Charlie Tatham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles Murray Tatham (born November 8, 1925 in Woodstock, Ontario) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1987 to 1990.

Tatham is a former shareholder and vice-president of Wood-Gen Supply Ltd. He served in the Oxford Rifles Reserve from 1940 to 1943, and was a Royal Canadian Air Force officer from 1943 to 1945. Tatham was an alderman in the city of Woodstock from 1956 to 1956 and again from 1979 to 1987, and served as mayor of the city from 1957 to 1958.

He ran for the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada in the elections of 1968, 1972 and 1974, in the riding of Oxford. He was defeated on all three occasions. The closest he came to winning was in 1974, when he lost to Progressive Conservative Bruce Halliday by only 1,428 votes.

Tatham was elected to the Ontario legislature for the provincial constituency of Oxford in the 1987 provincial election, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative Dick Treleaven by 2,874 votes. He served as a backbench supporter of David Peterson's government for the next three years.

The Liberals were defeated in the 1990 provincial election, and Tatham was reduced to a third-place finish in Oxford, losing to Kimble Sutherland of the New Democratic Party. He has not sought a return to the legislature since this time.

There is currently a Charlie Tatham Peace Park in Woodstock.