Thomas Walter Scott

Thomas Walter Scott (October 27, 1867 – March 23, 1938) was the first premier of Saskatchewan from 1905 to 1916. Scott was Saskatchewan's second longest-serving Premier, serving one continuous term from 1905 to 1916). He led the Saskatchewan Liberal Party in three general elections, winning all three with majority governments before retiring. He was the first of six Liberal Premiers to date. He was succeeded by William Melville Martin. Scott was also the minister of various departments during his tenure as premier. Prior to the creation of Saskatchewan in 1905, Scott was a Member of Parliament in the federal House of Commons of Canada, elected in the general elections of 1900 and 1904. Early life Scott was born in 1867 in London Township, Ontario, in rural southwestern Ontario, the child of George Scott and Isabella Telfer. He was born out of wedlock, a fact he kept secret for his entire life. He moved to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, in 1885, and then – at the age of 19 – to Regina, the capital of the North-West Territories, in 1886. He worked for and then ran a number of newspapers which supported the Liberal Party of Canada. He became a partner in the Regina Standard from 1892 to 1893. From 1894 to 1895, he was the owner and editor of the Moose Jaw Times. Scott then bought the Regina Leader (known today as the Regina Leader-Post) in 1895, and was its editor until 1900. During this period, Scott gained a measure of fame as pitcher for a local baseball team.