Henry Willoughby Laird was a journalist, wholesale merchant and political figure in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada. He sat for Regina division in the Senate of Canada from 1917 to 1940.

He was born in Port Dover, Ontario

Port Dover, Ontario

Port Dover is an unincorporated community and former town located in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada on the north shore of Lake Erie.The community was the subject of an American raid during the War of 1812, on May 14, 1814....

, the son of the Reverend William H. Laird and Elizabeth C. Burke, and was educated at the Jarvis Street Collegiate Institute

Jarvis Collegiate Institute

Jarvis Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Jarvis is located on Jarvis Street. Founded in 1807 it is the second oldest high school in Ontario after the Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, and the oldest high school in Toronto.-History:Jarvis Collegiate was...

 and the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

. Laird worked as a journalist for ten years, spending three years as a press correspondent in the Ontario legislature and Canadian House of Commons. He married Lillian Blanche Defoe in 1888.

In 1901, he came west to serve as private secretary to Frederick W. A. G. Haultain

Frederick W. A. G. Haultain

Sir Frederick William Alpin Gordon Haultain was a lawyer and a long serving Canadian politician and judge. His career in provincial and territorial legislatures stretched into four decades...

. After leaving that position, he then established a wholesale and distribution business in Regina

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

, the first wholesale business established there. He was Mayor of Regina in 1904 and 1905. Laird ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the provincial assembly in 1905 and 1908. He served overseas as a lieutenant-colonel in the Canadian Expeditionary Force

Canadian Expeditionary Force

The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War. Units of the C.E.F. were divided into field formation in France, where they were organized first into separate divisions and later joined together into a single...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. In 1920, he helped found the Equitable Life & Accident Insurance Company and served as its vice-president. He was also a director for the Northern Life Assurance Company of London

London, Ontario

London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...

 and the Merchants Casualty of Waterloo

Waterloo, Ontario

Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....

Laird died in office at the age of 72.

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