1983-1985: Charles M. Tatham

Charles M. Tatham, Woodstock

Charles Murray Tatham was born in Woodstock on November 8, 1925. He was a former shareholder and vice-president of Wood-Gen Supply Limited and served in the Oxford Rifles Reserve from 1940-1943. During WWII, he served as a Royal Canadian Air Force officer from 1943-1945; joining when he was just seventeen years old. 

He was an alderman for the City of Woodstock in 1956, and served as Mayor of the city from 1957-1958. He served as a city alderman again from 1979-1987. During that time, he was elected County Warden for the 1983-1984-1985 term of office. 

He ran as a Liberal Candidate for the House of Commons in 1968, 1973 and 1974 in the riding of Oxford, and came close to winning in 1974, when he lost to Progressive Conservative Bruce Halliday by only 1,428 votes.

Tatham was elected to the Ontario legislature for the riding of Oxford in the 1987 provincial election and served as a backbench supporter of David Peterson’s government for the next three years.

He was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion and served as President of the Woodstock Agricultural Society. Following his retirement, he moved to Powell River, British Columbia where he served on the Library Board and co-founded the Powell River Community Foundation. 

Charles Tatham passed away on February 3, 2016 in British Columbia. The Charles Tatham Peace Park is named in his honour in Woodstock, Ontario.