William Simmons (politician)

William Charles Simmons (February 28, 1865 – August 24, 1956) was a Canadian politician and judge from Alberta.

William Charles Simmons
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Lethbridge
In office
April 12, 1906 – September 28, 1908
Preceded byLeverett DeVeber
Succeeded byDonald McNabb
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alberta
In office
August 27, 1924 – September 1, 1936
Supreme Court of Alberta
In office
October 12, 1910 – September 1, 1936
Personal details
Born(1865-02-28)February 28, 1865
Tara, Canada West
DiedAugust 26, 1954(1954-08-26) (aged 89)
Victoria, British Columbia
Political partyLiberal
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Occupationlawyer, politician, judge

Early life

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William Charles Simmons was born on February 28, 1865, in the farming community of Tara, Canada West, to William Simmons and Jane Wilson.[1][2] Simmons attended the University of Toronto and completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1895.[1][2] Simmons married Mary W. Wilson on August 7, 1899, and moved west to Alberta to become a principal in Lethbridge.[2] Simmons resigned from teaching to article with R. B. Bennett in Calgary and passed the bar in the North-West Territories on August 12, 1900.[1] Simmons was employed as a Crown prosecutor in Lethbridge from 1903 to 1904.[2]

Political life

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Simmons was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1906 to 1908 for the Alberta Liberal Party. He was elected in a by-election after Leverett DeVeber was appointed to the Senate of Canada. He resigned in 1908 to run for the House of Commons of Canada for Medicine Hat. He was defeated by the former Northwest Territories MLA Charles Alexander Magrath.[3]

Alberta Supreme Court

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Simmons was appointed to the Supreme Court of Alberta on October 12, 1910, and was appointed the Chief Justice on August 27, 1924.[1][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Knafla, Louis A.; Klumpenhouwer, Richard (1997). Lords of the Western Bench: A Biographical History of the Supreme and District Courts of Alberta, 1876-1990. Calgary: Legal Archives Society of Alberta. pp. 167–168. ISBN 978-0-9681939-0-7.
  2. ^ a b c d Chambers, Ernest J., ed. (1908). The Canadian Parliamentary Guide. Ottawa: Mortimer Company Ltd. p. 458. ISSN 0315-6168. OCLC 266967058. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  3. ^ Who's Who and Why--- A Biographical Dictionary of Men and Women of Western Canada Especially compiled for Newspaper and Library reference, volume 3 1?13, pages 747-748
  4. ^ Middelstadt, David (2014). People principles progress : the Alberta Court of Appeal’s first century, 1914-2014 (PDF). Calgary: The Legal Archives Society of Alberta. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-9681939-5-2.
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Legislative Assembly of Alberta
Preceded by MLA Lethbridge
1906–1908
Succeeded by