Sir Richard Stuart Lake, KCMG (July 10, 1860 – April 23, 1950) was an English-born Canadian territorial provincial and federal level politician from Saskatchewan, Canada.

Sir Richard Stuart Lake
Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories for Grenfell
In office
November 4, 1898 – October 9, 1900
Preceded byDistrict established
Succeeded byHimself
In office
March 22, 1901 – November 3, 1904
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byDistrict abolished
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Qu'Appelle
In office
November 3, 1904 – September 21, 1911
Preceded byRiding established
Succeeded byLevi Thomson
3rd Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan
In office
October 6, 1915 – February 17, 1921
MonarchGeorge V
Governors GeneralThe Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
The Duke of Devonshire
PremierThomas Walter Scott
William Melville Martin
Preceded byGeorge W. Brown
Succeeded byHenry William Newlands
Personal details
Born(1860-07-10)July 10, 1860
Preston, Lancashire, England
DiedApril 23, 1950(1950-04-23) (aged 89)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Political partyConservative
SpouseDorothy Marion Schreiber Fletcher
RelativesPercy Lake (brother)

Territorial politics edit

Born in Preston, Lancashire, England, Lake was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories for the Grenfell district in the 1898 Northwest Territories general election. In 1900 he vacated his seat to run in Assiniboia East in the 1900 Canadian federal election.

After being defeated in his first attempt at federal politics he ran for his old seat and was re-elected as the MLA in a by-election on March 22, 1901.

Lake was acclaimed to his second term in office in the 1902 Northwest Territories general election. He held that post until the 1904 Canadian federal election when he vacated his seat to make a second run at Federal politics.

Federal politics edit

 
The Hon. Richard Stuart Lake

Lake was elected as a Member of the House of Commons of Canada in his second run at Federal politics in the 1904 Canadian federal election in the new Qu'Appelle federal electoral district.

He was re-elected to a second term in the 1908 Canadian federal election winning a hotly contested election by just a 100 votes.

In the 1911 Canadian federal election he was defeated by Liberal Levi Thomson and never returned to federal politics.

Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan edit

After being defeated in the Federal election, Lake went to work for the Saskatchewan Public Service Commission, he held that job until he was appointed as the third Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan on October 18, 1915. He served for six years, until February 17, 1921, when he was offered the possibility of extending his royal commission; however, he refused.

Late life edit

He moved to Victoria, British Columbia after his career in politics and lived the rest of his life there.

He and his wife, Dorothy, were aboard the SS Athenia when it was torpedoed on September 3, 1939 and survived.

He died on April 23, 1950.

Electoral record edit

1911 Canadian federal election: Qu'Appelle
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Levi Thomson 4,298 52.6 +2.9
Conservative Richard Stuart Lake 3,874 47.4 -2.9
Total valid votes 8,172 100.0
1908 Canadian federal election: Qu'Appelle
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Richard Stuart Lake 3,833 50.3
Liberal J.T. Brown 3,781 49.7
Total valid votes 7,614 100.0

External links edit