Samuel McBride
Plot D, Section 20, Lot 8
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Born in the shadow of “old” City Hall on July 13, 1866, Sam McBride was educated at Elizabeth Street and Wellesley Street Public Schools, terminating his education at the age of eleven. He began delivering the Leader newspaper, and then tried his hand at carriage painting. This was followed by a short stint in the composing room of The Morning World newspaper. He then got a job delivering lumber by horse and wagon. It was the appalling condition of many of the city’s streets that convinced McBride that he should run for municipal office so he could fight to get some of those thoroughfares fixed.
His first attempt in 1905 was successful and he remained a ward alderman through 1916 (except for 1909), and then again in 1924 and 1925. He was a city controller in 1917, 1918, 1919, 1926, 1932, 1933, 1934, and 1935. In 1928, 1929, and 1936, McBride was mayor. During the thirty-two-year period form 1905 to 1936, McBride ran for office a total of 31 times and was successful on 23 occasions.
It was in the spring of 1936 that Mayor McBride became ill and city council approved an extended leave of absence. Over the next few months, the Mayor made infrequent trips to his city hall office and even talked on occasion about running in the following year’s mayoralty race. However, on November 10, 1936 the 70-year-old Mayor suffered a severe stroke from which he never regained consciousness. Mayor Sam McBride passed away on November 14 at his home, 335 Inglewood Drive, the first chief magistrate in Toronto history to die while still in office.
Mike Filey
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded