Henry H. Dakin (28 March 1870 – 1 April 1956) was a provincial 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 a member of 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 ...

from 1930 to 1935 sitting with the Liberal caucus in opposition.

Before politics

Henry Hanford Dakin was born near

Digby, Nova Scotia Digby is an incorporated town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is in the historical Digby County, Nova Scotia, county of Digby and a separate municipality from the Municipality of the District of Digby. The town is situated on the western s ...

and became a seaman. He was called Captain Dakin and described as a Master Mariner. He is said to have been injured in the

Halifax Explosion On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the waters of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastating the Richmond ...

in 1917 and subsequently moved to Alberta. There he was postmaster in the small locality of Dakin (possibly named after him) from 1925–1930, resigning on the day after he was nominated as a political candidate. Angeline Dakin took over the postmastership but was dismissed in January 1932 for political partisanship; she resumed the post in 1936, after Henry left the Legislative Assembly, and served until 1948.Post Offices and Postmasters
– Library and Archives Canada

Political career

Dakin ran for the nomination of the provincial Liberals to run as the liberal candidate in the

1930 Alberta general election Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

. He was acclaimed at a nomination meeting on May 26, 1930 held in

Spedden, Alberta Spedden is a hamlet in central Alberta, Canada within Smoky Lake County. It is located north of Highway 36, approximately southwest of Cold Lake. History Spedden was named after one of the original surveyors who died in the area in 191 ...

. The general election was hotly contested, on election night Dakin finished seven votes behind incumbent John Delisle. The 87 votes attained by Independent candidate Luc Lebel forced the race to a second count. The second count showed that Delisle had beaten Dakin by 21 votes when the second preferences from Lebel were transferred. The Liberals challenged the election and took the matter to court. On August 21, 1930 Judge Taylor overturned the results, declaring Dakin elected by four votes over Delisle. Dakin and Delisle faced each other for the second time in the

1935 Alberta general election The 1935 Alberta general election was held on August 22, 1935, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The newly founded Social Credit Party of Alberta won a sweeping victory, unseating the 14-year government of the United Farmer ...

. They were both defeated losing to Social Credit candidate

Lucien Maynard Joseph Lucien Paul Maynard (February 17, 1908 – February 7, 1996) was a lawyer and a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1955 as a member of the Social Credit Party. Maynar ...

finishing second and third in the four way race.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dakin, Henry Hanford 1870 births 1956 deaths People from Digby County, Nova Scotia Alberta Liberal Party MLAs