Herbert Hartley Dewart was an 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....

 lawyer and politician.

He was born in St. Johns, Canada East

Canada East

Canada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....

. The son of Edward Hartley Dewart, a Methodist minister who was a staunch advocate of prohibition

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

, the younger Dewart inherited his Liberal politics but broke with his father on the temperance issue becoming a firm opponent of prohibition, a move that would cost him dearly later in life. He studied at the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

 and Osgoode Hall

Osgoode Hall

Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto constructed between 1829 and 1832 in the late Georgian Palladian and Neoclassical styles. It houses the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice, and the Law Society of Upper Canada...

 and was called to the Ontario bar in 1887. Dewart set up practice in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 and served as crown attorney for York County

York County, Ontario

York County is a historic county in Upper Canada, Canada West, and the Canadian province of Ontario.York County was created in 1792 and was part of the jurisdiction of Home District of Upper Canada...

 from 1891 to 1904. He was first elected to the provincial legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 in a 1916 by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 after the death of James Joseph Foy

James Joseph Foy

James Joseph Foy was an Ontario lawyer and political figure. He represented Toronto South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Conservative member from 1898 to 1916....

, becoming the first Liberal to win a Toronto seat in a quarter century. In 1919, he became leader of the Ontario Liberal Party

Ontario Liberal Party

The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...

. He resigned as leader in 1921 due to opposition within his caucus to his anti-prohibitionist stance. He returned to private practice and died at his home near Uxbridge

Uxbridge, Ontario

Uxbridge is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Durham, in the Greater Toronto Area.The main centre in the township is the namesake community of Uxbridge...

 in 1924.

He ran unsuccessfully as the Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 candidate in the 1904 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1904

The Canadian federal election of 1904 was held on November 3 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Canada...

 for Toronto South

Toronto South

Toronto South was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1935. It was located in the city of Toronto in the province of Ontario...

 and in the 1911 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1911

The Canadian federal election of 1911 was held on September 21 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Canada.-Summary:...

 for York Centre

York Centre

York Centre is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1917 and since 1953....

.