Martin Woolf Sr. (October 18, 1858 – August 25, 1928) was a politician, civil servant and police magistrate 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 ...

, 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 1912 to 1921 sitting with the Liberal caucus in government.

Early life

Martin Woolf was born on October 18, 1858 at Nephi,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

in Juab County. Woolf was parents were Absalom Woolf and Harriet Ann Wood. He was baptized on July 28, 1867 as a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. Woolf married Roseltha Hyde, on July 23, 1880 at

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

the couple had 9 children. Woolf moved to Cardston around the turn of the century and served a number of positions in the Cardston County municipal government including Collector of Customs and Police Magistrate. Woolf was a big supporter and advocate of

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

and helped keep the dry laws on the books in Cardston County. He ran for the provincial legislature in a by-election in 1912.

Political career

Woolf first ran for a seat to the

Alberta Legislature The Legislature of Alberta is the unicameral legislature of the province of Alberta, Canada. The legislature is made of two elements: the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta,. and the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The legislature has existed sinc ...

in a by-election held on May 27, 1912 as a Liberal candidate in the electoral district of Cardston. The election was hotly contested with Woolf winning by a slim 139 vote plurality to hold the seat for his party. Woolf would be re-elected to a second term in the

1913 Alberta general election The 1913 Alberta general election was held in March 1913. The writ was dropped on 25 March 1913 and election day was held 17 April 1913 to elect 56 members to the 3rd Alberta Legislature. Elections in two northern districts took place on 30 July ...

. He held the district by a mere 39 votes. Woolf ran for his third term in office in the

1917 Alberta general election The 1917 Alberta general election was held on 7 June 1917 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Liberals won a fourth term in office, defeating the Conservative Party of Edward Michener. Because of World War I, eleven Mem ...

. He held the district with a comfortable margin of 220 votes. This was the biggest plurality of his career. Martin attempted to win a fourth term in the Legislative Assembly 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 ...

. He was defeated by

United Farmers United Farmers may refer to: *The United Farmers' MPs in the Canadian House of Commons who founded the Progressive Party of Canada in 1920 *United Farmers of Alberta, a political party which governed Alberta from 1921 to 1935 and also elected membe ...

candidate George Stringam in a two way race by a very large margin.

Late life and death

Woolf died on August 25, 1928 at Cardston, Alberta, Canada, in Cardston Hospital at the age 69. He suffered from a debilitating illness that caused him to go almost completely blind.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolf, Martin 1858 births 1928 deaths Alberta Liberal Party MLAs American Latter Day Saints Canadian Latter Day Saints People from Nephi, Utah American emigrants to Canada