Robert Patterson (April 11, 1855 – February 28, 1938) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

Early life

Robert Patterson was born in

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on April 11, 1855 to George and Mary Patterson. Patterson immigrated to Canada at the age of 21 and joined the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

in 1876 and dispatched to

Fort Macleod Fort Macleod ( ) is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It was originally named Macleod to distinguish it from the North-West Mounted Police barracks (Fort Macleod, built 1874) it had grown around. The fort was named in honour of the then Commis ...

. Patterson began ranching in 1880 in Slide, Ontario and bought out his partner in 1884. Patterson served on Fort Macleod town council and a member of the school board for a number of years.

Political life

Patterson was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in a by-election on October 3, 1910. He ran as a Farmers Choice candidate and defeated Liberal candidate Edward Maunsell. He was sworn in and took his seat in the legislature on November 10, 1910, and chose to sit with the Conservative party. He was introduced to the Assembly by

Edward Michener Edward Michener (August 18, 1869 – June 16, 1947) was a politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and senator from Alberta. Early life Edward Michener was born on August 18, 1867, to Jac ...

, the leader of the Conservatives, as was the custom for a party leader when a new member joined a caucus. 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 ...

Patterson defeated Premier

Arthur Lewis Sifton Arthur Lewis Watkins Sifton (October 26, 1858 – January 21, 1921) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the second premier of Alberta from 1910 until 1917. He became a minister in the federal cabinet of Canada thereaf ...

by a narrow margin. Sifton had also run in

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since ancient history, antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its correspondi ...

and managed to retain his seat there. 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 was defeated by George Skelding of the Liberal party by 100 votes.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Robert Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Irish emigrants to Canada (before 1923) 1855 births 1938 deaths People from County Tipperary Canadian ranchers