Frederick William Borden
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The Honourable Sir Frederick William Borden KCMG PC MD |
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|---|---|
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| Minister of Militia and Defence | |
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In office 13 July 1896 – 6 October 1911 |
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| Prime Minister | Sir Wilfrid Laurier |
| Preceded by | David Tisdale |
| Succeeded by | Sam Hughes |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 14, 1847 Cornwallis Township, Nova Scotia |
| Died | January 6, 1917 (aged 69) Canning, Nova Scotia Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Children | Harold Lothrop Borden |
| Alma mater |
University of King's College Harvard University |
| Profession | Physician |
| Religion | Methodist |
Sir Frederick William Borden, KCMG, PC (May 14, 1847 – January 6, 1917) was a Canadian politician. While he was the Minister for Militia and Defence, he was the father of the most famous Canadian casualty of the Second Boer War Harold Lothrop Borden. Historians credit him with creating and financing a modernized Canadian army with a staff and medical, transport, and signals that proved as vital in war as the infantry, cavalry, and artillery they served. He thus created the foundation for the Canadian armies of 1914–1918 and 1939–1945.
Born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, the son of Dr. Jonathan Borden and Maria Frances Brown. Borden received a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of King's College in Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1866. He joined the militia as a cadet at King’s College and then as an assistant surgeon in the 68th (Kings) Battalion of Infantry in 1869. He earned a M.D. in 1868 from Harvard Medical School and practiced as a physician in Canning, Nova Scotia. Borden soon added business to his medical practice, acting as a bank agent, buying real estate, ships and helping found the successful Cornwallis Valley Railway from Canning to Kentville in 1887. He formed his own company the F. W. Borden Company in 1895, later known as the Nova Scotia Produce and Supply Company, to oversee his various businesses ventures in agriculture, lumber, shipping and investment.
He entered politics in 1874 with election as a Liberal member from Kings County, Nova Scotia; aside from an interruption 1882–1887, he represented this constituency until 1911.
He was Minister of militia and defence from 1896–1911, and was instrumental in raising the services from appendages of Britain to forces in their own right.
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