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Biography
Sir Henry Lumley Drayton, PC, KC (April 27, 1869 – August 28, 1950) was a Canadian lawyer and politician.
Born in Kingston, Ontario, the son of Philip Henry Drayton, who came to Canada with the 16th Rifles of England, and Margaret S. Covernton, Drayton was educated in the schools of England and Canada. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1891 and was created a King's Counsel in 1908. He married Edith Mary Cawthra and had three daughters.
From 1893 to 1900, he was an Assistant City Solicitor for Toronto. In 1900, he formed a partnership with Charles J. Holman. In 1902, he was appointed Counsel to the Railway Committee of the Ontario Legislature. From 1904 to 1909, he was a County Crown Attorney for the County of York. In 1910, he was appointed Counsel for the Corporation of the City of Toronto. In 1911, he was appointed to the Toronto Power Commission. In 1912, he was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada.
He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons from Kingston in a 1919 by-election as a Conservative Party candidate. He served as Minister of Finance under both Sir Robert Borden and Arthur Meighen until the Conservative Party's defeat in the 1921 general election. Drayton kept his seat in that election.
In 1927, he was a candidate the leadership of the Conservative Party, but finished in last place. Drayton retired from politics in 1928 to become chairman of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.
He attempted to return to Parliament in the 1945 election from a seat in Victoria, British Columbia, but lost narrowly to the Liberal candidate.