Hugh Cayley

Background

Hugh Saint Quentin Cayley was born on November 19, 1857 in Toronto.

Education

Cayley studied law at the University of Toronto. After he graduated he worked for the law firm of Black, Kerr, Las and Cassels.

Career

He was raised in Upper Canada and one of eleven children fathered by William Cayley. Cayley later moved to New York and became a news reporter. 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.

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. He left the Herald selling off his interests in the newspaper when he ran for election in 1886.

Cayley was elected to the in a by-election held on July 14, 1886. The election was held to elect two members from the Calgary electoral district.

John Doctorate. Lauder finished first winning 33.6% of the popular vote in the four man field of candidates.

He was re-elected to a second term in the first Northwest Territories general election held in 1888. Cayley was acclaimed to his third term in the 1891 Northwest Territories general election. 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 on April 13, 1934 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Achievements

• Cayley won the second seat with 28.5% of the popular vote. He won second place out of three with 34% of the vote.

Membership

William Cayley was a lawyer and member of the Legislative Assembly of Canada.