James Arthur Mathewson was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 politician.

Born in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Mathewson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912 and a Bachelor of Civil Law degree in 1917 from McGill University

McGill University

Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1917. He was a captain in the 42nd Battalion Royal Highlanders of Canada 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...

. After the war, he was a lawyer in Montreal. He was created a King's Counsel in 1926.

He was a member of the Montreal City Council

Montreal City Council

The Montreal City Council is the governing body of Montreal, Quebec. The head of the city government in Montreal is the mayor, who is first among equals in the City Council. The mayor is Gérald Tremblay, who is a member of the Union des citoyens et des citoyennes de l'Île de Montréal...

 for Saint-André from 1926 to 1930. He ran unsuccessfully for Mayor in 1930 losing to Camillien Houde

Camillien Houde

Camillien Houde was a Quebec politician, a Member of Parliament, and a four-time mayor of Montreal.-Political career:...

. He was the Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec

Legislative Assembly of Quebec

The Legislative Assembly of Quebec was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature until 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, the upper house of the legislature, the Legislative Council, was abolished...

 for Montréal–Notre-Dame-de Grâce

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (provincial electoral district)

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is a provincial electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec.The riding was created in 1939 from parts of the former Westmount provincial electoral district. The riding was called Montreal-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce from 1939 to 1965 and...

from 1939 to 1948. He was Treasurer of Quebec from 1939 to 1944.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from McGill University in 1943.