Ralph Horner Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Ralph Horner
Office:Senator for Saskatchewan North
Appointed:R. B. Bennett
Term Start:December 30, 1933
Term End:December 14, 1964
Birth Name:Ralph Byron Horner
Birth Date:26 June 1884
Birth Place:North Claredon, Quebec
Nationality:Canadian
Party:Conservative Party of Canada
Children:Hugh Horner
Norval Horner
Jack Horner

Ralph Byron Horner (June 26, 1884 – December 14, 1964) was a Canadian Senator, farmer, businessman and the patriarch of a Western Canadian political family.

Born in North Clarendon, Quebec, Horner and his family settled in Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan.

A Conservative activist and twice failed provincial candidate, Horner was appointed to the board of the Canadian National Railway by the government of R.B. Bennett in 1931. In 1933, Bennett appointed Horner to the Senate where he served for over 30 years until his death in 1964 as the Senator for Saskatchewan North.

In the 1958 general election two of his sons, Jack Horner and Hugh Horner and his nephew Albert Horner were all elected to the House of Commons of Canada as Progressive Conservatives. Four Horners thus sat in Parliament simultaneously (though in different chambers) until Ralph Horner's death in 1964. (In 1972 a third son, Norval Horner, was elected).[1]

References

  1. Tom Hawthorn, "JACK HORNER, RANCHER AND POLITICIAN: 1927-2004; ‘Cactus Jack' arrived in Ottawa as a Tory cowpuncher prepared to duke it out with his opponents. In the end, he shot down his own career by going over to his arch-enemies, the Liberals", Globe and Mail, November 22, 2004