Thomas Charles Milnes (March 11, 1870 – April 30, 1954) 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 1921 to 1925 sitting as an Independent and as Mayor of

Claresholm Claresholm is a town located within southern Alberta, Canada. It is located on Highway 2, approximately northwest of the City of Lethbridge and south of the City of Calgary. One of the Famous Five involved in the Persons Case, Louise McKinne ...

from 1910 to 1911.

Early life

Thomas Charles Milnes was born March 11, 1870, in

Columbus, Indiana Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 50,474 at the 2020 census. The relatively small city has provided a unique place for noted Modern architecture and public art, commissio ...

, to Thomas Milnes and Lousia Milnes. Milnes was educated in Columbus and married Emma McCleary on June 8, 1898, and together had four children. He moved to Canada later in 1905 to become a farmer and rancher. Milnes constructed a two-storey Edwardian Commercial building in Claresholm known as Milnes Block in 1910. The building was designated a Provincial Historic Resource by the Government of Alberta on May 30, 2002.

Political career

Milnes was elected Mayor of Claresholm, Alberta from 1910 to 1911. Milnes ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature as an Independent Farmer candidate 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 defeated incumbent

Louise McKinney Louise McKinney (; 22 September 186810 July 1931) was a Canadian politician, temperance advocate, and women's rights activist. She was the first woman elected into the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the first woman to serve in a legislatur ...

in a hotly contested election to win the Claresholm electoral district. Milnes resigned his seat on October 30, 1925, to run as a candidate in the

1925 Canadian federal election The 1925 Canadian federal election was held on October 29, 1925 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 15th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative party took the most seats in the House of Commons, although not a majority. Pri ...

. He ran as a federal

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate in the electoral district of

Macleod MacLeod, McLeod and Macleod ( ) which cited: are surnames in the English language. Generally, the names are considered to be Anglicised forms of the Scottish Gaelic ', meaning "son of '". One of the earliest occurrences of the surname is of Gi ...

. Milnes finished a distant third place in the three way race losing to George Coote and runner of John Herron.

Later life

Milnes died at the Holy Cross Hospital in Calgary on April 30, 1954, at the age of 84.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Milnes, Thomas Independent Alberta MLAs Candidates in the 1925 Canadian federal election 1954 deaths 1870 births Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Mayors of places in Alberta American emigrants to Canada