1904 Toronto municipal election

none Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1904. Thomas Urquhart was acclaimed to a second term. 1904 was the first time the Toronto Board of Control, the executive committee of Toronto, was directly elected, after the Ontario legislature passed a law requiring municipal boards of control to be chosen through direct election by the municipality's voters.The Consolidated Municipal Act, 1903 S.O. 1903 19 IV III https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1903onta#page/216/mode/2up Previously, Toronto City Council chose four alderman to sit on the body, which would be chaired by the mayor.FEW SURPRISES IN TORONTO CIVIC ELECTIONS: Spence, London, Hubbard, Richardson, Controllers Only Four Men in the New Council Who Were Not in the Old They Are Coatsworth, Geary, S, A. Jones and Crane The Election For the New Board of Education Resulted in Return of Many Public School Trustees-- Mr. B. E. Walker Elected by a Handsome Majority, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]02 Jan 1904: 5 The Board of Control was elected using cumulative voting, starting with this election. As well, the number of councillors was decreased from 24 to 18, with three elected in each ward through plurality block voting, as opposed to four in each ward as previously. Approximately 24,000 voters voted in this election.Tyson, "Cumulative Voting in Toronto", The Public, 1904, p. 797. online: https://cooperative-individualism.org/tyson-robert_proportional-representation-in-toronto-1904-mar-19.pdf accessed 2026-06-28 Toronto mayor Results Thomas Urquhart - acclaimed Source: Board of Control Four members of the Toronto Board of Control were directly elected for the first time. Previously, Controllers were four alderman chosen by city council. Aldermen Loudon, Oliver, Burns and Richardson had been appointed to the outgoing Board of Control."FIRST MEETING OF NEW COUNCIL: Board of Control Elected on the First Ballot THE MAYOR'S INAUGURAL Wm. Burns, Loudon, Oliver and Richardson Mayor Urquhart Urges More Power For the Board of Control-- The Standing Committees and Their Chairmen", The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]13 Jan 1903: 4 Under a new provincial law, the Board of Control was elected directly by voters. Each voter had up to four votes and could place them all on different candidates or all on one candidate (cumulative voting). Proportional Representation Review, September 1903 Robert Tyson, "Cumulative Voting in Toronto", in The Public, March 19, 1904 online: https://cooperative-individualism.org/tyson-robert_proportional-representation-in-toronto-1904-mar-19.pdf accessed 2026-06-27 Seven of the eight candidates were sitting aldermen: First Ward Alderman Richardson, Second Ward Aldermen Spence and Oliver, Third Ward Alderman Loudon, Fourth Ward Aldermen Burns and Hubbard, Fifth Ward Alderman Starr. The other candidate, John Shaw, was a former mayor. Several months after the election, Controller Richardson resigned after his election agent was charged with accepting bribes from the Toronto Railway Company, a private streetcar company. Shaw was then elected to the Board of Control in a by-election.SHAW AND RICHARDSON: ONLY TWO CANDIDATES IN THE BYE-ELECTION Ex-Ald. Denison Retires in Favor of Ex-Mayor Shaw-- Ex-Controller Richardson's Explanations-- Ex- Mayor Shaw Opposes Party Politics in Municipal Affairs, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]23 Apr 1904: 16. William Peyton Hubbard, a sitting alderman but not a member of the Board of Control, was elected to the Board of Control in 1904. As of 2020, he was the only person of colour to ever be elected to city-wide office in Toronto. Hubbard, whose parents were former slaves who had fled to Toronto through the Underground Railroad, was the first person of colour to be elected to Toronto City Council when he was elected in 1894 and was one of the first Black people to be elected to any public office in Canada."City's political class remains mostly colourless", Royson, James. Toronto Star; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]19 Feb 2015: GT.2. Results Frank S. Spence - 12,294 John F. Loudon - 11,121 William Peyton Hubbard - 8,950 Fred H. Richardson - 8,923 not elected William Burns - 8,641 James Russell Lovett Starr - 8,639 Joseph Oliver - 8,598 John Shaw - 7,184 Source: Plebiscites A plebiscite was held on a by-law granting $50,000 towards the creation of a sanatorium for the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis."THE SANITARIUM GRANT: CAMPAIGN OPENED TO EXPLAIN AND FORWARD IT Speeches by Controller Richardson, Dr. Barrick, Rev. Dr. Eby and Others-- Stereopticon Views Shown of Voting in Council, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]12 Dec 1903: 28 Sanatorium by-law For - 4,131 Against - 3,681 Source: City council thumb|right|350px|Map of Toronto's six wards (1892-1909), published in The Globe, 1 January 1892. Three aldermen were elected to Toronto City Council per ward. This was reduced from four aldermen per ward, previously. First Ward (Riverdale) Daniel Chisholm (incumbent) - 1,347 William Temple Stewart (incumbent) - 1,211 Robert Fleming (incumbent) - 1,163 James Wilson - 749 John Preston - 530 Second Ward (Cabbagetown and Rosedale) Emerson Coatsworth - 1,845 Dr. John Noble (incumbent) - 1,362 Thomas Foster (incumbent) - 1,358 David Carlyle - 1,136 Edward Strachan Cox - 984 John W. Mogan - 800 W.A. Douglass - 707 Third Ward (Central Business District and The Ward) Joseph George Ramsden (incumbent) - 2,191 Oliver Barton Sheppard (incumbent) - 2,098 George Reginald Geary - 1,716 George McMurrich - 1,604 Arthur Callow - 432 Fourth Ward (Spadina) James Crane - 1,857 Stephen Alfred Jones - 1,850 Dr. William S. Harrison (incumbent) - 1,829 Stephen Wellesley Burns - 1,549 Robert Crawford Vaughan - 1,535 Edward James Hearn - 802 Albert Edward Hacker - 546 Charles Hambly - 230 Edmund Schilling - 105 Fifth Ward (Trinity-Bellwoods) Frank Woods (incumbent) - 2,039 William Bell (incumbent) - 1,576 John Dunn (incumbent) - 1,511 John Bell Hay - 1,246 Alexander Stewart - 1,067 Peter Whytock - 1,003 Wellington O. McTaggart - 510 David Clark - 244 Sixth Ward (Brockton and Parkdale) Jonn Joseph Ward (incumbent) - 1,581 James Henry McGhie (incumbent) - 1,446 John James Graham (incumbent) - 1,340 Dr. Adam Lynd (incumbent) - 1,219 Samuel Scott - 752 Source: and ALDERMANIC NOMINATIONS: Forty-two Candidates in the Six Wards EIGHTEEN TO BE ELECTED Breezy Discussions of Many Civic Issues Ward Meetings Well Attended-- Work of This Year's Council Generally Commended-- Cattle Market the Issue in the Fifth Ward, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]24 Dec 1903: 9. References Results taken from the January 2, 1904 Toronto Globe and might not exactly match final tallies. Category:1904 elections in Canada 1904 Category:1904 in Ontario Category:1900s in Toronto Category:January 1904 in North America