Fonds PR-0405 - Thomas Dufferin Pattullo fonds

Thomas Dufferin Pattullo was born in Woodstock, Ontario on 19 January 1873, the son of George Robson and Mary [Rounds] Pattullo. He completed high school in Woodstock, studied at the University of Toronto, and after serving for a time on the staff of the Woodstock Sentinel, edited by his father, he took up the editorship of the Galt Reformer in 1896. In the summer of 1897 the Honourable Clifford Sifton, Minister of the Interior, appointed a commissioner and staff to administer the Yukon Territory. Pattullo assumed the position of secretary to the commissioner, Major J.M. Walsh. In April 1899, he became chief clerk in the Office of the Gold Commissioner. In November 1902, he left the service of the Gold Commissioner's Office. Until 1908, he operated a brokerage and insurance business in partnership with W.G. Radford in Dawson City. For a time, he was a member of the Dawson City Council. In 1908, he moved his family to Prince Rupert, B.C. where: he opened a new office for his business. In 1910, he was elected alderman, and then in 1913, mayor of Prince Rupert. In the provincial general election of 1916, he ran as a Liberal candidate and was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly for Prince Rupert. On 30 November 1916, he was sworn in as Minister of Lands in the administration of H.C. Brewster, a position that he held under succeeding Liberal administrations until 20 August 1928. After the defeat of the Liberal government headed by John Duncan MacLean in August 1928, Pattullo assumed the leadership of the Liberal party and the role of Leader of the Opposition in the Legislature. In the general election of 1933, he led the Liberal party to victory, and on 15 November 1933 became Premier and Minister of Railways. On 5 April 1937, Pattullo was made King's Counsel, although he had no formal training as a lawyer. He was granted an honorary law degree by the University of British Columbia in 1937, and also assumed the position of Attorney-General. Pattullo remained Premier until 9 December 1941. Though personally successful in Prince Rupert in the election of 1941, Pattullo did not carry his party to a majority. He tried and failed to form a government, and refused to join a coalition government. Defeated in the general election of 1945, he retired from politics. In 1899, Pattullo married Lillian [Reidemaster] Miles of Toledo, Ohio. They had one daughter, Lillian Doris. Pattullo died on 29 March 1956.