# William Peyton Hubbard

William Peyton Hubbard (January 27, 1842 – April 30, 1935), a Toronto alderman from 1894 to 1914, was a popular and influential politician, nicknamed Cicero for his oratory; he was one of the first politicians of African descent elected to office in Canada.

## Early life

Hubbard was born in a cabin in what were then the outskirts of Toronto, in a rural area called "the Bush" near the intersection of what are now Bloor Street and Bathurst Street. His parents were refugee American slaves who had escaped their plantation in Virginia and reached Canada in 1840 via the Underground Railroad. Raised a devout Anglican, Hubbard was the eldest of eight children and trained as a baker at the Toronto Normal School. He invented and patented a successful commercial baker's oven, the Hubbard Portable Street Oven, which was marketed and sold by his younger brothers James Henry Hubbard and Charles Hubbard across North America. James later left for Britain where he became an organiser of large events, and supplied taxidermy specimens of Canadian wildlife for the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition in South Kensington, London. Frederick Horniman bought many of the mounts, including the overstuffed walrus now the unofficial mascot of Horniman Museum in London. James eventually set up a business in Devil's Dyke in Brighton.
By his thirties, William Payton Hubbard had married Julia Luckett. After having worked 16 years as a baker, he joined his uncle's horse-drawn livery taxi service. According to what may be an apocryphal story, one winter night, he rescued another cab and its occupant, newspaper publisher George Brown, from drowning in the Don River. A grateful Brown hired Hubbard as his driver. Hubbard himself, however, said that he was not present at the accident but that the incident upset Brown so much that Hubbard agreed to become Brown's driver as a favour to his brother, who operated the livery service that Brown used. Regardless of which version is correct, Brown and Hubbard became friends and the publisher later encouraged Hubbard to seek public office. His lifelong friend was Anderson Ruffin Abbott, Canada's first black physician.

## City politics

Hubbard first sought public office in 1893 at the age of 51, running in Toronto's Ward 4, where he lost by 7 votes. Encouraged, he ran again in Ward 4 in 1894 and was elected to represent the quiet, tree-lined ward of grand homes; it was one of the wealthiest and whitest wards in the city (encompassing an area between University Avenue and Bathurst Street). He was elected to city council and the Toronto Board of Control a total of 5 times in his career.
A reformer armed with a sharp wit and a powerful oratory skills, which earned him the nickname "Old Cicero", Hubbard was known for his strong sense of public duty. He made his name fighting for public ownership of Toronto's water and hydroelectric supplies.
Hubbard was appointed to the Toronto Board of Control, the city's powerful executive body, in 1898 and agitated to have the body directly elected by the people. After this reform was done, he won election to the body in its first citywide election in 1904. He thus became the first person of colour to win a citywide election in Toronto's history, and he was the only person of a visible minority to be elected to Toronto city hall until at least 2011. Hubbard topped the polls in the election to the Board in 1906; as vice-chairman of the board, he served as acting mayor on occasions when the mayor was absent. He was re-elected in 1907.
Despite being a city official, Hubbard needed to obtain a letter from Mayor Emerson Coatsworth vouching for his character when travelling to Washington, D.C. for a business meeting in 1906.
Hubbard gained passage of almost 100 initiatives in his years on council. He advocated improved waterworks and opposed its privatization, sought roads, and the authority to enact local improvement bylaws. He also fought for the creation of High Park.
He also opposed various forms of discrimination. In 1896, he defended the small Chinese community against unfair taxes meant to discourage Chinese-operated hand laundries. He also presented a petition to City Council calling for an end to "attacks on the Jewish religion" by anti-Semitic street preachers.
Hubbard joined with Sir Adam Beck to advocate a publicly owned hydroelectricity utility system in the province and led efforts to create the publicly owned Toronto Hydro-Electric System. He was opposed in this campaign by some businessmen who wanted a private system, leading to his defeat in 1908, his first loss at the polls in 24 years. He was defeated again in the 1909 and 1910 municipal elections.
He was appointed justice of the peace for York County in May 1908. Hubbard returned to city council in the 1913 election, this time representing Ward 1 which included the Riverdale neighbourhood. He retired at the end of his one-year term due to his wife's ill health.
Hubbard served on the board of the Toronto House of Industry, an institution which provided relief for the poor, for four decades.

## Retirement and death

Hubbard retired to the Riverdale area of the city, building a home on Broadview Avenue near Danforth Avenue. He lived there until his death from a stroke at the age of 93. Coincidentally the alderman, dubbed the Grand Old Man by Toronto press in his political days, and serving well into his 90s, was quite literally the oldest man in the city for a short period before his death. Flags at Toronto City Hall, St. Lawrence Market, and other public buildings in the city flew at half-mast to mark his death. He is buried in the Toronto Necropolis.
His son Frederick Langdon Hubbard was chairman of the Toronto Transportation Commission from 1929 to 1930 and married Grace (Abbot) Hubbard, the daughter of Anderson Ruffin Abbott.

## Honours

* Hubbard's portrait hangs in the office of the Mayor of Toronto.
* The City of Toronto's William Peyton Hubbard Award For Race Relations was established in 1989 and is awarded annually. Recipients have included Leonard Braithwaite, QC, George Elliot Clarke, Dub Poet Lillian Allen, and former Ontario cabinet minister Alvin Curling.
* The William Peyton Hubbard Memorial Award is a scholarship established in 2000 and funded by Hydro One which is awarded annually to two black students studying power industry-related disciplines at a recognized Ontario post-secondary institution. The award includes an offer of a work term or summer employment at Hydro One.
* A historical plaque commemorating Hubbard is located in front of his former home at 660 Broadview Avenue; it is now named Hubbard House and houses several classrooms for the Montcrest School.
* Hubbard Park, located at 562 Gerrard Street, at Broadview Avenue was opened in 2016 in a ceremony in front of an audience that included 16 of Hubbard's descendants. The park, located not far from Hubbard's long-time home on Broadview Avenue, was created after the closure of the Don Jail when the land in front of the restored building was landscaped as part of the expansion of Bridgepoint Health.

## Cultural depictions

Hubbard was portrayed as a member of the Board of Control in episode 13 of season 9 ("Colour Blinded") (February 8, 2016) of the Canadian television period drama Murdoch Mysteries by the actor Rothaford Gray. In the episode, he comes to the defence of an innocent black man, who has been racially profiled by the Toronto police. He appeared again in episode 16 of season 9 ("Bl**dy H*ll") (March 7, 2016), now as an Alderman.
Hubbard was portrayed in episode 8 of season 3 ("Ward of the Roses") (November 11, 2019) of the Canadian television period drama Frankie Drake Mysteries by the actor Neville Edwards.

## Biography

A biography, Against All Odds, was published in 1986 and written by his great-grandson Stephen L. Hubbard.

## Electoral history
### Toronto Board of Control (top 4 candidates elected)

The Toronto Board of Control was directly elected beginning in 1904. Previously, the body had been appointed by Toronto City Council from amongst its members. Hubbard had been appointed in 1898 and 1901.

#### 1904

    Frank S. Spence - 12,294
    John F. Loudon - 11,121
    William Peyton Hubbard - 8,950
    Fred H. Richardson - 8,923
    William Burns - 8,641
    James Russell Lovett Starr - 8,639
    Joseph Oliver - 8,598
    John Shaw - 7,184

#### 1905

    Frank S. Spence (incumbent) - 13,032
    J.J. Ward - 12,993
    William Peyton Hubbard (incumbent) - 12,880
    John Shaw - 12,436
    J.R.L Starr - 9,823
    Joseph Oliver - 8,141
    Thomas Foster - 6,395
    G.R. Ramsden - 5,839
    Frank Moses - 5,048
    A.R. Denison - 4,925
    Edward Hanlan - 2,178

#### 1906

    William Peyton Hubbard (incumbent) - 14,081
    S. Alfred Jones - 14,039
    J.J. Ward (incumbent) - 13,770
    John Shaw (incumbent) - 12,524
    Hastings - 11,308

#### 1907

    J.J. Ward (incumbent) - 9,362
    William Spence Harrison - 9,054
    Horatio Clarence Hocken - 8,639
    William Peyton Hubbard (incumbent) - 8,483
    Robert Fleming - 7,077
    S. Alfred Jones (incumbent) - 6,710
    John Shaw (incumbent) - 6,465
    John Dunn - 5,038
    Davies - 1,390
    Joel Marvin Briggs - 496

#### 1908

    Horatio Clarence Hocken (incumbent) - 16,844
    Frank S. Spence - 11,512
    William Spence Harrison (incumbent) - 10,312
    J.J. Ward (incumbent) - 10,075
    William Peyton Hubbard (incumbent) - 9,203
    John Shaw - 6,385
    Robert Fleming - 5,640
    Oliver Sheppard - 5,099
    John Dunn - 4,434
    John Enoch Thompson - 1,291
    James Lindala - 1,220
    Hugh MacMath - 1,013
    Robert Buist Noble - 745
    James O'Hara - 367
    Joel Marvin Briggs - 232

#### 1909

    George Reginald Geary - 19,027
    Horatio Clarence Hocken (incumbent) - 17,380
    J.J. Ward (incumbent) - 15,782
    William Spence Harrison (incumbent) - 13,509
    Frank S. Spence (incumbent) - 12,933
    William Peyton Hubbard - 11,275
    Hales - 8,171
    Robert Buist Noble - 1,287
    James O'Hara - 779

#### 1910

    Frank S. Spence - 13,879
    J.J. Ward (incumbent) - 13,401
    Tommy Church - 12,657
    Thomas Foster - 10,841
    William Spence Harrison (incumbent) - 9,946
    William Peyton Hubbard - 9,498
    Mark Bredin - 8,708
    James Henry McGhie - 7,511
    James Hales - 5,852
    Albert Chamberlain - 2,730

### Alderman
#### Fourth Ward

    William Carlyle (incumbent) - 2,292
    William Burns (incumbent) - 2,266
    James Jolliffe (incumbent) - 1,966
    George Verral (incumbent) - 1,634
    Wm. P. Hubbard - 1,626
    A.F. Jury - 1,316
(top 4 candidates elected)

#### Fourth Ward

    William Burns (incumbent) - 2,011
    Wm. P. Hubbard - 1,993
    James Jolliffe (incumbent) - 1,600
    James Crane - 1,458
    George Verral (incumbent) - 1,381
    W.G. Harris - 1,123
    John McCaffrey - 1,014
    M. B. Alison - 986
    Alex R. Williamson - 960
    John Ward - 511
    John Dill - 340

#### Fourth Ward

    William Burns (incumbent) - 2,217
    Wm. P. Hubbard (incumbent) - 2,213
    James Crane (incumbent) - 1,839
    James Jolliffe (incumbent) -1,189
    B. Alison - 1,084
    George Verral - 979
    A.F. Jury - 903
    Thompson Porter - 795
    Alex R. Williamson - 697
    George Williams - 512
    Henry Cohen - 353

#### Fourth Ward

    William Burns (incumbent) - 2,356
    Wm. P. Hubbard (incumbent) - 2,058
    James Crane (incumbent) - 1,835
    James Jolliffe (incumbent) -1,448
    John McCaffrey - 1,093
    John Lester - 583
    Robert P. Hall - 485
    Frank Sexton -283

#### Fourth Ward

    Wm. P. Hubbard (incumbent) - 2,798
    Wm. Burns (incumbent) - 2,621
    James Crane (incumbent) - 1,777
    William Carlyle - 1,543
    James Jolliffe (incumbent) -1,354
    H.E. Trent - 1,291
    F.W. Unitt - 1,221
    J.E. Verral - 941
    Robert P. Hall - 536
    James Langdon - 340
    D.H. Watt - 89

#### Fourth Ward

    Wm. Burns (incumbent) - 2,226
    Wm. P. Hubbard (incumbent) - 2,161
    James Crane (incumbent) - 1,888
    Edward Hanlan - 1,595
    H.E. Trent - 1,300
    Thomas Urquhart - 1,264
    William Carlyle (incumbent) - 1,093
    James Jolliffe - 838
    W.G McWilliams -835
    Robert P. Hall - 323
    George McKibbon - 279
       At the first city council meeting following the election, Hubbard was one of three aldermen chosen to sit on the Toronto Board of Control

#### Fourth Ward

    Wm. Burns (incumbent) - 2,870
    James Crane (incumbent) - 2,818
    Edward Hanlan (incumbent) - 2,373
    Wm. P. Hubbard (incumbent) - 2,318
    Thomas Urquhart - 2,288
    S.W. Burns - 2,057
    H.W. Paull - 1,016
    Thomas Roberts - 238

#### Fourth Ward

    Thomas Urquhart - 3,098
    Wm. P. Hubbard (incumbent) - 2,674
    James Crane (incumbent) - 2,601
    Wm. Burns (incumbent) - 2,495
    Stephen W. Burns - 2,476
    Edward Hanlan (incumbent) - 1,345
    Thomas Roberts - 384

#### Fourth Ward (Spadina)

    Thomas Urquhart - 3,191
    William Burns (incumbent) - 2,680
    William Peyton Hubbard (incumbent) - 2,673
    James Crane (incumbent) - 2,500
    Alex R. Williamson - 1,688
    Samuel Platt - 740
       At the first city council meeting following the election, Hubbard was one of four aldermen chosen to sit on the Toronto Board of Control

#### Fourth Ward (Spadina)

    Thomas Urquhart - 3,280
    William Burns (incumbent) -2,803
    James Crane (incumbent) - 2,709
    William Peyton Hubbard (incumbent) - 2,496
    Alex R. Williamson - 1,830
    Edmund Schilling - 254

#### Fourth Ward (Spadina)

    William Burns (incumbent) -2,770
    William Peyton Hubbard (incumbent) - 2,585
    Dr. William S. Harrison - 2,582
    Stephen Wellesley Burns - 2,469
    Alex R. Williamson - 1,731
    Lieut-Col. Norman F. Paterson - 1,535
    Edmund Schilling - 258

#### Ward 1 (Riverdale)

    William D. Robbins - 4,030
    Albert Edwin Walton - 3,789
    William Peyton Hubbard - 3,611
    William John Saunderson (incumbent) - 1,935
    William Edward Orr - 1,209
    Frank Britton - 602
(top 3 candidates elected)