Skelton, Oscar D. (Oscar Douglas), 1878-1941 : Oscar Douglas Skelton was born in Orangeville, Ontario on July 13, 1878 to Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Hall). He completed his B.A. in Classics at Queen's University in 1898 and his M.A. in 1899. In 1900, Skelton went to the University of Chicago to do graduate work. By 1901 Skelton was pursuing a career as a journalist, working as the assistant editor of The Booklovers Magazine in Philadelphia and taking freelance work. In 1904 Dr. Skelton married Isabel Murphy who became a writer on Canadian history and literature. The following year, Skelton returned to the University of Chicago to do doctoral work in the area of political economy. In 1906 he accepted a fellowship offered by Queen's. Upon receipt of this doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1908, Queen's University offered Dr. Skelton the position of Professor of Political Science and Economy. His teaching career at Queen's continued until 1919 when he became the Dean of Arts.
Dr. Skelton's association with the Department of External Affairs began in the 1920s. Impressed by a speech given by Dr. Skelton in 1922 on Canada and foreign policy, Prime Minister Mackenzie King sent Dr. Skelton to the Imperial Conference of 1923 as a special advisor. Later in the year, the Prime Minister appointed Dr. Skelton Counsellor in the Department of External Affairs. Upon the retirement of Joseph Pope in 1925, Dr. Skelton was appointed Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, a post that he held until his death in 1941. During his years with the Department, he served both Prime Minister Mackenzie King and R.B. Bennett. He developed a close professional and personal relationship with Mackenzie King.
In addition to his abilities as a teacher and a senior civil servant, who is regarded as the architect of the professional civil service in Canada, Dr. Skelton was also a scholar. His first success came in 1910, when he won one thousand dollars for an essay, "The Case Against Socialism", which was later expanded into a pamphlet entitled Socialism: A Critical Analysis. Other works include the Day of Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1916) and The Life and Times of Sir A.T. Galt (1920). Perhaps his most well-known work is his biography of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, The Life and Times of Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1921).
For further biographical information about Dr. Skelton, see J.L. Granatstein's The Ottawa Men: The Civil Service Mandarins, 1935-1957 (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1982) or John Hilliker's Canada's Department of External Affairs. Vol. 1 (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990).
