Hartley Dewart

Herbert Hartley Dewart (9 November 1861 – 7 July 1924) was an Ontario lawyer and politician.

He was born in St. Johns, Canada East.[1] The son of Edward Hartley Dewart, a Methodist minister who was a staunch advocate of prohibition, the younger Dewart inherited his Liberal politics but broke with his father on the temperance issue becoming a firm opponent of prohibition,[1] a move that would cost him dearly later in life. He studied at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall and was called to the Ontario bar in 1887.[1] Dewart set up practice in Toronto and served as crown attorney for York County from 1891 to 1904. He was first elected to the provincial legislature in a 1916 by-election after the death of James Joseph Foy in the Toronto Southwest electoral district, becoming the first Liberal to win a Toronto seat in a quarter century.[1] In 1919, he became leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. He resigned as leader in 1921 due to opposition within his caucus to his anti-prohibitionist stance. He returned to private practice and died at his home near Uxbridge in 1924.[1]

He ran unsuccessfully as the Liberal candidate in the 1904 federal election for Toronto South and in the 1911 federal election for York Centre.[1]