1904 Toronto municipal election

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1904. Thomas Urquhart was acclaimed to a second term. 1904 was the first time the Toronto Board of Control, the executive committee of Toronto, was directly elected, after the Ontario legislature passed a law requiring municipal boards of control to be chosen through direct election by the municipality's voters.^[1] Previously, Toronto City Council chose four alderman to sit on the body, which would be chaired by the mayor.^[2]

Toronto mayor

Results: Thomas Urquhart - acclaimed

Source: ^[2]

Board of Control

Four members of the Toronto Board of Control were directly elected for the first time. Previously, Controllers were four alderman chosen by city council. Aldermen Loudon, Oliver, Burns and Richardson had been appointed to the outgoing Board of Control.^[3]

Under a new provincial law, the Board of Control was elected directly by voters. Each voter had up to four votes and could place them all on different candidates or all on one candidate (cumulative voting).^[4]

Seven of the eight candidates were sitting aldermen: First Ward Alderman Richardson, Second Ward Aldermen Spence and Oliver, Third Ward Alderman Loudon, Fourth Ward Aldermen Burns and Hubbard, Fifth Ward Alderman Starr. The other candidate, John Shaw, was a former mayor.

Several months after the election, Controller Richardson resigned after his election agent was charged with accepting bribes from the Toronto Railway Company, a private streetcar company. Shaw was then elected to the Board of Control in a by-election.^[2]^[5]

William Peyton Hubbard, a sitting alderman but not a member of the Board of Control, was elected to the Board of Control in 1904. As of 2020, he was the only person of colour to ever be elected to city-wide office in Toronto. Hubbard, whose parents were former slaves who had fled to Toronto through the Underground Railroad, was the first person of colour to be elected to Toronto City Council when he was elected in 1894 and was one of the first Black people to be elected to any public office in Canada.^[6]

Results: Frank S. Spence - 12,294; John F. Loudon - 11,121; William Peyton Hubbard - 8,950; Fred H. Richardson - 8,923; not elected; William Burns - 8,641; James Russell Lovett Starr - 8,639; Joseph Oliver - 8,598; John Shaw - 7,184

Source: ^[2]

Plebiscites

A plebiscite was held on a by-law granting $50,000 towards the creation of a sanatorium for the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis.^[7]

Sanatorium by-law: For - 4,131; Against - 3,681

Source: ^[2]

City council

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

Three aldermen were elected to Toronto City Council per ward. This was reduced from four aldermen per ward, previously.

First Ward (Riverdale): Daniel Chisholm (incumbent) - 1,347; William Temple Stewart (incumbent) - 1,211; Robert Fleming (incumbent) - 1,163; James Wilson - 749; John Preston - 530

Second Ward (Cabbagetown and Rosedale): Emerson Coatsworth - 1,845; Dr. John Noble (incumbent) - 1,362; Thomas Foster (incumbent) - 1,358; David Carlyle - 1,136; Edward Strachan Cox - 984; John W. Mogan - 800; W.A. Douglass - 707

Third Ward (Central Business District and The Ward): Joseph George Ramsden (incumbent) - 2,191; Oliver Barton Sheppard (incumbent) - 2,098; George Reginald Geary - 1,716; George McMurrich - 1,604; Arthur Callow - 432

Fourth Ward (Spadina): James Crane - 1,857; Stephen Alfred Jones - 1,850; Dr. William S. Harrison (incumbent) - 1,829; Stephen Wellesley Burns - 1,549; Robert Crawford Vaughan - 1,535; Edward James Hearn - 802; Albert Edward Hacker - 546; Charles Hambly - 230; Edmund Schilling - 105

Fifth Ward (Trinity-Bellwoods): Frank Woods (incumbent) - 2,039; William Bell (incumbent) - 1,576; John Dunn (incumbent) - 1,511; John Bell Hay - 1,246; Alexander Stewart - 1,067; Peter Whytock - 1,003; Wellington O. McTaggart - 510; David Clark - 244

Sixth Ward (Brockton and Parkdale): Jonn Joseph Ward (incumbent) - 1,581; James Henry McGhie (incumbent) - 1,446; John James Graham (incumbent) - 1,340; Dr. Adam Lynd (incumbent) - 1,219; Samuel Scott - 752

Source: ^[2] and ^[8]

References

Results taken from the January 2, 1904 Toronto Globe and might not exactly match final tallies.

^ The Consolidated Municipal Act, 1903, S.O. 1903, c. 19, Part IV, Div. III
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f FEW SURPRISES IN TORONTO CIVIC ELECTIONS: Spence, London, Hubbard, Richardson, Controllers Only Four Men in the New Council Who Were Not in the Old They Are Coatsworth, Geary, S, A. Jones and Crane The Election For the New Board of Education Resulted in Return of Many Public School Trustees-- Mr. B. E. Walker Elected by a Handsome Majority, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]02 Jan 1904: 5
^ "FIRST MEETING OF NEW COUNCIL: Board of Control Elected on the First Ballot THE MAYOR'S INAUGURAL Wm. Burns, Loudon, Oliver and Richardson Mayor Urquhart Urges More Power For the Board of Control-- The Standing Committees and Their Chairmen", The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]13 Jan 1903: 4
^ Proportional Representation Review, September 1903. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ SHAW AND RICHARDSON: ONLY TWO CANDIDATES IN THE BYE-ELECTION Ex-Ald. Denison Retires in Favor of Ex-Mayor Shaw-- Ex-Controller Richardson's Explanations-- Ex- Mayor Shaw Opposes Party Politics in Municipal Affairs, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]23 Apr 1904: 16.
^ "City's political class remains mostly colourless", Royson, James. Toronto Star; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]19 Feb 2015: GT.2.
^ "THE SANITARIUM GRANT: CAMPAIGN OPENED TO EXPLAIN AND FORWARD IT Speeches by Controller Richardson, Dr. Barrick, Rev. Dr. Eby and Others-- Stereopticon Views Shown of Voting in Council, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]12 Dec 1903: 28
^ ALDERMANIC NOMINATIONS: Forty-two Candidates in the Six Wards EIGHTEEN TO BE ELECTED Breezy Discussions of Many Civic Issues Ward Meetings Well Attended-- Work of This Year's Council Generally Commended-- Cattle Market the Issue in the Fifth Ward, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]24 Dec 1903: 9.

[1] The Consolidated Municipal Act, 1903, S.O. 1903, c. 19, Part IV, Div. III

[results-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f FEW SURPRISES IN TORONTO CIVIC ELECTIONS: Spence, London, Hubbard, Richardson, Controllers Only Four Men in the New Council Who Were Not in the Old They Are Coatsworth, Geary, S, A. Jones and Crane The Election For the New Board of Education Resulted in Return of Many Public School Trustees-- Mr. B. E. Walker Elected by a Handsome Majority, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]02 Jan 1904: 5

[3] "FIRST MEETING OF NEW COUNCIL: Board of Control Elected on the First Ballot THE MAYOR'S INAUGURAL Wm. Burns, Loudon, Oliver and Richardson Mayor Urquhart Urges More Power For the Board of Control-- The Standing Committees and Their Chairmen", The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]13 Jan 1903: 4

[4] Proportional Representation Review, September 1903. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

[5] SHAW AND RICHARDSON: ONLY TWO CANDIDATES IN THE BYE-ELECTION Ex-Ald. Denison Retires in Favor of Ex-Mayor Shaw-- Ex-Controller Richardson's Explanations-- Ex- Mayor Shaw Opposes Party Politics in Municipal Affairs, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]23 Apr 1904: 16.

[6] "City's political class remains mostly colourless", Royson, James. Toronto Star; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]19 Feb 2015: GT.2.

[7] "THE SANITARIUM GRANT: CAMPAIGN OPENED TO EXPLAIN AND FORWARD IT Speeches by Controller Richardson, Dr. Barrick, Rev. Dr. Eby and Others-- Stereopticon Views Shown of Voting in Council, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]12 Dec 1903: 28

[8] ALDERMANIC NOMINATIONS: Forty-two Candidates in the Six Wards EIGHTEEN TO BE ELECTED Breezy Discussions of Many Civic Issues Ward Meetings Well Attended-- Work of This Year's Council Generally Commended-- Cattle Market the Issue in the Fifth Ward, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]24 Dec 1903: 9.

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