Frank Henry Whiteside (July 15, 1873 – September 29, 1916) was a Canadian politician and journalist from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. Whiteside was killed while serving 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 ...

in 1916.

Early life

Frank Henry Whiteside was born in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

on July 15, 1873, to Henry Whiteside and Hannah L. Stone, but grew up in

Sussex, New Brunswick Sussex is a town in Kings County, New Brunswick, Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada. Sussex is located in south central New Brunswick, between the province's three largest cities, Saint John, Moncton, and Fredericton. Sussex straddles the ...

. Whiteside earned a commercial diploma, and moved west in 1892, to British Columbia and then to the Innisfail area of Alberta in 1894. Whiteside married his first wife Christina M. McGillivray on October 24, 1899, and together had four children together. Christina later died on August 11, 1906. Whiteside married Christina's sister Daisy B. McGillivray on January 29, 1911. Whiteside became the president of the Central Alberta Stock Growers Association in 1906, an influential farming organization that boosted his public profile, so much that he was appointed by the provincial government to commission a report to investigate the prospects of a meat packing industry in Alberta. Whiteside was a staunch opponent of cattle rustlers and advocated for better brands and enforcement. His advocacy was often printed in the ''Stettler Independent'', which introduced him to the world of journalism. Whiteside founded two newspapers, ''Castor Advance'' in November 1908, and ''Coronation Review'' in September 1911. Whiteside moved to the Castor area where he published the ''Advance'' and took a role in areas throughout the community, including being elected to town council in 1911.

Political life

Whiteside won the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

nomination in the newly formed Coronation district, despite not living in the district. Whiteside promised to move to the Town of Coronation if he won the election. Whiteside's campaign was run by his friend and future killer Thomas Helmbolt. He was elected to the

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 ...

in the

Coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...

defeating Conservative candidate and future MLA

William Wallace Wilson William Wallace Wilson (October 26, 1876 – August 20, 1967) was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. Early life William Wallace Wilson was born October 26, 1876 in Fergus, Ontario to James Wilson and Jacqueline Gartshore. Poli ...

. He served one term as a back bencher in the

government. Whiteside's political beliefs included active government development of roads, railways and telephones into the province's rural areas. Whiteside also supported the province gaining control of natural resources and

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...

. Through his newspapers, Whiteside promoted British patriotism in the lead-up to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Whiteside promoted recruitment,

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

fund raising and other efforts, going so far as to publicly criticize local residents who expressed contradictory views. Whiteside volunteered for the 187th Battalion of the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...

in 1916 along with his friend Thomas Helmbolt.

Death

In September 1916, Thomas Helmbolt became aware of an affair between his wife and Frank Whiteside while training with the Canadian Expeditionary Force through letters between the two. Helmbolt returned to Coronation on September 24 and fashioned a

sawed-off shotgun A sawed-off shotgun (also called a sawn-off shotgun, short-barreled shotgun, shorty or a boom stick) is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel—typically under —and often a shortened or absent stock. Despite the colloquial term, ...

. At 10:30 p.m. Helmbolt called Whiteside to the telephone office and after an altercation Helmbolt shot Whiteside with the modified shotgun. Helmbolt telephoned for help and was arrested as Whiteside was taken to the hospital. Whiteside died in

Coronation, Alberta Coronation is a town in east-central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by the County of Paintearth No. 18. It is located at the intersection of Highway 12 and Highway 872, approximately west of the Saskatchewan border. History Coronation ...

on September 29, 1916, as a result of gunshot wounds. Helmbolt was charged with murder, and tried before Justice

William Carlos Ives William Carlos Ives (October 30, 1873 – July 10, 1950) was a Canadian provincial politician and provincial Supreme Court Justice. Early life William Carlos Ives was born in Compton, Quebec on October 30, 1873. His family moved to the Albe ...

, but was acquitted on grounds of

self-defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

on November 4, 1916. Before he died, Whiteside claimed that Helmbolt drew a revolver first, while Helmbolt and his wife testified that Whiteside brought the revolver and drew first.

References

;Works cited *

External links

*
Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whiteside, Frank Alberta Liberal Party MLAs 1916 deaths 1873 births Canadian newspaper publishers (people) Deaths by firearm in Alberta Canadian murder victims Male murder victims People murdered in Alberta Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers