George Reginald Geary

Who was George Reginald Geary?

George Reginald Geary, PC, OBE, MC, KC was Mayor of Toronto, Ontario from 1910 to 1912.

During his term in office he announced plans for a new Harbor board. Geary said, "We have a magnificent harbor but we have failed miserably to avail ourselves of nature's generosity. We have barely sufficient wharfage to accommodate the lake traffic today, to say nothing of the future. We have been to neglectful of our shipping and harbor interests."

Born August 12, 1873 in Strathroy, Ontario, the Geary family moved to Sarnia, Ontario when Geary was age one. He attended and graduated from Toronto's Upper Canada College.

A graduate of the University of Toronto law school in 1896, he soon became interested in politics. In 1904 he became a school trustee in Ward 4. Then an alderman from 1905 to 1907. From there he became counsel for the Ontario Government. Then in 1908 he ran for mayor and lost to Joseph Oliver. Geary was elected Mayor in 1910, re-elected in 1911 and acclaimed in 1912. He resigned in October 1912 in order to accept a position as the City of Toronto's legal counsel.

Geary enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces on January 7, 1915.