KNOWLES BIOGRAPHIES
Stanley Howard KNOWLES (1908 - 1997)
Descendant of: Richard
Knowles (1614 - 1675)
Knowles Progenitor: Massachusetts
- #01 (Barnstable Co.)
Stanley Howard Knowles,
Canadian Parliamentarian
(based on research by Robert
B. Noles from public sources)
GENEALOGY
Stanley Howard Knowles (1908 - 1997)
s/o Stanley Ernest Knowles (1874 - 1935)
s/o Benjamin Doane Knowles (1843 - 1933)
s/o Jonathan Knowles (1799 - 1866)
s/o Nathaniel Knowles (1768 - ??)
s/o Nathaniel Knowles (c 1741 - 1824)
s/o Enos Knowles (1712 - 1784)
s/o Samuel Knowles (1682 - 1751)
s/o Samuel Knowles (1651 - 1737)
s/o Richard Knowles (1614 - 1675)
[Massachusetts
Progenitor #01 (Barnstable)]
Biographical Sketch
based on article from Wikipedia
Stanley Howard Knowles, PC , OC , BA , BD , LL.D (1908 - 1997) was a Canadian parliamentarian. Knowles represented the riding of Winnipeg North Centre from 1942 to 1958 on behalf of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and again from 1962 to 1984 representing the CCF's successor, the New Democratic Party (NDP).
Stanley Knowles married Vida Claire Cruikshank on November 9, 1936 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They had two children, David Stanley Knowles and Margaret Jean Knowles.
Knowles was widely regarded and respected as the foremost expert on
parliamentary procedure in Canada, and served as the CCF and NDP House Leader
for decades. He was also a leading advocate of social justice, and was
largely responsible for persuading the governments to increase Old Age Security
benefits and for the introduction of the Canada Pension Plan, as well as other
features of the welfare state.
Stanley Knowles was born in Los Angeles, California and later immigrated to
Canada. Knowles was brought up in the social gospel movement, and became a
United Church minister. He joined the CCF in 1935 during the Great
Depression and ran unsuccessfully for election to the Canadian House of Commons
in 1935 and 1940 and for the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in 1941. He
was first elected, to the House of Commons, in a 1942 by election in Winnipeg
North Centre that was held on the death of former CCF leader J.S. Woodsworth.
He became an expert on parliamentary procedure, and used his skills to humiliate
the Liberal government of Louis St. Laurent during the 1956 Pipeline Debate.
This helped contribute to the government's electoral defeat in the 1957
election.
Progressive Conservative Party leader John George Diefenbaker was so impressed
by Knowles' skill that when he became prime minister as a result of that
election, he asked Knowles to become Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons.
Knowles declined. He lost his seat in the 1958 election that almost wiped
out the CCF, and went to work for the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). He
and David Lewis came up with a strategy to create a new party that would bring
the old CCF together with the labour movement by partnering the party with the
CLC. This new party was launched as the New Democratic Party in 1961.
Knowles returned to parliament as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the new party
as a result of the 1962 election. He played a crucial role through
minority governments of the 1960s and 1970s using the NDP's position holding the
balance of power to persuade successive Liberal governments to introduce
progressive measures.
In 1979, Knowles became a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.
Knowles battled multiple sclerosis since 1946, but it was his 1981 stroke that
ultimately removed him from public life. He retired from politics in 1984,
but was given the unprecedented distinction of being made an honorary table
officer of the House of Commons by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. This
allowed him to spend his retirement viewing parliamentary debates from the floor
of the House, and he was often seen to do so until further strokes left him
bed-ridden.
In 1984, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Stanley Howard
Knowles died in 1997.
