Charles Richmond Mitchell (November 30, 1872 – August 16, 1942) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer, judge, cabinet minister and former Leader of the Official Opposition in the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

Early life

Mitchell was born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. At the time, the Mitchells were a prominent local family: Mitchell's father was the Sheriff of Northumberland County and his uncle was

Peter Mitchell Peter or Pete Mitchell may refer to: Media *Pete Mitchell (broadcaster) (1958–2020), British broadcaster *Peter Mitchell (newsreader) (born 1960), Australian journalist *Peter Mitchell (photographer) (born 1943), British documentary photographer ...

, a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and later Premier of New Brunswick. He went to the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

and King's College and took the New Brunswick bar exam in 1897. The next year he moved to

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, ...

, at that time in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

and opened a thriving legal practice. He was appointed as a Judge in 1907 for the Calgary District Court.

Cabinet minister

Mitchell was first elected in a by-election in

provincial electoral district on June 29, 1910, after he had been appointed to the cabinet by Premier

Arthur Lewis Sifton Arthur Lewis Watkins Sifton (October 26, 1858 – January 21, 1921) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the second premier of Alberta from 1910 until 1917. He became a minister in the federal cabinet of Canada thereaf ...

on June 1, 1910. Mitchell served two cabinet portfolios as the Minister of Education and the Attorney General of the province. He would serve both portfolios for 2 years until he became Minister of Public Works on May 4, 1912, and dropped the others. In the

1913 Alberta general election The 1913 Alberta general election was held in March 1913. The writ was dropped on 25 March 1913 and election day was held 17 April 1913 to elect 56 members to the 3rd Alberta Legislature. Elections in two northern districts took place on 30 July ...

Mitchell was defeated by

Nelson Spencer Nelson Charles Spencer, (7 December 1876 – 30 September 1943) was a Canadian merchant, provincial politician from Alberta, and lieutenant colonel with the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during World War I. Biography Spencer was born ...

from the Conservative Party. Mitchell was the only Cabinet minister defeated that election, but that was one of a number of high-profile defeats across the province. After his defeat in the 1913 general election, George Lane, the Member for

Bow Valley Bow Valley is a valley located along the upper Bow River in Alberta, Canada. The name "Bow" refers to the reeds that grew along its banks and which were used by the local First Nations people to make bows; the Blackfoot language name for the ...

, resigned to provide a seat for the defeated Minister. On June 12, 1913, he was acclaimed and once again rejoined the government. He would serve Bow Valley as its Member until his resignation in 1926. Mitchell was reappointed Cabinet as the Provincial Treasurer on November 28, 1913. He became the first non-premier Treasurer in Alberta history. He held that position until the government was defeated in 1921. On April 29, 1920, Mitchell was appointed to be Minister of Municipal Affairs, in addition to being the Treasurer.

Defeat of government

Mitchell was one of the few Liberal Party members to survive the defeat of the government in 1921. After the resignation of John R. Boyle to the judiciary on October 27, 1924, Mitchell became the fifth leader of the

Liberal Party of Alberta The Alberta Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral de l'Alberta) is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election ...

. He would serve as Leader of the Official opposition until he was appointed in 1926 as a Justice to the Supreme Court of Alberta Appellate Division, when he vacated his seat and position as Liberal leader. He retired from the judiciary in 1936.

Death

Mitchell died in 1942 in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta.

Electoral record

1910 by-election

1913 general election

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Charles R. 1872 births 1942 deaths Calgary city councillors Judges in Alberta Lawyers in Alberta Leaders of the Alberta Liberal Party People from Medicine Hat People from Miramichi, New Brunswick University of New Brunswick alumni Members of the Executive Council of Alberta University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law alumni Alberta Liberal Party MLAs