Joseph Henry Widdifield
{{short description|Canadian politician (1845–1906)}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2025}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Joseph Henry Widdifield
| image = Joseph Henry Widdifield.png
| office = Ontario MPP
| term_start = 1875
| term_end = 1888
| predecessor = Alfred Boultbee
| successor = Elihu Davis
| constituency = York North
| party = Liberal
| birth_date = {{birth date|1845|6|12}}
| birth_place = Whitchurch, Upper Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age|1906|6|3|1845|6|12}}
| death_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| occupation = Doctor
| spouse =
}}
Joseph Henry Widdifield (June 12, 1845 – June 3, 1906) was a Canadian physician and political figure. He represented York North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal member from 1875 to 1888.{{Cite web |date=1875-01-18 |title=Joseph Widdifield {{!}} Legislative Assembly of Ontario |url=https://www.ola.org/en/members/all/joseph-henry-widdifield |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=www.ola.org |language=en}}
Life
Widdifield was born on June 12, 1845, in Whitchurch, Upper Canada, to Charles Ellis Widdifield, and studied medicine at Victoria College and St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in London. On his return to Canada, Widdifield set up practice in Newmarket. He served as a coroner and justice of the peace of Victoria County. He also served in the militia during the Fenian raids. He was whip for the provincial Liberal party from 1877 to 1883. Widdifield served as deputy Grand Master for the Masonic order in the Toronto district and also served as provincial medical examiner for the order. In 1888, he resigned his seat in the assembly to accept the position of sheriff for York County. He died on June 3, 1906, aged 60.
In 1965, Widdifield Secondary School in the Widdifield District of North Bay was named after him.
Electoral history
{{1875 Ontario general election/York North}}
References
{{reflist}}
- {{OntarioMPPbio|id=joseph-henry-widdifield}}
- {{cite book |url=https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.32959/229 |page=219 |title=The Canadian Parliamentary Companion |year=1887 |publisher=J. Durie & Son |editor-last=Gemmill |editor-first=J.A. |location=Ottawa}}
- {{cite book |url=https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.91595/785 |pages=785-786 |title=A Cyclopæedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time |year=1886 |publisher=Rose Publishing Co. |editor-last=Rose |editor-first=Geo. Maclean |location=Toronto}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926220144/http://www.ourroots.ca/e/toc.aspx?id=3741 Commemorative biographical record of the county of York, Ontario ... (1907)]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Widdifield, Joseph}}
Category:Ontario Liberal Party MPPs
Category:People of the Fenian raids
Category:People from Whitchurch-Stouffville
Category:Canadian justices of the peace
Category:19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario