Donald Andrew Ross was a politician in Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada

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...

. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...

 from 1907 to 1920, and again from 1922 to 1927.

Ross was born in Nairn, in Middlesex County

Middlesex County, Ontario

Middlesex County is a primarily rural county in Southwestern Ontario. Landlocked, the county is bordered by Huron and Perth counties on the north, Oxford County on the east, Elgin County on the south, and Chatham-Kent and Lambton County on the west.The seat is the city of London, although the city...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. His grandfather was part of Duke Wellington's body guard at Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

, and was an escort to Napoleon Bonaparte on his exile to St. Helena. Ross was educated at Nairn Public School, and subsequently moved to Manitoba. He served on the Winnipeg City Council

Winnipeg City Council

The Winnipeg City Council is the governing body of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors.-2006-2010:Council elected in the 2006 election:-2010-2014:...

 for eight years, the Winnipeg School Board for twenty-three years, and the Winnipeg Public Parks Board for eleven years.

Ross first campaigned for the Manitoba legislature in the 1903 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1903

Manitoba's general election of July 20, 1903 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a second consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party of Manitoba, now led by Premier Rodmond Palen Roblin...

. He ran as an independent candidate in Springfield, and finished third against candidates of the Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

 and Liberal

Manitoba Liberal Party

The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...

 parties. In the 1907 election

Manitoba general election, 1907

Manitoba's general election of March 7, 1907 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a third consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party of Manitoba, led by premier Rodmond Palen Roblin...

, he won the Liberal nomination and defeated Conservative candidate John Little by 181 votes. The Conservatives won this election, and Ross served on the opposition benches.

Ross was re-elected for Springfield in the 1910 election

Manitoba general election, 1910

Manitoba's general election of July 11, 1910 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a fourth consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party of Manitoba, led by premier Rodmond Palen Roblin. Roblin's electoral machine won...

. In the 1914 election

Manitoba general election, 1914

Manitoba's general election of July 10, 1914 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a fifth consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party, led by premier Rodmond P. Roblin...

, he was returned for the redistributed constituency of St. Clements. In the 1915 campaign

Manitoba general election, 1915

Manitoba's general election of August 6, 1915 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election was held only one year after the previous general election of 1914. In that election, the governing Conservatives of premier Rodmond P. Roblin were...

, he won election as an independent Liberal. The Liberals won a landslide majority in 1915, and Ross supported Tobias C. Norris's government in the legislature between 1915 and 1920. He lost his seat to Labour

Dominion Labour Party (in Manitoba)

The Dominion Labour Party was a reformist labour party, formed in Canada in 1918. The party enjoyed itsgreatest success in the province of Manitoba....

 candidate Matthew Stanbridge

Matthew Stanbridge

Matthew J. Stanbridge was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1920 to 1922. Stanbridge was a resident of Winnipeg during his career in politics....

 in the election of 1920

Manitoba general election, 1920

Manitoba's general election of 29 June 1920 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.-Background:...

.

Ross was re-elected as an independent in the 1922 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1922

Manitoba's general election of July 18, 1922 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.As in the previous election of 1920, the city of Winnipeg elected ten members by the single transferable ballot...

, defeating Stanbridge and two other candidates. He served as an opposition member for five years, and lost to Progressive

Progressive Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party that developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba, an agrarian movement that became politically active following World War I...

 candidate Robert Hoey

Robert Hoey

Robert Alexander Hoey was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1921 to 1925, served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1927 to 1936, and was a cabinet minister in the government of John Bracken.Hoey was born in Enniskillen, County...

 in the 1927 election

Manitoba general election, 1927

Manitoba's general election of 28 June 1927 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This was the first election in Manitoba history to elect members through a single transferable ballot in all constituencies...

. The Liberals did not run candidates against Ross in either 1922 or 1927, and he may have remained informally aligned with the party in this period.