William Manley German was an 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....

 barrister and political figure. He represented Welland

Welland (electoral district)

Welland is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1988, and since 2004. Its population in 2006 was 112,875....

 in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

 from 1894 to 1900 and 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...

 from 1891 to 1892, from 1900 to 1917 and from 1921 to 1925 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 Hillier Township, Prince Edward County

Prince Edward County, Ontario

Prince Edward County is a single-tier municipality and a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario.-Geography:Prince Edward County is located in Southern Ontario on a large irregular headland or littoral at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, just west of the head of the St. Lawrence River...

, Canada West, the son of George German whose parents were United Empire Loyalists from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 state. He studied at Victoria College

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 Cobourg

Cobourg, Ontario

Cobourg is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario 95 km east of Toronto. It is the largest town in Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is located along Highway 401 and the former Highway 2...

. German articled in law with Lewis Wallbridge

Lewis Wallbridge

Lewis Wallbridge was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Canada West. In 1882, he was appointed Chief Justice of Manitoba....

 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...

 and then Edward Fitzgerald in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. He was called to the bar in 1883 and set up practice in Welland

Welland, Ontario

Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada.The city has been traditionally known as the place where rails and water meet, referring to the railways from Buffalo to Toronto and Southwestern Ontario, and the waterways of Welland Canal and Welland River,...

. In 1885, he married Henrietta Aylmer Macdonald. German was deputy reeve for Welland in 1890. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1891 but unseated after an appeal. German resigned his seat in the provincial assembly in 1900 to sit in the federal parliament. He ran unsuccessfully in 1917 and 1926 for the Welland seat in the House of Commons.

German introduced legislation in the House of Commons to establish a bridge commission which led to the construction of the Peace Bridge

Peace Bridge

The Peace Bridge is an international bridge between Canada and the United States at the east end of Lake Erie at the source of the Niagara River, about upriver of Niagara Falls. It connects the City of Buffalo, New York, in the United States to the Town of Fort Erie, Ontario, in Canada...

 between Fort Erie, Ontario

Fort Erie, Ontario

Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly across the river from Buffalo, New York....

 and Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

; similar legislation had been introduced in the United States Congress and the New York State Legislature. He was vice-president of the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Company established to build the bridge.