William Barton Northrup (October 19, 1856 – October 22, 1925) 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...

 lawyer and politician.

Born in Belleville

Belleville, Ontario

Belleville is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Southern Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is the seat of Hastings County, but is politically independent of it. and the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region...

, Canada West, the son of Anson Gilbert Northrup and Jane C. Balster, Northrup was educated at the Upper Canada College

Upper Canada College

Upper Canada College , located in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is an independent elementary and secondary school for boys between Senior Kindergarten and Grade Twelve, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The secondary school segment is divided into ten houses; eight are...

 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...

, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1877 and a Master of Arts degree in 1878. A lawyer he was head of the firm of Northrup & Roberts, in Belleville. He was created a King's Counsel in 1903.

He first ran unsuccessfully as the Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada (historical)

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...

 candidate for 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...

 for the Ontario electoral district of Hastings East

Hastings East

Hastings East was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1925. It was located in the province of Ontario...

 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....

 losing to 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...

 Samuel Barton Burdett

Samuel Barton Burdett

Samuel Barton Burdett was a politician, lawyer and lecturer. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Member in the 1887 election. He was re-elected in the 1891 election then died in office on January 20, 1892. He also served as a councillor for the town of Belleville, Ontario....

. After Burdett died in office in 1892, Northrup was acclaimed in the resulting 1892 by-election. He was defeated in the 1896 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1896

The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the...

 and was elected in 1900

Canadian federal election, 1900

The Canadian federal election of 1900 was held on November 7 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Canada. As a result of the election, the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, was re-elected to a second majority government, defeating the...

, 1904

Canadian federal election, 1904

The Canadian federal election of 1904 was held on November 3 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Canada...

, 1908

Canadian federal election, 1908

The Canadian federal election of 1908 was held on October 26 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 11th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Liberal Party of Canada was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term in government with a majority government...

, and 1911

Canadian federal election, 1911

The Canadian federal election of 1911 was held on September 21 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Canada.-Summary:...

.

From 1918 to 1924, he was the Clerk of the House of Commons.