Drury Name Meaning

Ernest Drury

was a farmer, politician and writer who served as the eighth Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1919 to 1923 as the head of a United Farmers of Ontario - Labour coalition government. Drury was an "Opposition" candidate in Simcoe North in the 1917 wartime election held as a result of the Conscription Crisis of 1917. He was defeated by the Government candidate. E. C. Drury was a co-founder of the UFO in 1913, but did not run in the 1919 election that returned farmer candidates as the largest bloc in the provincial legislature. Not having a leader, the UFO Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) asked Drury to lead them. The UFOs 49 MLAs joined with 11 Labour members to form a coalition government. It was the first of a wave of United Farmers governments that took power in several provinces and that founded the Progressive Party of Canada. Drury retired from politics, but ran later as a federal candidate. Unlike many UFOers, he never joined either the Liberal Party of Canada or the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Drury was active with the Progressive Party of Canada following the demise of his provincial government. He ran as a Progressive candidate in Simcoe North in the Canadian federal election, 1925, 1926 and 1930 federal elections but was defeated by Conservative candidates by margins of 600, 200 and 800 votes respectively.