Wellington Willoughby

Wellington Bartley Willoughby, (August 10, 1859 – August 1, 1932) was a Canadian politician and lawyer.

Background He stood for a seat in the federal House of Commons for the Conservative Party in a by-election in 1895, but lost to an unofficial Tory, William Stubbs. Stubbs was backed by the Orange Order, including its Grand Master N.C. Wallace and the McCarthyite leader Dalton McCarthy. They undermined Willoughby's campaign, though he was also an Orangeman.

Willoughby served as leader of the Saskatchewan Conservative Party and leader of the opposition from 1912 to 1917 and was Member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan (MLA) for the city of Moose Jaw.

He resigned from the Saskatchewan legislature shortly after his re-election in the 1917 election in order to accept an appointment to the Senate of Canada by Prime Minister Robert Borden.

In 1929, the leader of the federal Conservative Party, Richard Bennett, appointed Willoughby to the position of Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. When Bennett became Prime Minister of Canada following the 1930 federal election, Willoughby became Government Leader in the Senate and a minister without portfolio in the Canadian Cabinet.

Personal life Willoughby was born August 10, 1859 in Caledon, Ontario, to John and Margaret Willoughby, two Episcopalian Methodists who worked as farmers. He had seven siblings: William, who was 4 years older, Lydia, Samuel, Caroline, Wesley, John, and Margaret, who were all younger.

In October 1892, Wellington married Susan Thomas Jones of Germantown, Philadelphia. His wife died on June 27, 1907, of endocarditis.

He died August 1, 1932, of throat cancer. He is buried at the Rosedale Cemetery in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.