William Newman was a Canadian farmer and politician whose career centered on the dairy industry. Newman was born on a farm in Edwardsburg Township, Grenville County, on January 12, 1873. Throughout his whole life he demonstrated a dedication to agriculture, which often led him to turn aside from his educational path in his early years. He left high school at age nine to help his father on the dairy farm, as his father was debilitated by epilepsy.
Newman gained his first experience in the dairying sector outside of the domestic sphere through working in a cheese factory producing raw materials. He did this for nine years before deciding to engage in higher education to become a minister, passing the entrance exam for his local high school at age twenty-three.
In order to fund his education expenses, he took a job on the St. Lawrence Canal construction project as a navvy. However, he attended high school for only a year before he again found himself in the realm of agriculture, as he was pressed into re-entering the cheese business after the local cheese-maker developed diphtheria.
After giving up on pursuing his ministry career, Newman decided to dedicate himself to the dairy industry, eventually moving from cheese to butter. He graduated from the Kingston Dairy School in 1899, specializing in butter-making. He managed several creameries throughout Canada, including one in Buckingham, Quebec and the Dominion Creamery in Regina, Saskatchewan. He ultimately ended up taking over the bankrupt creamery in Lorneville with his brother, Tim, in 1902, renaming it the “Eldon” Creamery and establishing a very successful enterprise- the Eldon Creamery Limited.
The Eldon Creamery company soon had four operating buildings throughout southern Ontario, including ones in Gamebridge, Rathburn, Beaverton, and the headquarters in Lorneville. It was an hugely popular business that drew cream from many surrounding townships and was supported by Liberal and Conservative farmers alike.
Always seeking to improve and strengthen the dairy industry, Newman encouraged farmers to separate their cream from their milk before shipping it. In order to achieve this objective, Newman and his company ordered industrial separators from a wholesaler and sold them off to farmers. Eventually this process had every farm in the region shipping out separated milk to Lorneville. This made the creamery enormously successful, lowering costs and increasing production; reportedly, the output during its first year in business was 40,000 pounds of butter.
Throughout the 1920s, the butter produced in Eldon Creameries in Lorneville and Gamebridge frequently won top prizes at the Royal Winter fair and the C.N.E. During this time period, butter was seen as a national symbol of Canada- something that Ontarian dairy farmers prided themselves on.
Newman also served as the President of the Eastern Ontario Dairymen’s Association, being elected in 1926, and the Eastern Ontario Creameries Association. He was well known for his leadership qualities and engaging manner of speaking.
In addition to his dairy exploits, Newman also served as a politician in his later years. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, representing Victoria County in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from December 1 1926 to April 3, 1934 and again from June 19, 1934 to August 25, 1937.
Throughout his life, William Newman demonstrated his dedication to improving the dairy industry in Ontario. A 1925 edition of the Canadian Countryman newspaper described him as having “experienced ambitions that reached beyond the gospel of better dairy products.”