Edmund J. Bristol

Edmund J. Bristol, Theta Xi, 1883, Phi Alpha 1895-1986

Edmund J. Bristol, Theta Xi, 1883, was a powerful and influential
Canadian attorney and politician. He was a partner in the Toronto law firm of Howland, Arnoldi and Bristol. A recognized authority in corporate and international law, Bristol facilitated many corporate mergers, acquisitions and capitalizations. He was named a
federal Queen’s Counsel in 1896 and an Ontario King’s Council in 1908. Brother Bristol was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 1908, 1911, 1917, 1921 and 1925.

As stated in his biography, “to win support, Bristol relied on backroom organizing rather
than rhetoric.” In 1921, he was a Minister without Portfolio in Prime Minister Arthur
Meighen’s conservative cabinet.

Brother Bristol was a staunch supporter of the Theta Xi chapter at the University of
Toronto and was the first member of a Canadian chapter to lead the Fraternity as Phi
Alpha.

In 1895 he won the Royal Canadian Yacht Club’s Prince of Wales Cup. The RCYC has been the site of multiple Theta Xi functions, continuing to this day.

Brother Bristol died suddenly in February 1927 as a result of a brain haemorrhage.