His professional activity would alone entitle him to wide distinction, yet he was active in other fields and in connection with the public affairs of the country.
He became president of the Montreal City & District Savings Bank, and also vice president of the City Passenger Railway Company. In 1875 Montreal elected him its mayor, and he served one term, when he declined renomination. For coolness and judgment, which he displayed during the Guibord affair in Montreal, he received the thanks of the Earl of Dufferin, then governor general of Canada. Bishop’s College University at Lennoxville conferred upon him the honorary degree of D. C. L., while Victoria University of Toronto gave him the honorary degree of LL. D. He was made vice president of the Montreal branch of the St. John’s Ambulance Association and in 1875 was appointed a commander of the Roman Order of St. Gregory. Twenty years later, or on the 24th of May, 1895, he was knighted by Her Majesty, the late Queen Victoria, and he was called to the senate of Canada by the Earl of Aberdeen, January 2, 1896. His political allegiance was given to the conservative party, and his study of vital questions and issues of the day brought about the familiarity of Canadian politics, which enabled him to discuss such subjects with those to whom such study was a life work.
In 1875 Dr. Hingston was married to Miss Margaret Josephine Macdonald, a daughter of the late Hon. D. A. Macdonald, at one time lieutenant governor of Ontario. Her mother was Katherine, the second daughter of the late Hon. Colonel Alexander Fraser of Frasersfield, Ontario. Lady Hingston was educated in Montreal and has been very prominent in charitable and benevolent work. She is a member of the Ladies Committee L’Institute des Ecoles Menageres, vice president of the Needlework Guild, honorary president of the Loyola Literary Club; prominently identified with the local League for the Prevention of Tuberculosis; formerly president of the Woman’s Park Protective Association; etc., and was elected president of the Catholic Girls’ Club of Montreal (an association largely founded by her), in 1911.
Sir William Hingston was a member of the Roman Catholic church to which Lady Hingston also belongs. He passed away on February 19, 1907, but there lives in the minds of those who knew him and of the professional world at large, the memory of distinguished service for the benefit of his fellowmen, in the path of his chosen profession. A keen intellect, splendidly developed, was brought to bear upon complex medical and surgical problems and the result of deep thought, wise research and careful investigation, made his contribution to the world’s work of the utmost benefit.
HON. JAMES KEWLEY WARD.
Out of the struggle with comparatively small opportunities Hon. James Kewley Ward came finally into a field of broad and active influence and usefulness. Not seeking honor but simply endeavoring to do his duty, honors were yet multiplied and prosperity followed his undertakings. His father settled on the Isle of Man and it was there that the son, James Kewley Ward, was born on the 9th of September, 1819. He was reared and educated at the place of his nativity but the opportunities of America attracted him in early manhood, and he crossed the Atlantic to New York, remaining for a decade in that city. His initial experience in the new world was one of continuous advancement, for the wise use he made of his time and opportunities brought about the development and increase of his powers. He left New York for Canada in 1853, and settling in Montreal engaged in the lumber business, which he found a profitable field of labor, owing to his keen discernment and his wise management of his affairs. He also became deeply interested in the Canadian cotton manufacturing industry and in time came to rank with the leading representatives of manufacturing and commercial interests in his province.
Important and extensive as were his business affairs, Mr. Ward never allowed these to preclude an active and helpful interest in the municipal life or provincial welfare. For eighteen years he was a valued member of the town council of Cote St. Antoine, and for nine years he was mayor, giving to the city a businesslike and progressive administration that brought about needed reforms and improvements. In 1882 and again in 1887 he was defeated in the dominion general election, after which he was appointed to the legislative council in 1888 and in 1903 was made a member of the council of public instruction. He reached the remarkable old age of ninety-one years, yet remained an active factor in the work of the legislative council, being seen daily at his desk in the legislature, taking a keen interest in many public questions which were submitted for consideration. He was a liberal and his position upon any vital issue was never an equivocal one. He stood stalwartly in defence of what he believed to be right and for the best interests of the province at large. He was a man of broad vision, whose public service was characterized by no petty personal prejudices. Duty was his watchword in public office, and he seemed to view a vital question from every possible standpoint.
Hon. Mr. Ward was connected with various public institutions, having to do with the welfare and benefit of the unfortunate or tending to alleviate hard conditions of life for the needy. He was a governor of the Montreal General Hospital and of the House of Industry and Refuge, was president of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane and president of St. George’s Society and other organizations. He passed away October 2, 1910, having kept his faculties unimpaired to the last. To build up rather than to destroy had ever been his broad policy, and through life he had attacked every important work which he undertook with a contagious enthusiasm.