Murray, Hon. Robert, K.C., Provincial Secretary-Treasurer of the Province of New Brunswick, is one of the best known and widely respected public men of the Maritime Provinces. He was born at Chatham, N.B., where he still resides, on July 17, 1855, the son of Robert and Jane Murray. His father was a millwright, and the younger Robert was educated at the Presbyterian Academy in his native town, from which he graduated in 1871. At school he had shown himself to be of a naturally studious turn of mind, and decided to qualify himself for the bar. He was Police Magistrate for the town of Chatham, N.B., from 1887 to 1891, when he resigned. For upwards of forty years he followed his profession as a barrister in the town of Chatham, and has built up a large practice in the County of Northumberland, where he is held in general esteem and confidence. Subsequently, in 1902, his standing was recognized when he was created a King’s Counsel. In addition, he devoted himself to public and municipal affairs, and was identified with the Liberal party. His first public service was as a member of the County Council of Northumberland, and he was later an alderman of the town of Chatham. In 1905 he was elected by acclamation in a by-election as one of the representatives of Northumberland County in the Provincial Legislature, where he served till 1908. During the past few years, there have been several political upheavals in the province of New Brunswick, and in 1917, when the Conservative ministry, headed by Hon. G. Clarke, sought the franchise of the people, there was a demand for new men. In that contest, Mr. Murray was induced to stand as one of the Liberal candidates for Northumberland, which sends four members to the Legislature. He was elected, and at the same time the Murray administration, of which Hon. J. A. Murray was Premier, was defeated. Hon. Walter E. Foster, who was called upon to form a ministry, at once sent for Mr. Murray and offered him the portfolio of Provincial Secretary-Treasurer, in succession to Hon. D. V. Landry. The offer was accepted, and Mr. Murray has since conducted the finances of the province to the satisfaction of everyone. From his youth Mr. Murray took an active interest in the militia of his district, and retired in 1910 with the rank of Major, receiving the long service decoration. During the late war he played an energetic, useful part in promoting Canada’s military and patriotic effort. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and is a member of the A.F. & A.M., and the I.O.O.F. His recreations are hunting, curling and quoit playing. On June 11, 1889, he married Jane, daughter of Simon F. Simpson, of Negnac, Northumberland County, N.B., and has three children, Nina Helen, Vera Alice, and Robert Blaine, all of whom are now married. Though his public duties compel him to spend much of his time in Fredericton, his home is still at Chatham, N.B., and he continues the practice of his profession there.
Wood, Rev. William Robertson (Winnipeg, Man.), General Secretary of the Manitoba Grain Growers’ Association. Was born on June 6, 1874, at Weir, Orkney, Scotland. Son of William Wood and Margaret Robertson. Came to Canada in 1887. Educated at primary school in his native island, and at Port Elgin High School, Owen Sound Model School, Toronto University and Knox College. From this latter institution he graduated in 1904. On his ordination, he served the Presbyterian Church as Minister in Dunbarton, Ont., 1904-8; Claremont, Ont., 1908-13; Franklin, Man., 1913-16. Opposed Hon. J. H. Howden, Attorney-General for Manitoba, for the constituency of Beautiful Plains, Man., and was defeated by thirty-two votes. First elected a member of the Manitoba Legislature for Beautiful Plains, August, 1915, opposing J. H. Irwin, Neepawa. General Secretary of the Free Trade League of Canada, 1916-17. Became Secretary of the Manitoba Grain Growers’ Association, August, 1917. Married, in June, 1904, to Margaret, daughter of Andrew and Ellen Workman, of Rothsay, Ont., and has one daughter, Rhoda Marguerite, born in December, 1906. In politics Rev. Mr. Wood is an Independent Liberal.
Weld, John, publisher (London, Ont.), was born on a farm in Middlesex County, Ont., on September 7, 1854. His father, the late William Weld, son of an Anglican Church clergyman, emigrated from Tenterden, Kent, England, in 1843, and made a home for himself amid the forests of Delaware Township. After living the life of a pioneer farmer for twenty years, he founded “The Farmer’s Advocate” of London in 1866 as a means of assisting other settlers who were continually coming to him for advice, and it is through his long association with this journal and its colleague, “The Farmer’s Advocate and Home Journal” of Winnipeg that the subject of this sketch became so widely known. After receiving his early education in the London schools, Mr. Weld learned the printing business in a local shop and completed his apprenticeship with a short post-graduate engagement with a large New York publishing house. Returning to Canada, he was attracted by the West, which was then opening up for settlers, and he staked his claim in Saskatchewan, where he “proved up” on a half-section in 1885. The growth of “The Farmer’s Advocate” then necessitated his return to London, where he became business manager of the publication until his father’s death on January 3, 1891. He then became general manager, and when the Wm. Weld Company, Ltd., was organized and incorporated in July of the same year, he acquired a controlling interest in the firm, which he has since held. The first issue of “The Farmer’s Advocate” of Winnipeg appeared in 1890. It was edited in the West, but a separate company was not organized until July 31, 1905, when The Farmer’s Advocate of Winnipeg, Ltd., was incorporated with Mr. Weld as President. A building was erected on Princess Street in that year, but it proved inadequate to meet the ever-growing requirements of the business, so it was sold in 1911, and a five-story concrete, fire-proof building was constructed at the corner of Notre Dame and Langside Streets. In order to keep the two publications inseparably linked with practical and progressive farming, as well as to provide means whereby the editors might keep constantly in touch with varying agricultural conditions, a farm was purchased in the neighbourhood of London, and, incidentally, a separated portion of this is a part of the Weld homestead which has always been owned by the family under the original Crown grant. The subject of this sketch spends many enjoyable hours on Weldwood Farm, where pure-bred Yorkshire swine and one of the largest herds of pure-bred dual-purpose Shorthorns in Canada are maintained. The Bryant Press, Toronto, of which Mr. Weld is President, was acquired in 1903, and he is also President of the London Printing and Lithographing Company, Ltd. He has held various offices in the Canadian Press Association, and was the only representative of the Agricultural Press to visit Britain and the war zone in company with Canadian publishers and editors, the party being the guests of the Imperial Government in the summer of 1918. He is a member of the Anglican Church, and a life member of the Masonic Order, Tuscan Lodge 195, A.F. & A.M.
Foster, Hon. Walter Edward, Premier of New Brunswick, is also one of the most prominent business men of that Province. He was born at St. Martins, N.B., on April 9, 1874, the son of Edward H. and Elizabeth (Pattison) Foster, and educated at the public and grammar schools of St. John, N.B. As a boy of fifteen he entered the Bank of New Brunswick as a junior clerk, and remained in its service until 1899, when he became a member of the firm of Vassie & Co., Ltd., wholesale dry goods merchants, St. John. Of this firm he is now Vice-President and Managing Director. He is also actively connected with transportation and shipping interests, and is President of the St. Martins Railway Co. He was Vice-President of the St. John Board of Trade in 1906-7, and President in 1908-9. He was Third Arbitrator and Chairman of the Conciliation Board which successfully settled differences between the longshoremen of the Port of St. John and the Shipping Federation, 1913. In the autumn of 1915 differences having again arisen between the Longshoremen’s Association and the shipping companies at St. John, he was appointed Chairman of the Conciliation Board by the Minister of Labor of Canada, and succeeded in effecting an agreement for two years. Coming as it did in the midst of the war, this settlement was of the highest importance in a military sense. Hon. Mr. Foster was formerly an officer in the New Brunswick Regiment, Canadian Artillery, retiring with the rank of Captain in 1903. He has been for a good many years identified with the Liberal party, and is a Past President of the Young Liberals Club of St. John, but not until comparatively recently did he become a candidate for political office. In 1916 the Liberal party in the Legislature decided on reorganization, and offered the leadership of the Opposition to Mr. Foster. He accepted, and at once threw himself with energy into the task of putting the party on a fighting basis. At the general elections of February 24, 1917, he was victorious at the polls, and he was shortly afterward sworn in as First Minister. His business-like and economical administration in a difficult period has given satisfaction to all classes of citizens. He is a member of the Union Club, St. John, and was President of the Cliff Club, 1915-7. In religion he is an Anglican. On January 18, 1900, he married Jehan Mary, daughter of William Vassie, St. John, and has one son and three daughters. His residence is at 36 Cobourg Street, St. John, and his summer residence at Rothesay, N.B.
Charlesworth, Hector, journalist (Toronto, Ont.), was born at Hamilton, Ont., September 28, 1872, the son of Horatio G. and Charlotte (McEachern) Charlesworth. He is a Canadian of several generations, some of his forbears having come to Quebec after the British conquest in the eighteenth century. His maternal grandfather, John McEachern, whose parents went to Manitoba with Lord Selkirk’s party, was born at Fort Garry on the site of the present city of Winnipeg, in 1811. When he was but very young, his parents travelled in canoes through the waterways of Northern Ontario to Montreal, and later made their home at Chateauguay Basin, Que. Mr. Charlesworth has lived in Toronto since 1876, and was educated at Wellesley School and Jarvis Street Collegiate Institute. His father was a shoe manufacturer; and in 1887 he was articled as a chartered accountant with a view to his ultimately becoming office manager of the firm. At seventeen he commenced writing anonymously under the nom de plume of “Touchstone” for Toronto “Saturday Night.” In 1891 Mr. E. E. Shepherd, editor of the journal, inserted an advertisement asking the contributor to disclose his identity, and on learning it offered him a position on the staff of that journal. He remained with Mr. Shepherd for a year, and then resolved to qualify himself by practical experience as a reporter. During the next eighteen years he worked on several daily newspapers, including “The World,” “The News,” and “The Mail and Empire,” of which latter journal he was City Editor from 1904 to 1910. Shortly after the reorganization of “Saturday Night” as a national weekly he was offered and accepted the post of Assistant Managing Editor, which he still holds. Though he has been a copious writer on political, financial and social topics, he is perhaps best known as a musical and dramatic critic. He acted as Chairman of the Board of Judges at the Earl Grey dramatic competitions, Toronto, 1911, and of Winnipeg, 1912, and eliminating judge in the Duke of Connaught’s competition, 1913. He was also chief judge in the “Collier’s Weekly” competition to secure suitable English words for “O Canada” in 1909. He has written essays and sketches for many publications, including the “International Studio,” the “New York Evening Post,” “Christian Science Monitor,” “New York Times,” the “Canadian Bankers’ Journal,” and the “Canadian Magazine.” His name appears among the contributors to volume one, number one, of the latter publication. He was one of the special writers engaged in connection with the Victory Loan Campaigns of 1918 and 1919, his work being syndicated throughout Canada, and has edited and contributed to many Canadian books of reference. His other published work includes a treatise on modern methods of treating tuberculosis published by the National Sanitarium Association, and the narrative introduction to Dr. Herbert A. Bruce’s controversial book “Politics and the Canadian Army Medical Service.” In 1900 he was personally thanked by the family of the late Robert Louis Stevenson for two sonnets protesting against a movement to remove the remains of that author from Samoa, which have since been reprinted in the “Oxford Book of Canadian Verse.” He was also one of nine accredited Canadian correspondents who accompanied the present King and Queen (then Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York) on the Royal tour of 1901, and later reported His Majesty’s visit to the Quebec Tercentenary in 1908. On February 15, 1897, he married Katherine, second daughter of Peter Ryan, Toronto, and has two children, Constance Charlotte (born 1904) and Lionel Victor (born 1906).