Henry Herbert Stevens, (8 December 1878 – 14 June 1973) was a Canadian politician and businessman. A member of R. B. Bennett's cabinet, he split with the Conservative Prime Minister to found the Reconstruction Party of Canada.

Early life

Stevens was born in Bristol, England and immigrated to Canada with his family at the age of nine. His family settled in Peterborough, Ontario where his widowed father raised him and his three brothers and sisters. His campaign forced the resignation of the chief of police and won Stevens a seat on Vancouver City Council in 1910. He ran as a Conservative candidate in Kamloops in 1940, but was defeated.

Later life

Stevens ran as a candidate in the 1942 Conservative leadership convention, but was eliminated on the first ballot, losing to John Bracken. He did not run in the general election of 1945, but ran again in Vancouver Centre in 1949 and again in 1953, losing both times. He was elected Chairman of the Vancouver Board of Trade in 1952. He was a member of the Orange Order.

In 1942, Stevens was elected President of the B.C. Natural Resources Conservation League.

Stevens was the last surviving member of Bennett's cabinet when he died in 1973 at the age of 94.

Archives

There are Henry Herbert Stevens fonds at Library and Archives Canada and Trent University.

See also

  • William Duncan Herridge

References

Further reading

  • Henry Herbert Stevens at The Canadian Encyclopedia
  • Henry Herbert Stevens fonds
  • Komagata Maru: Continuing the Journey website by Simon Fraser University Library. Contains digitized copies of Stevens' documents pertaining to the incident