Street of Stratford: Dingman Place

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Dingman Place is named after William Smith Dingman.

William’s father, Absalom, was a newspaper publisher in Strathroy when he purchased the Herald, a popular weekly Stratford newspaper, and relocated here in 1886 with his wife, Emma Smith, and their family. That was the beginning of the Dingman Dynasty in Stratford newspaper publishing.

Absalom employed three of his sons, William, Lewis and Charles, with him in the newspaper business. William, the eldest who had gained newspaper experience as managing editor at the Port Arthur Sentinel, shortly became co-publisher. Lewis moved on in 1889 to become managing editor and later owner of the St. Thomas Journal.

Although Lewis spent most of his career with that city’s newspapers, he remained connected with Stratford by purchasing the Herald in 1920 and merging it with the Beacon in 1923. Charles left Stratford to work at the Montreal Star and the Winnipeg Telegram before returning to Stratford to become the first editor and managing director of the new Stratford Beacon Herald in May 1923. After his sudden death six months later, his son, Charles Dobson Dingman, succeeded him.

Hence began what is described by Adelaide Leitch in the Stratford history, Floodtides of Fortune, a newspaper dynasty. It would last for 113 years.

In 1890, William moved the Herald into a new building, designed by architect Joseph Kilburn, on the south side of Market Square. It remained there until his paper’s merger with the Beacon in 1923.

William became active in municipal life. He was on the Stratford Collegiate Institute board, was an alderman on city council and was the mayor in 1909-10. During his term as mayor, he played a key role in bringing water-powered hydro service to Stratford. His advocacy and support for Sir Adam Beck’s  (see Sir Adam Beck Road on the Streets of Stratford website) Niagara Power project culminated in a 1910 Christmas Eve ceremony at which the first Niagara-powered electric lights were switched on to illuminate Stratford’s streets.

After more than 30 years in the newspaper business, the Ontario government called on him in 1915 to serve as vice-chairman of the newly established Ontario Board of License (Liquor) Commissioners. That position soon involved him in the administration of the Ontario Temperance Act, which came into effect in 1917.

Click www.streetsofstratford.ca  for more on the Streets of Stratford.