William Cameron Edwards

William Cameron Edwards

William Cameron Edwards, industrialist, politician (b in Clarence Twp, Russell County, Canada W 7 May 1844; d at Ottawa 17 Sept 1921). Edwards entered the lumbering business in Thurso but moved to Rockland in 1868 and founded W.C. Edwards and Co, building large sawmills at Rockland and New Edinburgh. A noted stockbreeder and agriculturalist, he represented Russell in Parliament 1887-1903, when he was appointed to the Senate. He accompanied Prime Minister Wilfrid LAURIER to Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and King Edward's coronation in 1902. Edwards was president of Canada Cement and the Russell Agricultural Society, and director of many companies, including the Canadian Bank of Commerce, Canada Central Railway, Canadian Forestry Association and the Central Canada Exhibition. In 1920 he helped organize a $60-million merger involving Riordon Pulp and Paper Company.