Philip Howard Spohn was a physician and political figure in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada. He represented Simcoe East

Simcoe East

Simcoe East was a federal electoral district in the province of Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1882 to 1968...

 in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 in 1891 as a Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 member.

He was born in Ancaster

Ancaster, Ontario

Ancaster is a picturesque and historic community located on the Niagara escarpment, within the greater area of the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. This former town was founded officially in 1793 and was one of the oldest European communities established in present day Ontario along with Windsor...

, Canada West, the son of Philip Spohn, of United Empire Loyalist descent. He received his M.D. from Victoria University

Victoria University in the University of Toronto

Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...

. In 1878, Spohn married Editha Sarah Thompson. He was a member of the municipal council for Simcoe for ten years. Spohn defeated William Humphrey Bennett

William Humphrey Bennett

William Humphrey Bennett was a Canadian politician.Born in Barrie, Canada West, the son of Humphrey Bennett and Anne A. Fraser, Bennett was educated at the Barrie Public and High Schools. After studying law he was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1881. Settling in Midland, Ontario, he was elected...

 in the 1891 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1891

The Canadian federal election of 1891 was held on March 5 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Canada. It was won by the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald....

; however, the election was declared invalid and Bennett won the 1892 by-election by acclamation.