Frederic Newton

Who was Frederic Newton?

Frederic Young Newton was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1911 to 1917, and again from 1922 to 1932. He was a member of the Conservative Party.

Newton was born in Cobourg, Ontario, the son of John White Newton and Mary McCullough, and was educated at Winnipeg Collegiate. In 1910, he served as reeve of the Rural Municipality of Shell River. In 1904, Newton married C.I. Gilchrist. He was mayor of the village of Roblin from 1920 to 1922 and from 1940 to 1943. He worked as a broker and was president of the Roblin Loan & Investment Co.

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in a by-election held on February 4, 1911 in the constituency of Russell, defeating Liberal William Valens by 265 votes. He was re-elected by 231 votes in the 1914 provincial election, in the constituency of Roblin. During this period, Newton served as a backbench supporter of Rodmond P. Roblin's government.

The Roblin government was forced to resign amid scandal in 1915, and the Conservatives were badly defeated in that year's provincial election. Newton was one of only five Conservatives to retain his seat, and was the only Conservative elected in an anglophone riding. He resigned his seat in 1917, after a report of the province's Paterson Commission found evidence of road frauds in his constituency.