Farmer, newspaper editor and long time Canadian legislator and Minister of Agriculture responsible for creating agriculture schools and Farmer's Institutes throughout Canada.
1872-1946 | Artist: Ernest Sigmund Klempner (1867-1941)
Impact & Accomplishments
As a teenager, Duncan Marshall earned extra income as a public school teacher, while helping on his father’s livestock farm in Elderslie, Ontario. He entered politics at a young age, too, promoting the farmer’s movement.
He moved to Toronto, where he owned and edited several newspapers and established a farm near Olds, breeding Shorthorn cattle and Clydesdale horses.
Duncan Marshall was a director of the Dominion Shorthorn Breeders’ Association and president of the Western Canada Shorthorn Association.
Elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, he was immediately appointed Minister of Agriculture and Provincial Secretary in 1909. A scandal soon forced the administration out of office, but Marshall returned to the agriculture ministry under the new government. In this post, he promoted livestock imports from the U. S. and Great Britain, created demonstration farms that would evolve into agriculture training schools, founded an extensive system of Farmer’s Institutes, and organized many fairs. Marshall served Alberta until 1921, but returned to politics in 1934, this time representing the province of Ontario. He was Minister of Agriculture there until 1937, and then was appointed to the Canadian Senate from 1938 to 1946.
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