Anderson, Harry W, 1876-1936 : Journalist and editor Harry W. Anderson was born 26 March 1876 in Reading, England, the son of Rev. William Anderson and Eleanor Turner. At the age of eleven, following his father's death, Harry was sent to Chatham, Ontario to live with an uncle. He continued his education there at the Chatham Collegiate Institute where many noted his marked literary inclinations and eloquence of expression in the written and spoken word. Harry also found time to develop a proficiency in many sports. He was the catcher for "Rube" Waddell, who later became a hall-of-fame pitcher. He also played soccer and lacrosse and was a sprinter and boxer. At one time, he held the world record for the 220 yards on the track and was a member of the Canadian soccer team which won the International Championship at the St. Louis World's Fair. His interest in sports continued later in life and he became an avid golfer.
Harry began his journalist career early on while still in high school. He apprenticed at the Chatham Planet, beginning as a printer's devil and working his way up to editor. He left the Planet in 1905 to work for the Toronto News. He did not stay there long, due to a disagreement with the publisher and joined the Toronto Globe in 1909. He covered Queen's Park for the Globe until 1911 when he moved to Ottawa to cover the federal government. There, he would become a confidante of Sir Wilfred Laurier during his years as Leader of the Opposition. He spent nine years in the Ottawa Press Gallery, and afterward was promoted successively through the positions of City Editor, News Editor, Editorial writer and Assistant Managing Editor. On 1 April 1926, the Globe announced that Editor T. Stewart Lyon was resigning due to ill health and that Harry W. Anderson had been selected as the new Managing Editor.
As Editor, he supported progressive causes and won a reputation as a champion of the less fortunate. He was widely sought after as a speaker and gave radio broadcasts supporting various charities, including the Globe Fund for Miners and the Federation of Catholic Charities. His correspondence with Sir Wilfred Laurier and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King shows his influence among Liberal politicians of the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. He counted as a close friend Senator Charles Murphy, corresponding with him extensively over the St. Lawrence Seaway project.
His editorials calling for prison reform culminated in his appointment to the Royal Commission to Investigate the Penal System of Canada by Mackenzie King in 1935. It was at this time that he retired from the Globe. Anderson, while engaged in the work of the Commission, died on 29 April 1936 of complications following an operation. His work with the Commission and on prison reform more broadly made Senator Agnes MacPhail an ally and she was among those who expressed sympathy to his family on his death. A bachelor, Harry had lived with his two sisters, Annie Duncan Anderson and Eleanore Kinniburgh Anderson, in Toronto.
