Henry Ward Beecher Douglas (February 2, 1873 – April 6, 1944) was a businessman and politician in

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 ...

, Canada. He served as an alderman on the

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from 1912 until 1913.

Early life

Douglas was born in

Kemptville Kemptville is a community located in the Municipality of North Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada in the northernmost part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is located approximately south of the downtown core of Ottawa and s ...

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on February 2, 1873. His family moved to

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

when he was a child, as his father was a pioneer

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

. He was educated in public schools in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

before studying

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Manitoba College Manitoba College was a college that existed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from 1871 to 1967, when it became one of the University of Winnipeg's founding colleges. It was one of the first institutions of higher learning in the city of Winnipeg and t ...

. He graduated with honours in 1898, whereupon he partnered with W. W. Miller to open a book and stationary business in Portage-la-Prairie. In 1902 he came to Edmonton and continued his business, incorporating as The Douglas Company Limited in 1905 (the company later changed its name to Douglas Printing Co. Ltd.).

Politics

Douglas first sought political office in Edmonton's February 1912 municipal election, when he was elected to

on the strength of first-place finish in an eighteen candidate field. He did not run for re-election at the conclusion of his term in December 1913. In the 1915 election, Douglas was elected as a public school trustee after a third-place finish out of nine candidates. He was re-elected in

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

, when he topped the field of seven candidates. However, in the 1919 election, the Labour Party ran a full slate of candidates for the first time, and swept the school board elections. Douglas, running as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

(as were all of the other non-Labour candidates) finished sixth of eight candidates and was defeated. He did not re-enter public life thereafter.

Private life and death

Douglas was active with the Masons, the

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, the Edmonton Board of Trade, the

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, and the Liberals. He died April 6, 1944.

References

Edmonton Public Library biography of Henry DouglasCity of Edmonton biography of Henry Douglas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Henry 1873 births 1944 deaths Edmonton city councillors People from Leeds and Grenville United Counties University of Manitoba alumni Canadian Presbyterians Canadian people of Scottish descent Businesspeople from Edmonton