George Reginald Geary

George Reginald Geary, PC , OBE , MC, (August 12, 1873 - April 30, 1954) was Mayor of Toronto, Ontario from 1910 to 1912.

During his term in office he announced plans for a new Harbor board. Geary said, "We have a magnificent harbor but we have failed miserably to avail ourselves of nature's generosity. We have barely sufficient wharfage to accommodate the lake traffic today, to say nothing of the future. We have been to neglectful of our shipping and harbor interests."

Born August 12, 1873 in Strathroy, Ontario, the Geary family moved to Sarnia, Ontario when Geary was age one. He attended and graduated from Toronto's Upper Canada College.

A graduate of the University of Toronto law school in 1896, he soon became interested in politics. In 1904 he became a school trustee in Ward 4. Then an alderman from 1905 to 1907. From there he became council for the Ontario Government. Then in 1908 he ran for mayor and lost to Joseph Oliver.

Geary enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces on January 7, 1915. He served in WWI and was awarded the Military Cross and the French Legion of Honour. Geary was also awarded the Military Cross and Croix de Guerre during World War One. On March 24, 1919 he was discharged.

In 1925 he was elected as a member of parliament for the riding of Toronto South and remained an MP until 1935. In 1930 served as the Minister of Justice. Geary became a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in 1935.

He died in Toronto on April 30, 1954, aged 80. He was buried in the St. James Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario.

References

* "The Municipality History of Toronto", by Jesse Edgar Middletown, 1923, Dominion Publishing Company.
* "Toronto Star", January 3, 1910.
* Additional Information can be found in "The War Book of Upper Canada College Toronto" by A.H. Young.

External links

* [http://www.medalsofwar.com/gallant.html Picture of Geary's Medals]
* [http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=ddcd7e6c-5622-4615-928a-8df1ac67ee86&Language=E&Section=FederalExperience Parliament of Canada Website]
* [http://members.tripod.com/~Roughian/index-11.html List of Canadian Orangemen]
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?lang=E&query=16083&s=M Federal Political Biography from the Library of Parliament]