Mohawk Orange Headdress

The above hat was probably in use by one of the Ontario Indian Orange Lodges in the last century. Note the Orange symbols surrounding it, in particular King William mounted on horseback.

The Hughes Brothers

John Hughes

John Hughes was born in Darlington Township, Ontario on December 18, 1849. He operated a general store and was postmaster at Newtonville, Ontario but it was the military and Orangeism that were to be the major interests in his life

He took part in the North West Rebellion of 1885 with the 45th Regiment of Durham County and he later rose to the rank of major-general in the Canadian Militia. During W.W. 1 he was the Commanding Officer of Valcartier Camp, Quebec, which was the staging area for troops going overseas.

He was a member of L.O.L. No. 311, Newcastle, Ontario and in 1911 he was elected as the Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ontario East. He died in Bowmanville on April 13, 1932.

Sir Sam Hughes

Hughes life has been well documented and because of this I’ll just include a short sketch of his life. For anyone interested in more information on Sir Sam there have been numerous books and articles written on him over the years. He was educated at Toronto Normal School and the University of Toronto and was a schoolteacher, like his father and brother until 1885.

In 1885 he became editor and owner of the "Lindsay Warder", a newspaper that he remained with until 1897. In 1892 he was elected Conservative M.P. for North Victoria and represented the riding until 1904. From 1904 until his death he represented the riding of Victoria and Haliburton.

He had enlisted in the 45th Regiment as a young boy and by 1897 he was the Commanding Officer. He fought overseas during the South African war and in 1902 he was given the rank of Colonel. In 1911 he was appointed the Minister of Militia and Defence by Robert Borden.

With the outbreak of W.W. 1 it was Hughes’ responsibility to organize, train, and outfit the Canadian Expeditionary Force and to make them battle ready for action in Europe. On November 9, 1916 Hughes was removed from his office by Borden and replaced by Sir Edward Kemp. He had been knighted in 1915 and he died in 1921.

Hughes had been a member of L.O.L. 557, Lindsay and had served as lodge master in 1889. He served as County Master of Victoria from 1892 - 1896.

William St. Pierre Hughes

He was born in Cartwright Township, Ontario on June 02, 1863 and was the youngest of the Hughes brothers. In 1893 he was appointed as secretary to the warden of Kingston Penitentiary and in 1913 he became the inspector of Canadian Penitentiaries.

During W.W. 1 he became the Commanding Officer of the 21st Battalion, and in 1916 - 1917 he was the C.O. of the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade, holding the rank of Brigadier - General. He was awarded a D.S.O. and was mentioned twice in despatches. He died in Ottawa on June 1, 1940.

Joey Smallwood was born on December 24, 1900 in Gambo, Newfoundland. He was to be the driving force behind the colony’s move to unite with Canada and he became the first Premier of the new province in 1949 and served until 1972.

In his youth Smallwood was a reporter for several different newspapers many of them labour oriented, not surprising since for much of his early life he was a dedicated socialist. He was a very efficient union organizer in the mid 1920’s and he helped to form several fledgling Newfoundland unions.

His most lasting mark of course was to lead the fight for Confederation and in his twenty-two years as Premier and leader of the Liberal Party he won six elections and tied another one. He resigned as Premier on January 18, 1972 although in 1975 he attempted a short-lived political comeback as leader of the newly formed Liberal-Reform Party. Smallwood and three other members of his party were elected but in 1977 he resigned his seat and retired from politics for good.

Smallwood, the last father of Confederation was a member of Charing Cross Orange Young Britons Lodge No. 146, Clarkes’s Beach, Royal Oak L.O.L. 1285, St. John’s, and Rose of Sharon Royal Black Preceptory No. 216, St. John’s. Joey Smallwood died on December 17, 1991.

Sir Robert Bond

Robert Bond was born on February 25, 1857 at St. John’s, Newfoundland. He first entered politics in the riding of Trinity Bay in the 1882 election. He was made Colonial Secretary in 1889 and on March 7, 1900 he became Prime Minister of Newfoundland, succeeding James Winter. His Liberal Party was to hold power until 1909.

All through his political career Bond had built a reputation as a diplomat and a person able to solve problems. In the election of 1908 his former Attorney General Edward Morris led the newly formed People’s Party against him. Both parties each won eighteen seats and another election was held the next year, this time won by the People’s Party.

Bond remained on as Liberal leader until his party was defeated again in the 1913 election. He then quit politics and retired to his farm at Whitbourne. In 1924 William Coaker attempted to coax him back into politics and assume the leadership of the party but he turned Coaker and his backers down. Bond had been knighted in 1901 and he died at his farm at Whitbourne on March 16, 1927.

George Stewart Henry

George Henry was born on July 16, 1871 in King Township, Ontario. He was educated at Upper Canada College, the University of Toronto and Ontario Agricultural College. He was to remain a farmer for most of his life even during his political career.

He started out in municipal politics and was a York Township councillor from 1903 - 1910 and served as Reeve of the Township from 1907 - 1910. He was first elected as a provincial member of parliament for the riding of East York in 1913 and he was to represent this riding for the next thirty years.

He served as Minister of Agriculture in the Hearst government in 1918 - 1919 and as Minister of Public Works and Highways under George Ferguson. He was sworn in as Premier of Ontario on December 16, 1930 replacing fellow Orangeman George Ferguson. His government was defeated in 1934 and Henry stayed on as leader of the Conservative Party until 1937.

He was a member and former lodge master of Eglinton L.O.L. 269, Toronto. George Henry died on September 02, 1958.

William Hooey Spinks

William Hooey Spinks was born in Cartwright Township, Ontario on July 23, 1873. He joined Purple Hill L.O.L. 399 when he was seventeen and two years later the family moved to a farm near Treherne, Manitoba. He served as councillor for the municipality of South Norfolk in 1907 and the next year was elected Reeve, a position he was to hold until he retired from office at the end of his term in 1920.

In the Manitoba election of 1920 he was elected as the Conservative member for the riding of Cypress. He held this seat until defeated in the election of 1932. He ran for a federal seat as a Conservative in the 1935 election but like most of R. B. Bennet’s party he went down to defeat and retired from politics for good.

In 1900 Spinks had been one of the charter members in the founding of Boyne L.O.L. 1730, Treherne, Manitoba, and served as lodge master from 1902 - 1904. In 1905 he was elected County Master of Norfolk and held office until 1907 and in 1934 he was elected as the Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Manitoba. William Spinks died on May 25, 1949.

Joseph Elijah Thompson

Joseph Thompson was born on July 19, 1867 in Toronto, Ontario. He grew up in the Cabbagetown area of the city and attended Jarvis High School. After a short stint as a store clerk he got a position as a clerk in the Treasurer’s office of the City of Toronto.

In 1909 he was appointed Commissioner of Industry and Publicity for Toronto and in 1915 he was elected to Toronto’s Board of Control for the first of two terms. His term was interrupted by World War One as he served overseas as a captain in the Canadian Expeditionary Force from 1916 - 1918.

In the 1919 Ontario election he was elected as a Conservative member for the riding of Toronto Northeast and when the legislature opened in March, 1920 he was given the position of party whip. In this capacity he chaired the 1920 Conservative leadership convention.

He was re-elected in 1923 and in 1924 was elected as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He retired as Speaker in 1926 and in that same year was re-elected, this time in the riding of St. David. He did not stand for election in 1929 and retired from politics. Thompson served as the County Master of the County Orange Lodge of Toronto in 1907 - 1908. He died on March 16, 1941.

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