Ellis Hughes Cleaver Jr. (12 September 1892 – 31 October 1980) was a Liberal party member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was born in Burlington, Ontario and became a lawyer by career.

Hughes Cleaver
Hughes Cleaver on his reelection in 1945
Member of Parliament
for Halton
In office
October 1935 – June 1953
Preceded byRobert King Anderson
Succeeded bySybil Bennett
Personal details
Born(1892-09-12)12 September 1892
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Died31 October 1980(1980-10-31) (aged 88)
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Political partyLiberal
Spouses
Ariel Annie Shapland
(m. 1916; died 1975)
[1][2][3]
Professionlawyer

Biography

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He was called to the bar in 1914[5] and later elected as Reeve of Burlington in 1918, but resigned in order to serve with the 1st Canadian Tank Battalion towards the end of World War I.[6] He was elected as Burlington's Mayor in 1920.[2]

He was first elected to Parliament at the Halton riding in the 1935 general election, running as a Liberal-Progressive candidate but later allying with the Liberals.[7] He was afterwards re-elected under the Liberal banner for successive terms in 1940,[8] 1945 and 1949. He specialized in committee work during his time there, and served as Chairman of the Banking and Commerce Committee for ten years, of the War Expenditures Committee for two years, as well as of the Government-owned Railway and TCA Committee.[9]

Cleaver left the House of Commons after completing his fourth term in office, the 21st Canadian Parliament, and did not seek another term in the 1953 election upon being reinstated as a barrister by the Law Society of Upper Canada.[10][a] In his professional work afterwards, he was a key player in the development of many of Burlington's subdivisions, and helped to establish the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital.[9]

Electoral record

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1949 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Hughes Cleaver 9,546 49.0 +2.8
Progressive Conservative M. Sybil Bennett 8,099 41.6 -1.0
Co-operative Commonwealth William Albert Shane 1,829 9.4 -1.8
Total valid votes 19,474 100.0
1945 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Hughes Cleaver 7,344 46.3 -9.5
Progressive Conservative Allan Stanley Nicholson 6,763 42.6 -1.7
Co-operative Commonwealth Carlyle C. Browne 1,770 11.1 n/a
Total valid votes 15,877 100.0

Note: Progressive Conservative vote is compared to "National Government" vote in 1940 election.

1940 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Hughes Cleaver 7,788 55.7 +8.9
National Government George C. Atkins 6,184 44.3 +5.3
Total valid votes 13,972 100.0

Note: "National Government" vote is compared to Conservative vote in 1935 election.

1935 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal–Progressive Hughes Cleaver 6,177 46.8 +1.4
Conservative George Currie 5,146 39.0 -15.6
Reconstruction Melville Marks Robinson 1,876 14.2 n/a
Total valid votes 13,199 100.0

Notes

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  1. ^ He had been disbarred for misuse of clients' funds, shortly after the 1929 stock market crash[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Pretty Wedding at Burlington". The Acton Free Press. 31 August 1916. p. 3.
  2. ^ a b Normandin, Pierre G. (1952). The Canadian Parliamentary Guide. H.J. Morgan. p. 161.
  3. ^ "Cleaver, Ariel Annie Shapland (Died)". The Burlington Gazette. 25 November 1975. p. 61.
  4. ^ "Halton MP 19 years; Hughes Cleaver dies". The Acton Free Press. 5 November 1980. p. 2.
  5. ^ Minutes of Convocation. Vol. 5. Law Society of Upper Canada. 1980. p. 518.
  6. ^ "Service Record". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  7. ^ Cleaver, Hughes (9 October 1935). "To the Electors of Halton County". The Georgetown Herald. p. 2.
  8. ^ Cleaver, Hughes (7 February 1940). "To the Eelctors of Halton". The Georgetown Herald. p. 5.
  9. ^ a b "Set Time Record as M.P., Cleaver 50 Years Married". The Georgetown Herald. 8 September 1966. p. 12.
  10. ^ "Meeting of Convocation". Law Society of Upper Canada. 18 October 1951. p. xliii.
  11. ^ "Request for Removal of 514 Pearl Street (The Hughes Cleaver House) from Municipal Register for Demolition" (PDF). Planning and Building Department, City of Burlington. 11 April 2016. p. 4.
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