floor to join Liberals In the year 1869, he broke with the Conservatives over Macdonald's appointment of Sir Francis Hincks as Minister of Finance, and crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party of Canada. Cabinet Minister for Mackenzie With the Liberal party's victory in the 1874 election, Cartwright was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie. He supported free trade, but sought limited tariffs as a means of generating government revenue. Knighted Cartwright was not elected in the 1878 general election but was successful in a Nov. 2, 1878 by-election in Huron Centre. He sat in the opposition bench. (The Liberals were defeated in the 1878 election.) In recognition of his service, he was awarded a knighthood in 1879. From the 1887 election, he represented the riding of Oxford South. In 1887, he called for the House of Commons to consider proportional representation. In the 1890s, the Liberals moved away from support for unrestricted reciprocity with the United States, and Cartwright's influence in the party diminished. Cabinet Minister for Laurier With the victory of Wilfrid Laurier's Liberals in the 1896 election, Cartwright returned to Cabinet. Laurier denied Cartwright the finance ministry as a way of assuring Canada's business community that the government was not going to adopt free trade. Instead, he appointed Cartwright Minister of Trade and Commerce. Cartwright also served as a Canadian member of the Anglo-American Joint High Commission to resolve diplomatic problems between Canada and the United States in 1898. Cartwright was appointed to the Imperial Privy Council in 1902. Senator In 1904, he was elevated to the Senate of Canada, but remained Trade and Commerce minister until the fall of the Laurier government in the 1911 election. In this position he introduced, in 1908, a limited system of old age annuities. Additionally, he served as Leader of the Government in the Senate from 1909 until 1911, and as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1911 until his death in 1912. Legacy In the Kingston, Ontario, area, Cartwright Street and Cartwright Point are named for him and his family, in recognition of their longstanding contributions to the region. He is honoured with commemorative plaques in Kingston on King Street (at his former residence) and in Memorial Hall, City Hall. His memories were preserved in his book Reminiscences, published in 1912. Family Sir Richard Cartwright's eldest son, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cartwright, studied at