Herbert Bealey Adshead (October 17, 1862 – May 2, 1932) was a farmer, author and a municipal and federal level politician from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Early life

Herbert Besley Adshead was born on October 17, 1862 just outside

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He emigrated to Canada in 1880 at the age of 16. He first settled in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

. Adshead graduated from Normal School in 1897. He married and moved west with his wife, Ellen Unwin. The couple would settle creating a homestead near

Olds, Alberta Olds ( ) is a town in central Alberta, Canada within Mountain View County and the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. It is approximately south of Red Deer and north of Calgary. The nearest towns are Didsbury to the south, Bowden to the north, Su ...

. They moved to

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

, in 1912.

Political career

Adshead began his political career on the municipal level. He was elected to

Calgary City Council The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The council consists of 15 members: the chief elected official, titled the mayor, and 14 councillors. Jyoti Gondek was elected mayor in October 202 ...

in the 1912 municipal election and served two consecutive terms. He was elected once again in

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

, Adshead resigned his seat on council in December 1917 to contest the

Mayoralty In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

but was defeated by Michael Costello. Adshead attempted a run at

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 ...

provincial politics. He ran in the

1921 Alberta general election The 1921 Alberta general election was held on July 18, 1921, to elect members to the 5th Alberta Legislative Assembly. It was one of only five times that Alberta has changed governments. The Liberal Party, which had governed the province since it ...

in the

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 ...

electoral district. His bid for office was unsuccessful. He ran as an independent candidate and finished 14th out of the 20 candidates on the ballot. Adshead would attempt a career at federal politics. He ran as a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate in the

1926 Canadian federal election The 1926 Canadian federal election was held on September 14, 1926, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 16th Parliament of Canada. The election was called after an event known as the King–Byng affair. In the 1925 feder ...

. He was elected, defeating Incumbent Fred Davis. He served one term in the riding of

Calgary East Calgary East was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1953, 1979 to 1988, from 1997 to 2015. It was a lower income urban riding in Calgary, with a sizable visible min ...

until the

1930 Canadian federal election The 1930 Canadian federal election was held on July 28, 1930, to elect members of the House of Commons of the 17th Parliament of Canada. Richard Bedford Bennett's Conservative Party won a majority government, defeating the Liberal Party led by ...

when he was defeated by

George Douglas Stanley George Douglas Stanley (March 19, 1876 – February 22, 1954) was a politician and physician from Alberta, Canada. He began as a pioneer medical doctor in Alberta in 1901. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1913 to 1921 as a ...

Published works

Adshead was an accomplished writer. He wrote a book about his homesteading experience it was called ''Pioneer Days''. He also wrote 3 other books ''Pioneer tales & other human stories'' published in 1924. ''The Akaitcho youth and unity'' published posthumously in 1964 and ''Akeeah: stone sculptor Baker Lake published posthumously'' in 1968.

References

External links

City of Calgary Aldermanic History Page 70
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adshead, Herbert 1862 births 1932 deaths Calgary city councillors Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Labour MPs in Canada Canadian non-fiction writers Writers from Calgary Writers from Manchester English emigrants to Canada 20th-century Canadian politicians