Samuel Lawrence (August 16, 1879 – October 25, 1959) was a Canadian politician and trade unionist. Lawrence was born in Somerset, England and went to work in a quarry at the age of 12 and became a shop steward in the Operative Stonemasons' Union at the age of 18. He entered politics, running for election in Battersea in London. Known as "Mr. Labour", Sam Lawrence was an alderman, controller, and the Mayor of Hamilton from 1944 to 1949. He was also President of the Stone Cutters' Union, Vice-President of the Hamilton Trades and Labour Council, and leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) Party in the Ontario legislature as well as Ontario CCF president in the early 1940s Early years Born in the Somerset village of Norton-sub-Hamdon to William Lawrence and Ann Geard on 16 August 1879, Sam was the fourth child in a family of 5 boys and 5 girls and he attended school from the age of 3 to 10. His father, who Sam described as a 'radical liberal', was a stonemason, and Sam gave him credit for the position he took in the Labour movement. At the age of 12, Lawrence was working twelve hours a day, from six to six, and was apprenticed to a stonemason at 13. He had served half his time when his father became the foreman at Arundel Castle, the principal seat of the Duke of Norfolk. Lawrence went to London at 17 and joined the Friendly Society of Operative Stonemasons of England, Ireland and Wales in Battersea and was shop steward at the age of 18. Whilst serving in the Coldstream Guards during the Boer War, a young recruit by name of Knobby Taylor loaned Lawrence "Looking Backward" by Edward Bellamy. Lawrence's experiences in the Boer War and Bellamy's American Utopian novel led to him becoming a socialist. In 1906, the then 27-year-old trade unionist and war veteran stood in an abortive election campaign for the Battersea Borough Council and, six years later, decided to follow three of his brothers and two sisters who had already gone to Canada. Career Lawrence immigrated to Canada, settling in Hamilton, Ontario with his family in 1912. He immediately joined the Journeymen Stonecutters' Association of North America and found work as a stonemason. He became involved in the local labour movement and was elected to Hamilton, Ontario City Council as an Independent Labour Party alderman