Hugh Cayley

Hugh St. Quentin Cayley (born November 19, 1857 - died May 1934 ) was a Canadian lawyer, news reporter and politician.

Early life

Hugh St. Quentin Cayley was born on November 19, 1857. He was raised in Upper Canada and one of elven children fathered by William Cayley. William Cayley was a lawyer and member of the Legislative Assembly of Canada.

Cayley studied law at the University of Toronto. After he graduated he worked for the law firm of Black, Kerr, Las and Cassels. Cayley later moved to New York and became a news reporter.

Cayley married his wife Leonora Adelaide Cochrane on September 6, 1897.cite web|url=http://www.angelfire.com/realm3/ruvignyplus/002.html | title=Descendants of Edward III | author=Barry Christopher Noonan | accessdate=2007-12-07]

News career

Cayley's first job as a news reporter was at the New York Herald-Tribune. He later moved west settling in Calgary, Northwest Territories in 1884. He joined the staff at the Calgary Herald which was founded a year earlier. He quickly rose to be a partner in ownership of the Herald.

The biggest story of his career was the "Travis Affair". In the fall of 1885 Stipendiary Magistrate Jeramiah Travis was sent by the federal government to enforce prohibition in Calgary.cite web|url =http://www.albertasource.ca/lawcases/civil/traviscase/traviscase.htm | title = The Travis Case| publisher = Alberta Law Archives | accessdate=2007-12-06 ] Travis took on the popular municipal council, Cayley also working as the court reporter had a first hand account of the events. He was accused of being drunk on the job and later fired by Travis. The firing came the day after he sentenced Alderman Simon J. Clarke to hard six months hard labour, with a scathing article appearing in the Herald the next day. Travis later charged Cayley with contempt of court.

The height of Cayley's career at the Herald was serving as Publisher. He served that role from February 1885 to January 2, 1887.cite book|title=Alberta Newspapers, 1880-1982: An Historical Directory | last=Strathern | first=Gloria M.| pages=28 |publisher=University of Alberta | isbn= 0888641370 | year=1988]

He left the Herald selling off his interests in the newspaper when he ran for election in 1886.cite web|url =http://www.albertasource.ca/lawcases/civil/traviscase/people_cayley.htm | title = The Travis Case - Hugh Cayley biography | publisher = Alberta Law Archives | accessdate=2007-12-06 ]

Northwest Territories Legislature

Cayley was elected to the Northwest Territories Legislature in a by-election held on July 14, 1886. The election was held to elect two members from the Calgary electoral district. Cayley won the second seat with 28.5% of the popular vote. John D. Lauder finished first winning 33.6% of the popular vote in the four man field of candidates.cite web | url =http://www.saskarchives.com/web/seld/1-00.pdf | title =North-West Territories: Council and Legislative Assembly, 1876-1905 | publisher =Saskatchewan Archives | accessdate = 2007-09-30]

He was re-elected to a second term in the first Northwest Territories general election held in 1888. He won second place out of three with 34% of the vote. Cayley was acclaimed to his third term in the 1891 Northwest Territories general election.

Late life

After leaving politics, Cayley resumed his career as a lawyer. He was later appointed as Judge of County Court in Vancouver, British Columbia spending almost 20 years in that position. The town of Cayley, Alberta is named in his honor. He died in May 1934.

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