John Irwin Sr. (October 10, 1869 – May 7, 1948) was a Canadian provincial politician 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 ...

. 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 1926 to 1940 sitting with the Conservative caucus in opposition.

Early life

John Irwin was born October 10, 1869 at

Picton, Ontario Picton is an unincorporated community located in Prince Edward County in southeastern Ontario, roughly east of Toronto. It is the county's largest community and former seat located at the southwestern end of Picton Bay, a branch of the Bay of ...

to Henry (Irish) and Mary Charlton Irwin (English). He was educated in Picton and later moved to Calgary where he married Annetta Brown and together had five children. Irwin was a businessman in Calgary, purchasing the 1903 Calgary Milling Company building on

Stephen Avenue Stephen Avenue is a major pedestrian mall in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The mall is the portion of 8 Avenue SW between 4 Street SW and 1 Street SE. It is open to vehicles only from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The street is known for some of Ca ...

in 1912 and turning it into a grocery store specializing in fancy and imported foods. The Calgary Milling Company building has subsequently been designated a Provincial and Municipal Historic Resource under the ''Historical Resources Act''.

Political career

Irwin ran for a seat to the

as a Conservative candidate in the electoral district 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 ...

in the

1926 Alberta general election The 1926 Alberta general election was held on June 28, 1926, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The United Farmers of Alberta government that had first been elected in 1921 was re-elected, taking a majority of the seats in t ...

. He won the third place seat out of five in the eleven way race to earn his first term in office. Irwin ran for a second term in office 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 re-elected finishing in the third place seat once again. Irwin ran for a third term in office 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 ...

. He withstood the Social Credit landslide becoming one of the few incumbents to retain a seat. He took second place out of six seats available. Irwin retired from provincial politics at dissolution of the assembly in 1940. John Irwin's grandson, also named John Irwin, served as Mayor of the Municipality of

Crowsnest Pass, Alberta The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass is a specialized municipality in southwest Alberta, Canada. Within the Rocky Mountains adjacent to the eponymous Crowsnest Pass, the municipality formed as a result of the 1979 amalgamation of five municipalit ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, John 1869 births 1948 deaths Politicians from Calgary Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Calgary city councillors