James Thomas Gordon

Who is James Thomas Gordon?

James Thomas Gordon was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1901 to 1910, as a member of the Conservative Party.

Gordon was born in Tweed, Hastings County, Canada West, the son of John Gordon, and was educated at common schools in Tweed. He farmed in Ontario and then moved to Manitoba in 1879, where he was employed in the lumber trade and then dealt in lumber, cattle and wheat. Gordon married Mearle Baldwin in 1885. In 1893, he established the firm of Gordon & Ironsides, which had branches in Fort William, Port Arthur, Kenora, Rainy River, Sudbury, Montreal, Sault Ste. Marie, Regina, Moose Jaw and Saskatoon. Gordon was also president of the Monarch Life Insurance Company, of A. Carruthers & Company, of the Standard Trust Company and of the Royal Securities Company.

Gordon challenged Liberal Premier Thomas Greenway for the Mountain constituency in the 1899 provincial election, and lost by 128 votes. Less than two years later, on December 24, 1901, he was elected to the legislature without opposition in a by-election for Winnipeg South.