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Pioneer - DOWNEY, Joseph P., M. L. A.
Biographical Sketches of
Early Settlers of Wellington County
Information from: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario.
Toronto: Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906
|
DOWNEY, Joseph P., M. L. A .
The well balanced newspaper man, is near to all things,
and it may easily be admitted, that the member for South Wellington, in the
Legislature, has a distinguished career before him. Mr. Joseph P. Downey,
M.L.A., still walks on the sunny side of the valley of life, on which he first
appeared in Jan. 1865. He comes of good Irish stock. His father, the late
Patrick J. Downey, was an especially loveable man, who was possessed of a
certain old world courtesy of bearing, that is fast disappearing before the
strenuousness of modern conditions. Mr. Downey, Sr., was a Domine, who did not
wield the rod all the time, and an indelible impression was left on the hearts
of many lads who passed under his tutelage. His old school room, in Puslinch,
is known to this day as "Downey's Schoolhouse." Mr. J. P. Downey's
mother, was a daughter of the late Bernard McTague, and was the second child of
the gentler sex born in Guelph. At the age of 15 young Downey entered the
Herald,
and five years years later, was called to fill the editorial chair. Since then,
he has remained in that position, and the
Herald
has advanced in the meantime. Mr. Downey is regarded as one of the leading
political orators in his native county. He has every qualification for an
orator. His vocabulary is a copious one, he has courage, and he possesses all
that fire, dash, vim, and vivid imagination, which is the absolute birthright
of the Celt. But, it has to be admitted, that he is an orator who knows when an
oration is not in order; he is a capital raconteur, who does not permit himself
to fall into the perilous position of being merely a funny man. He is an
aggressive fighter, and when the time comes to clasp hands and drop politics
for the time being, no one can do it with an easier grace than the subject of
this sketch. He has long been recognized as the Conservative party's strongest
campaigner, and in 1899, he was sent up into Manitoba, where he did effective
work in upsetting the Greenway Government. When the Conservative caucus was
held, in 1901, it was felt that a specially strong man was needed, and Mr.
Downey received an unanimous nomination, and was elected on May 29, 1902, by a
large majority, the first Conservative to represent South Wellington in the
Local House. At the general elections in Jan. 1905, he was re-elected by an
increased majority. His parliamentary career has been especially distinguished
by his fine speech on the Report of the Royal Commission on the Gamey charges.
He has done good work, too, in the exposure of the York Loan, and the
legislation that followed, has prevented any confiscation of the people's
savings by Loan corporations. Mr. Downey's bill to exempt wood lots from
taxation, and other measures of a progressive character, are marked features of
his parliamentary career. It is said, that nothing broadens a man so much as
travel, and Mr. Downey has been a fortunate man in having travelled extensively
in America, Australia, and Europe. This probably accounts for his broad
attitude towards the men of other faiths. He is a son of the Ancient church. In
1893, he m. Ellen Josephine, dau. of Thomas Coghlan, Esq., and has three
children living: George Aloysuis, 11 years; Mary Ignatia, 9 years, and Edmund
Joseph, aged 6 years. His youngest son, Paul, died in infancy.
From: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario. Toronto: Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906 |
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