TRIBUTE TO CHARLES BERTON LOCKHART
1855-1948
(Husband of Theodosia A. Hartt)
Newspaper article appearing in a St. John, New Brunswick Newspaper sometime after September 4, 1948.

C.B. LOCKHART PASSES AT 93
Was Widely Known Businessman, Politician and Customs Official

Charles Berton Lockhart, 93, for many years prominent in the political life of Saint John and New Brunswick died Saturday morning in the Saint John General Hospital.

Mr. Lockhart, a native of Moncton, was twice Conservative member of the New Brunswick Legislature; for 16 years on the Board of School Trustees of Saint John; a commissioner of the Saint John General hospital; a member of the council of the Saint John Board of Trade; collector of customs form 1916 to 1928; a leader in the Bible Society and in the work of Charlotte Street Baptist Church.

He was born in Moncton, Feb. 13, 1855, of Scottish ancestry and a son of Charles Dixon and Hannah (Read) Lockhart.

Mr. Lockhart’s early education was in the public schools. He had a practical business training as a clerk at Hoyt, Sunbury County, for four years and for several years at Fredericton Junction. He then went west for several years, coming to Saint John in 1879.

Varied Career

For a time he was engaged in the grocery business and in 1880 entered the business of A.C. Smith and Co., with which he remained until 1905. Having sold out his interest in the firm, he became manager for New Brunswick of the National Life Insurance Company of Canada, holding this position until 1912 when he became a director and secretary-treasurer of the Beaver Dredging Company, which positions he retained until 1916.

During these years of business activity he found time to enter civic and public affairs, sitting for some time in the former City Council and as a member of the provincial legislature. He was elected alderman for Brooks Ward in 1890 and 1891. He withdrew in 1892 and was elected again in 1893. In 1894 he was sought by the newly-formed Tax Reduction Association and elected as alderman in Guy’s Ward. During his years at the City Council he applied himself earnestly to public matters.

In 1895 he was elected as a Conservative to the provincial legislature. His colleagues were William Shaw, Silas Alward and A.A. Stockton. He was defeated in 1899 but re-elected in 1912.

Customs Post

In 1916 Mr. Lockhart resigned and was appointed collector of Customs at Saint John. This position he held until 1928 when he was superannuated.

Mr. Lockhart held numerous other positions of trust and responsibility. For 16 years he was a member of the Saint John Board of School Trustees, for a long term he was a commissioner of the Saint John General Hospital. He was a member of the council of the Saint John Board of Trade and he was chairman of the Returned Soldiers Committee after the First World War. He took a keen interest in the work of the Bible Society and for a time held the position of treasurer of the New Brunswick branch.

He was a Baptist in religion and a faithful supporter of the Charlotte Street Baptist Church, of which he was a member. He was the treasurer of the church and from 1922 superintendent of the Sunday School. Early in life he joined the Cadets of Temperance and throughout his career he was a consistent advocate of temperance.

An enumeration of offices which he filled, reveals the important place he occupied in the community and province and indicates the general esteem in which he was held. He made friends everywhere and when once gained he held them to the end.

On Feb. 14, 1884, he was married to Theodosia Hartt, a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hartt of Fredericton Junction.

There are surviving one daughter, Miss Alice T., at home, also a grandson, J. Berton Clark of Vancouver.

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