Valentine Ratz
Honorific prefixThe Honourable
OfficeCanadian Senator
from Ontario
AppointerWilfrid Laurier
Term startJanuary 18, 1909
Term endMarch 1, 1924
Riding 2Middlesex North
Parliament 2Canadian
Predecessor 2William Henry Hutchins
Successor 2John Sherritt
Term start 21896
Term end 21900
Predecessor 3John Sherritt
Successor 3Alexander Wilson Smith
Term start 31904
Term end 31908
Birth dateNovember 12, 1848
Birth placeSt. Jacobs, County of Waterloo, Canada West
Death dateMarch 1, 1924 (aged 75)
Death placeGuelph, Ontario, Canada
PartyLiberal

Valentine Ratz (November 12, 1848 – March 1, 1924) was a Canadian lumber merchant and politician in the province of Ontario.[1]

Background

Born in St. Jacobs, County of Waterloo, Canada West,[1] the son of Jacob Ratz, Ratz received his education at Pine Hill Public School. As a lumber merchant, he was President of the South River Lumber Company of Parry Sound District. In 1879 he entered the municipal council of the Township of Stephen and was Deputy Reeve and Reeve. He was also elected Warden of the County of Huron in 1886.[2] In 1873, Ratz married Mary Yagers.[3] He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the electoral district of Middlesex North in the general election of 1896. A Liberal, he was defeated in the 1900 federal election and was re-elected in the 1904 federal election. He was summoned to the Senate of Canada for the senatorial division of Parkhill, Ontario on the advice of Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier in 1909.[1] He served until his death in Guelph in 1924.[3]

References

  1. ^
  2. ^ "Personnel of the Senate and House of Commons, eighth Parliament of Canada, elected June 23, 1896". Internet Archive. 1898.
  3. ^ Johnson, J.K. (1968). The Canadian Directory of Parliament 1867-1967. Public Archives of Canada.