George Reginald GearyPCKCMCOBE (August 12, 1872[1] – April 30, 1954) was a Canadian politician. He was a Conservative member of the House of Commons from 1925 to 1935. He also served as Mayor of Toronto from 1910 to 1912.
Soon after graduation he 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 counsel for the Ontario government. Then in 1908 he ran for mayor and lost to Joseph Oliver. Geary was elected mayor in 1910, re-elected in 1911 and acclaimed in 1912. He resigned in October 1912 in order to accept a position as the City of Toronto's legal counsel.
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."
He died in Toronto on April 30, 1954, aged 80. He was buried in the St. James Cemetery. In 1990, his former residence was declared a historic site by the province, naming the home "Geary House".[3]
In 1912 Geary was the namesake for a tugboat, built for the city of Toronto, named the G. R. Geary.[4]
References
^"Ontario Births, 1869-1912," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNLJ-XY4 : 15 January 2016), George Reginald Geary, 12 Aug 1872; citing Birth, Strathroy, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada, citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,845,041.
^Catalogue of the Alpha Delta Phi: 1832-1966. New York, NY: The Executive Council of The Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity. 1966. p. 202.
^"G.R.Geary". Polson Iron Works. 2012. Retrieved 2018-11-02. The G.R.Geary, tug, was built by Polson Iron Works for the City of Toronto in 1912, and owned by the City until 1954.
Further reading
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.