William Templeton (mayor)
| William Templeton | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Mayor of Vancouver | |
|
In office 1897 |
|
| Preceded by | Henry Collins |
| Succeeded by | James Garden |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 27, 1853 Belleville, Ontario |
| Died | January 16, 1898 (aged 44) Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Resting place |
Mountain View Cemetery 49°14′7.7″N 123°5′33.5″W / 49.235472°N 123.092639°W |
| Political party | Independent |
| Occupation | Grocer, butcher |
William Templeton (March 27, 1853 – January 16, 1898) was the sixth Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, serving only one term in 1897.
A butcher and grocer, he operated a grocery store in the first brick building in Vancouver. Templeton also was a member of the Vancouver City Council and school board, and had once run unsuccessfully for the mayor's seat before being elected in 1897. He was defeated in the next election in January 1898, and died shortly after. He is commemorated with a street and school named in his honour.
Templeton was born in Belleville, Ontario, in 1853. He came to Vancouver in January 1886, when the settlement was named Granville. Later that year, he entered the grocery business, building a store on the corner of Hastings and Carrall Streets. After the building was destroyed in a fire, also the same year, Templeton and his partner Joseph Northcott commissioned a new brick building to be built on the corner lot that they had just purchased for $1800. It would be the first brick building in the city's history. He was also involved in railroad affairs, a member of a Canadian Pacific Railway group that benefitted from a land grant from the city in order to make it the terminus of the railway. On the occasion of the announcement in 1884, he ordered 1 tonne (2,200 lb) of turkeys to be shipped to Vancouver from Ontario to celebrate. In 1896, Templeton chartered the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway.
In 1891, Templeton was elected to the Vancouver City Council as an alderman. He also served on the School Board as a trustee from 1892 to 1897. In 1890, Templeton ran unsuccessfully for the mayoralty of Vancouver, losing to David Oppenheimer. During the time leading up to the election, Templeton accused Oppenheimer of devoting "too much time [to] building castles in the sky" and not enough time to his official duties and to law enforcement. It was also said that Templeton was running to serve the "working and middle class", himself being a member of the working class, with Oppenheimer a higher class businessman. He is also said to have mocked Oppenheimer's German accent and to have lost supporters as a result. Templeton lost the election to Oppenheimer by 434 to 585 votes. This particular election has been said to have changed the politics of the city, initiating a divide in ideology and interests between the upper-class and middle-class citizens of the city.
...
Wikipedia