Adam Crooks
Adam Crooks (1827 – 1885) was an Ontario lawyer and politician, and the first Minister of Education of Ontario.[1][2]
Political career
Crooks represented Toronto and then Oxford South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, serving as attorney general and provincial treasurer before becoming Ontario's first Minister of Education from 1876 to 1883. The Crooks Act of 1876 reformed the Ontario liquor licensing system by transferring responsibility and revenues from municipalities to the province, resulting in the appointment of provincial liquor licence inspectors, including Robert Maitland and John Hadden.
Connection to Thunder Bay
Crooks Township in the Thunder Bay district was named after him following its creation in 1882. Crooks is not known to have visited Thunder Bay personally.
Death
Crooks died incurably insane in 1885.
References
- ↑ Frederick Brian Scollie, Biographical Dictionary of Victorian Thunder Bay, 1850–1901 (Thunder Bay Museum). [1]
- ↑ Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 11, p. 643.