elected member of the House of Commons for Winnipeg at the general election in 1904, but declined to be a candidate in 1908. Since taking up his residence in Montreal, he has accepted no public office, except as a member of the Council of the Board of Trade. He is a member of the Montreal Club. Presbyterian; Liberal. His address is 34 St. Gabriel St., Montreal, Quebec.
Wetherell, James Elgin, B.A. (Toronto, Ont.), born at Port Dalhousie, Ont., September 20, 1851. Son of James S. Wetherell and Jane (Hilts) Wetherell, both of U.E. Loyalist descent, his mother being a sister of the Rev. Joseph H. Hilts, the well-known pioneer preacher. Mr. Wetherell was educated at the Newmarket Public and High Schools and at the University of Toronto (B.A. 1877 with medal in classics). After graduation he was Professor of Latin for two years at Woodstock College. In September, 1879, he became the first Principal of the newly created Collegiate Institute at St. Marys. In 1884 he moved to Strathroy, where in 1885 he became the first Principal of the newly created Collegiate Institute of that town. For five years he was Principal of the Strathroy Training Institute for High School teachers. He was President of the Ontario Classical Association in 1896, and President of the College and High School section of the Ontario Teachers’ Association in 1902. In 1905 he was elected a Senator of the University of Toronto to represent the High School teachers of the Province. This position he resigned in 1906 when appointed Inspector of High Schools and Collegiate Institutes for Ontario to succeed Dr. John Seath. During the ten years of his inspectorship he travelled extensively, not only in Ontario, but also in the United States and Europe. In January, 1917, he was appointed General Editor of Text-Books for the Ontario Department of Education. He has edited many High School text-books in Latin and English, as follows: Virgil, Book I.; Virgil, Book V.; Cicero, Cato Major; Cicero against Catiline; Scott, Lay of the Last Minstrel; Selections from Longfellow; Selections from Wordsworth. After visiting Tennyson’s homes and haunts he edited in 1890 the first annotated edition of selections from Tennyson in Canada—a work which called forth a letter of appreciation and thanks from the poet. He has edited also four anthologies: Later Canadian Poems (1893); Later American Poems (1896); Poems of the Love of Country (1905); and the Great War in Verse and Prose (1919). He is also the author of two books, “Over the Sea,” and “Fields of Fame in England and Scotland” (1914). He has contributed numerous articles and occasional verse to magazines and journals, and was at one time a regular contributor of unsigned articles to a Toronto newspaper. He has often lectured on educational and literary topics. Mr. Wetherell married (1) Rebecca Randle, daughter of William Nason, Weston (died May, 1912); and (2) Margaret, daughter of Henry Smith, Thorold. He has three children, two sons and a daughter. He is a member of the Canadian Club and a charter member of the Champlain Society. He attends St. Paul’s Anglican Church.