He was born in Bailieboro, Ontario, on July 26, 1875, to John William and Margaret (née Fair) Lucas, both of Irish descent.

He defeated two other candidates including former Alberta MLA James Bismark Holden in a landslide where he captured 81 percent of the vote to win his first term in office.

His electoral district was abolished due to redistribution and he ran for re-election in the new Camrose riding in the 1925 Canadian federal election.

Lucas refused to join the CCF and ran instead as a Conservative and finished third behind Social Credit candidate James Alexander Marshall and George Smith of the Liberal Party.

[1][3] When his son, John W. (Jack) died in January 1960, William T. Lucas and Charlotte Perrin, his parents were listed as survivors.