Arthur James Matheson was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 lawyer and politician. He served as a Conservative Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

 for Lanark South

Lanark South

Lanark South was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1917. It was located in the province of Ontario...

 from 1898 to 1913, and was provincial treasurer from 1905 to 1913.

He was born in Perth

Perth, Ontario

Perth is a town in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada . It is located on the Tay River, 83 km southwest of Ottawa, and is the seat of Lanark County.-History:...

, Canada West in 1845, the son of Roderick Matheson

Roderick Matheson

Roderick Matheson was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He was a Conservative member of the Senate of Canada from 1867 until his death.-Early life :...

, and educated at Upper Canada College

Upper Canada College

Upper Canada College , located in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is an independent elementary and secondary school for boys between Senior Kindergarten and Grade Twelve, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The secondary school segment is divided into ten houses; eight are...

 and Trinity College, Toronto

University of Trinity College

The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...

. Matheson studied law, was called to the bar in 1870 and set up practice in Perth. He was mayor of Perth in 1883 and 1884. Matheson served in the local militia, including service during the Fenian raids

Fenian raids

Between 1866 and 1871, the Fenian raids of the Fenian Brotherhood who were based in the United States; on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada, were fought to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland. They divided many Catholic Irish-Canadians, many of whom were...

, and became lieutenant-colonel in 1886. Other than serving as provincial treasurer, Matheson was member of various house committees, including the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. He died in office in 1913.

The geographical township of Matheson, part of Black River-Matheson Township, was named after Arthur Matheson.

External links

• Arthur Matheson
• The Canadian parliamentary companion, 1897 JA Gemmill
• The Canadian men and women of the time : a handbook of Canadian biography, HJ Morgan (1898)

Preceded by: George William Ross George William Ross Sir George William Ross was an educator and politician in Ontario, Canada. He was the fifth Premier of Ontario from 1899 to 1905....

Treasurer of Ontario 1905-1913

Succeeded by: Isaac Benson Lucas Isaac Benson Lucas Isaac Benson Lucas was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as a Conservative Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Grey Centre from 1898 to 1919....