Franklin Harford Spence was a Canadian pharmacist and politician who served as a long-standing Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Born on February 22, 1883, to James Edward Spence, he received his education in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, before attending Toronto University. He established himself professionally as a pharmacist and entered local politics in the early 1920s, serving on the Fort William city council representing Ward 4 from 1921 to 1923.\n\nSpence's provincial political career began in 1923 when he successfully contested the Fort William riding, defeating the incumbent UFO-Labor cabinet minister Harry Mills. He secured re-election in 1926 and 1929, campaigns heavily bolstered by the popularity of Ontario Premier Howard Ferguson. Within the Conservative party, Spence operated largely in the shadow of prominent Northern Ontario political figures such as Donald McDonald Hogarth and Francis Henry Keefer. After losing his seat to Liberal candidate Joseph Edmund Crawford in the 1934 election, Spence reclaimed the constituency in 1937, capitalizing on a split in the Liberal vote. He continued to represent Fort William until his death on January 16, 1943. Throughout his life, he was married to Ethel Greve McCarthy, whom he wed in 1907.
