Cultural Landmarks of Hamilton-Wentworth

Thomas Baker McQuesten (1882-1948)

Thomas Baker McQuesten was born in Hespeler, Ontario on June 30, 1882 and was the son of  Isaac Baldwin McQuesten and Mary Jane Baker McQuesten.  Thomas McQuesten was the second youngest of six children.  His brother and sisters were Mary Baldwin McQuesten (born 1874), Calvin McQuesten (born 1876), Hilda Belle McQuesten (born 1877), Ruby Baker McQuesten (born 1879), and Marguerette Edna McQuesten (born 1885).  Thomas' father, Isaac McQuesten died on March 7, 1888 reportedly by ingesting an overdose of sleep inducing drugs.  Isaac left a substantial debt load for the family to endure with liabilities totaling ninety two thousand dollars and assets of only ten thousand dollars.  Whitehern, the family estate had been signed over in trust for Mary to a junior law partner, John Jones.  This action saved the home from being sold in order to pay off the enormous debts to creditors.  After the death of Isaac McQuesten,  Mrs. McQuesten became a dominant influence over her children.  Religion instruction was a significant part of the McQuesten home and may have influenced Thomas McQuesten to seek public service to aid the working class.

Thomas attended Ryerson Central and Queen Victoria Schools, Hamilton Collegiate (graduating with honours in English, history, and classics), and the University of Toronto, where he won the Alexander Mackenzie Scholarship for Political Science in 1903.

McQuesten was involved in many athletic sports when he attended school.  He played football with the Hamilton Collegiate team which won the Ontario Championship in 1900, and later played with the Hamilton Tigers.  He also rowed with the Argonauts while he attended the University of Toronto.

During his freshman year in University, he worked his way to England on a cattle boat to visit his ancestral home.  In reality, the trip was a significant hardship as McQuesten was forced to work steadily with little sleep, and he had lost almost twenty pounds during his journey.  In letters to his brother Calvin,  McQuesten stated in retrospect that the trip had done him well as he was now “...hard as nails...”.   Ironically,  McQuesten was to be known by historians as a shrewd, powerful, and formidable individual.

In 1903, McQuesten applied for the Rhodes scholarship through the University of Toronto to attend Oxford University in London, England.  However, he lost to Toronto University student, Ernest Riddell Paterson.  No records were ever found regarding the deliberations of the selection committee.  However, many believed that it was “...another case of giving everything to Toronto.”  After McQuesten graduated from university in 1904, he decided to enter law school.  However, Thomas did not feel that law was an actual profession, but rather a means to gaining entry into the world of politics.  Nevertheless, he began his law studies at Toronto's Osgood Hall immediately after his Bachelor.  He graduated in 1907 and was sworn in as a Barrister at Law on June 7, 1907.

After his graduation from Osgood Hall, McQuesten practiced law at Elk Lake from 1908 to 1911.  He became well acquainted with the province, the people and their needs.  This perhaps was responsible for his sympathy and understanding for the working class, as well as where his need to be involved in public service developed.

McQuesten was elected as a Hamilton Alderman in 1913 and remained in office until 1920.  As an Alderman, he supported the acquisition of park lands throughout Hamilton and was responsible for varying projects throughout the region.

In 1920, McQuesten was appointed to Hamilton's Board of Parks Management and maintained this position until his death in 1948.  Even though the board was made up of non-elected members, it was still independent, since it was guaranteed an annual budget. These funds were used primarily to purchase land in the region in order to develop parks and recreational areas.  Under McQuesten's direction, over two thousand five hundred acres of park lands had been added to public property by 1932.  This land comprised all the choice landscape sites in the district and was made up of a larger acreage than that of any other city in Canada, regardless of the city's size.  As the Chairman of the Works Committee, McQuesten was one of the driving forces behind the development of the parks system in Hamilton.  Some of his many accomplishments included Gage Park, Inch Park, Mountain Park, King's Forest Park, the Civic Golf Course at Chedoke, and the Royal Botanical Gardens.  He was also involved in the construction of regional highways.  McQuesten spearheaded the development of the Queen Elizabeth Way, as well a the redevelopment of the northwest entrance to the city of Hamilton and the resettlement of McMaster University from Toronto to the west end of Hamilton.

In 1931, he was the Vice President of the Ontario Liberal Association, and the President of the same association from 1933 to 1934.  It was during his term in office that the Hepburn government swept into power.  McQuesten resigned in April of 1943 and the Liberal party was soon after defeated.

On June 25, 1934, McQuesten was elected a Member of the Provincial Parliament as a representative of Hamilton West.  A few days later, Premier Hepburn appointed McQuesten to two cabinet portfolios which were the Hydro-Electric Power Commission and Ministry of  Public Works.  He maintained both portfolios from 1943 to 1937 and continued to be the Minister of Public Works from 1942 to 1943. He was also chosen to head the Niagara Parks Commission from 1934 to 1943.  From July of 1934 to August 1943, he was the Minister of Highways.  In this capacity, he launched a province wide program of highway improvements which amounted to over two hundred million dollars in expenditures.  One of the more significant highway projects he was involved in was the Queen Elizabeth Highway, named after Queen Elizabeth, wife of King George VI.  This highway was considered the most modern piece of highway construction in North America when it officially opened in 1939. Some of the more notable projects during this time period were the rebuilding of Niagara-on-the-Lake's Fort George, reconstruction of the Navy Hall, and Kingston's Fort Henry.

McQuesten's projects and accomplishments were province-wide.  His position as Minister of Highways also saw the construction of three international bridges which included the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia across the St. Clair River, and the Ivy Lea Bridge across the St. Lawrence River.  His dedication to the development on Provincial highways also resulted in the plans to construct the Burlington Bay Skyway Bridge, the Hamilton High Level Bridge (now the Thomas B. McQuesten High Level Bridge) and the Niagara Parkway.

He was appointed Vice Chairman for the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission on July 8, 1938, and then to Chairman on December 8, 1939 and maintained this office until June 18, 1947.  This Commission was created by Special Act of Congress at Washington in 1937.  McQuesten was also appointed to the position of Minister of Mines, but resigned a month later.

Thomas McQuesten was a strong willed individual, who was willing to fight for what he believed no matter who opposed him.  One of his more publicized disputes began with his requested inscription for the fifty five bell carillon at the Rainbow Bridge.  Essentially, Thomas wanted to dedicate the bell in “...grateful memory of our Nation's Leaders Winston Spencer Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.”.  However, Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King discovered his name was not inscribed along with the other two leaders.  King was so enraged, he demanded the entire inscription be removed.  On Friday, June 13, 1943, an announcement was made by a special government committee that the inscription would be  completely removed.  This angered McQuesten as he felt the role of Prime Minister Mackenzie during the war was ineffectual.  McQuesten's power as the Chairman of the Niagara Bridge Commission allowed him to prohibit public access to the bell tower and picture taking of the bell.  When the tower was finally opened to the public in 1975, it was discovered that McQuesten had won the battle of wills, as the inscription had never been removed.

McQuesten  was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in the summer of 1947 and underwent surgery  in July of that same year.  Unfortunately, the cancer had spread.  Nevertheless, McQuesten continued to attend meetings determined to complete all the projects he had begun, such as the Royal Botanical Gardens.   He attended his last Board of Parks Management meeting in November of 1947 and entered the hospital on December 24, 1947.  On January 5, 1948, McQuesten was awarded the Hamilton's Citizen of the Year Award which was accepted by his brother, Calvin McQuesten on his behalf.  Thomas Baker McQuesten passed away a few days later on January 13, 1948.

Thomas Baker McQuesten was a man with a passion for the beautification of park lands and the development of infrastructure within the province and left behind a legacy of historical structures and parks to the City of Hamilton and the Province of Ontario.  As Sir Christopher Wren stated “If you would seek his monument, look about you.” A friend and collaborator Cecil Vanroy Langs once described McQuesten as a “...bachelor...whose bride is the city parks system.”  McMaster University's Chancellor Whidden also captured McQuesten's devotion to Hamilton when he stated that he “...wished that all cities had a citizen who would do as much...to improve the open spaces for the benefit of this and succeeding generations.”

References:
Best, John C. Thomas Baker McQuesten: Public Works, Politics and Imagination. Corinth Press: Hamilton, Ontario, 1991.
Archives: Hamilton Gallery of Distinction. 1986. The Hamilton Public Library: Special Collections.
Burkholder, Mabel. History of Central Ontario (Southwestern). pp. 458-462.

Links:
High Level Bridge
Royal Botanical Gardens
Whitehern