Name/Title
"Arthur Matheson"Entry/Object ID
Matheson,Arthur1Description
Arthur James Matheson
Black and white photo.
Photo depicts Arthur sitting, facing left and wearing a suit.
Gr. Uncle Arthur (the Colonel)
Arthur James
born: December 8, 1845, Perth.
died: January 25, 1913, Perth.
buried: Elmwood Cemetery.
· Educated locally, at Upper Canada College and Trinity College (BA, 1865).
· Studied law in Perth with John Deacon; called to the bar of Ontario in 1870; practiced law with Perth firm of Matheson and Balderson at the corner of Gore and Foster Streets.
· Lieutenant in the 42nd Battalion of Lanark Militia, when he served on the St. Lawrence frontier at Brockville and Prescott during the First Fenian Raid of 1866, and captain of militia during Second Fenian Raid of 1870; won a Canada General Service Medal and two clasps for service in both raids. Became major of militia in 1885; lieutenant colonel of 42nd Regiment, 1886–98; volunteered for service in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, but was not required; brigadier of militia in 1900.
· Served on Perth Town Council, 1880–82; mayor, 1883–84.
· Owner and publisher of The Perth Expositor (a conservative newspaper) 1875–95.
· Prominent member and sometime warden of St. James’ Anglican Church; served as delegate to synod.
· Bought land with Dr. William Grant in 1886 on the southwest side of Perth and opened a new subdivision, Grantville; Arthur and Grant Streets were named for the developers.
· Elected MLA for South Lanark in 1894 representing the Conservative Party; was returned with large majorities five times; made Treasurer of Ontario in 1905 when Sir James Whitney’s Conservatives took power; he apparently was a prudent financier, giving Ontario its only fiscal surplus in history in 1912, and exhorted municipalities to practice restraint and borrow as sparingly as possible; he arranged loans for the continued construction of the Timiskaming and Northern Ontario Railroad (begun by Sir George Ross’s Liberals); the town of Matheson, on the line north of Kirkland Lake, was named after him.