William Summerville

Who was William Summerville?

William Arthur Summerville was a municipal and provincial politician in Toronto, Canada.

Summerville was born in Cargill, Bruce County on July 8, 1879 and moved with his family to Toronto at age three. His first career was as a musician. He played cornet for the 48th Highlanders and toured North America with different theatre orchestras. He also became a locally popular song writer, with tunes like "Yes, Danforth".

He settled in the east part of Toronto and became active in the theatre and real estate business. He became the owner of a small chain of theatres that presented both vaudeville shows and movies. He built structures such as the Prince of Wales Theatre at Woodbine and Danforth. He was also into real estate beginning in 1908 and founded his own firm in 1912.

Summerville's first election victory was as a Toronto Board of Education trustee in 1920 and then elected as Toronto City Council Ward 1 alderman from 1922 to 1933. Summerville joined the then Toronto Board of Control from 1933 to 1937. His election caused controversy when it was discovered he was on arrears on some of his municipal taxes, and was thus ineligible to run and to take his seat on the board.