George Clift King (April 23, 1848 – July 18, 1935) was the second mayor of the town of

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

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 ...

Early life

King was born in

Chelmsford, England Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

in 1848. At the age of 26, he left England for Canada, arriving in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, in 1874.

North-West Mounted Police

King joined the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

and was part of the first contingent sent west to establish

Fort Calgary Fort Calgary was a North-West Mounted Police outpost at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers in present-day Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally named Fort Brisebois, after the outpost's first commander, the outpost was renamed ''Fort Calg ...

in 1875. Constable King is often called ''Calgary's First Citizen'', since he was the first NWMP officer to cross the

Bow River The Bow River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These w ...

and set foot on the future site of Calgary. This title is also sometimes given to

Sam Livingston Samuel Henry Harkwood Livingston (4 February 1831 – 4 October 1897) born in Ireland, he came to Canada following an unsuccessful venture in the Californian gold rush of 1849, and eventually found his way to Jumping Pound, North-West Territories, ...

, another Calgary pioneer who arrived in the Calgary area in 1874; however, Calgary's first European settler was

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...

who settled at Fish Creek in 1873. According to his scrip record, Antoine Godin, a

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

, had taken up more-or-less permanent residence in the vicinity of Calgary as early as 1870.

Life in Calgary

King left the NWMP in 1877 to manage the first store in Calgary, the I. G. Baker Store. In November 1879, he married Louise Munro, the daughter of a fur trader, and together were the first couple married in Calgary. Together they had four children. In 1882, King started his own store ''G. C. King & Co.'' which sold a wide variety of goods including groceries, clothing, drugs, stationery and tobacco. King's store housed the local post office, and in 1885, King was appointed postmaster, and held this position for 36 years. King was the mayor of the town of Calgary in the

November 1886 Calgary municipal election The November 1886 Calgary municipal election was held on November 3, 1886 to elect a Mayor and four Councillors to sit on the third Calgary Town Council from November 4, 1886 to January 16, 1888. The second Council was terminated by a special T ...

, defeating

John Lineham John Lineham (21 March 1857 – 21 April 1913) was a territorial-level politician and businessman from Northwest Territories, Canada. Lineham was born 21 March 1857 to Thomas Lineham and Barbara McIntyre in Mitchell, Upper Canada. He married ...

and served in the role from November 4, 1886, to January 16, 1888. King was elected following the ''Travis Affair'' where Mayor

George Murdoch George Murdoch (April 29, 1850 – February 2, 1910) was a Canadian politician, Alberta pioneer, saddle-maker, and the first mayor of Calgary, Alberta. Early life George Murdoch was born in Paisley, Scotland, on April 29, 1850, and at the age o ...

along with councillors Issac Sanford Freeze and Dr. Neville James Lindsay were removed from office effective October 21, 1886, by a special Territorial Ordinance issued by

Stipendiary Magistrate Stipendiary magistrates were magistrates that were paid for their work (they received a stipend). They existed in the judiciaries of the United Kingdom and those of several former British territories, where they sat in the lowest-level criminal ...

Jeremiah Travis Jeremiah Travis (January 21, 1830 – April 27, 1911) was a Canadian politician and attorney. He was a member of the 1st Council of the Northwest Territories in the 1880s, serving as stipendiary magistrate. He was an attorney and judge. Trav ...

on allegations that Mayor Murdoch tampered with the voters' list in the prior election. Travis appointed James Reilly, the runner-up as Mayor, and Calgary was effectively without a local government until Justice

Thomas Wardlaw Taylor Sir Thomas Wardlaw Taylor (March 25, 1833 – March 2, 1917) was a Canadian lawyer and judge. Born in Auchtermuchty, Scotland, he studied at Edinburgh University, and was admitted to the Upper Canadian bar in 1858. From 1872 to 1883 he was M ...

was dispatched by the federal government to investigate and resolve the issue. King also spent four years as town councillor. After his retirement as postmaster in 1921, he opened a tobacco and confectionery counter in MacLean's Drug Store on Eighth Avenue. King ran this business until his death in 1935. King was inducted into the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

on January 1, 1934, by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

. King was laid to rest in Calgary's Union Cemetery. On June 22, 2000, a monument was placed at King's grave and the grave of James Colvin, as they had been unmarked for several years. This was done as part of the 125-year anniversary celebrations of Calgary.

References

External links

Mounted Police of Calgaries Cemeteries: George Clift King

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, George Clift 1848 births 1935 deaths Mayors of Calgary Canadian postmasters Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Chelmsford English emigrants to Canada 19th-century Canadian politicians