William Atcheson Stewart

Bill Stewart
Bill Stewart
Ontario MPP
	In office; 1957–1975
Preceded by	Thomas L. Patrick
Succeeded by	Riding abolished
Constituency	Middlesex North
Personal details
Born	February 26, 1915; London, Ontario
Died	December 8, 1990 (aged 75); London, Ontario
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouse	Edythe Jones
Children	4
Occupation	Farmer
Portfolio	Minister without portfolio, 1960–1961

William Atcheson Stewart (February 26, 1915 – December 8, 1990) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1957 to 1975 who represented the southwestern Ontario riding of Middlesex North. He served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Leslie Frost, John Robarts, and Bill Davis.

Background

Stewart was a cattle farmer in Denfield, Ontario.^[1] He married Edythe Jones and together they raised four daughters.

In 1957, Stewart was elected in a by-election in the riding of Middlesex North to replace Thomas L. Patrick who had died that year. He defeated Liberal candidate A.E. Smith by 3,134 votes.^[2] He was re-elected in 1959, 1963, 1967, and 1971. In 1960, Leslie Frost appointed him to cabinet as a Minister Without Portfolio. In 1961 he was appointed by new Premier, John Robarts as Minister of Agriculture.^[3] He retained the cabinet position for 15 years until his retirement in 1975.^[4]

Cabinet post (1)
Ontario provincial government of Bill Davis
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Bill Goodfellow	Minister of Agriculture and Food^{[note 1]} 1961–1975	Bill Newman

In 1983, he was appointed the fourth chancellor of the University of Guelph.^[5] In 1976, he was awarded an honorary LL.D. from the University of Guelph. He was elected to the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1988.

Academic offices
Preceded by Pauline McGibbon	Chancellor of the University of Guelph 1983–1989	Succeeded by Edmund Bovey

^ Williamson, Robert (January 4, 1974). "Veteran of Agriculture post: Stewart: a Tory watchdog down on the farm". The Globe and Mail. p. 25.
^ "By-Election Victories For 2 PC's". The Globe and Mail. September 6, 1957. p. 1.
^ "9 Ministers Switch In Cabinet Shuffle". The Globe and Mail. November 9, 1961. p. 1.
^ Cherry, Zena (November 19, 1975). "After a fashion: Royal's luncheon shall be nameless". The Globe and Mail. p. 11.
^ "University of Guelph". The Globe and Mail. September 15, 1983. p. B2.