Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

William Antrobus Griesbach, (January 3, 1878 – January 21, 1945) was a Canadian politician, decorated soldier, mayor of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, and member of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

and of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Early life

Griesbach was born in

Fort Qu'Appelle Fort Qu'Appelle is a town in Canadian province of Saskatchewan located in the Qu'Appelle River valley north-east of Regina, between Echo and Mission Lakes of the Fishing Lakes. It is not to be confused with the once-significant nearby t ...

, North-West Territories, the son of Henry Arthur Griesbach, a

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 ...

officer. Henry was on the NWMP's famous 1874 March West, finishing the march in Edmonton. In 1883, Henry was transferred to command

Fort Saskatchewan Fort Saskatchewan is a city along the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Edmonton, the provincial capital. It is part of the Edmonton census metropolitan area and one of 24 municipalities that constitute the Edmont ...

; the family travelled on the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

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 ...

and then by

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. It ...

to Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan, on occasion having to build or repair bridges in order to cross rivers. William Griesbach left the rest of the family in 1891 in order to attend St. John's College in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, from which he graduated in 1895. Upon graduating, he returned to Edmonton and worked in a law firm for two years and in the

Imperial Bank of Canada The Imperial Bank of Canada was a Canadian bank based in Toronto, Ontario, during the late 19th century and early 20th century. History It was founded in 1873 as the Imperial Bank in Toronto by Henry Stark Howland, former vice president of the Ca ...

for one year, before returning to Fort Saskatchewan to work in a milling business for six months. He returned to Edmonton to study law.

Boer War and legal career

Griesbach enlisted with the

Canadian Mounted Rifles Canadian Mounted Rifles was part of the designation of several mounted infantry units in Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Units of the Permanent Active Militia Units formed for the Second Boer War Independent squadrons of ...

in 1899 to fight in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. He knew from being weighed in at

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

tournaments that he fell short of the minimum weight to enlist, so on his way to being weighed he surreptitiously grabbed a large piece of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

from the enlistment centre's coal box and held it behind his back while he stood on the scales. During his service, he was awarded the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

and received four bars. William Antrobus Griesbach in Service Dress

Upon his return in 1901, he opened a law office of his own. An

Edmonton Bulletin The ''Edmonton Bulletin'' was a newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta, published from 1880 until January 20, 1951. It was founded by Edmonton pioneer Frank Oliver, a future Liberal politician and cabinet minister in the Canadian Government. Oliver co- ...

article in 1927 quoted him as saying of these early years

Pre-war political career

Griesbach's first bid for political office took place in the 1903 Edmonton election, when he made an unsuccessful bid for election to

Edmonton Town Council The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton currently has one mayor and twelve city councillors. Elections are held every four years. The most recent was held in 2021, and the next is in 20 ...

, placing fourth of nine candidates in an election in which the top three were elected. He was more successful in the 1904 election when he was elected to a one-year term as an alderman to Edmonton's first

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

placing eighth of seventeen candidates (in that first election as a city, Edmonton elected four aldermen to two year terms and four to one year terms, with the idea that four of the city's eight aldermen would be elected to two year terms each year). He was re-elected to a two-year term in

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

, finishing first of ten candidates. Previously that same year, he had run as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

in the constituency of

in Alberta's first provincial election. He was defeated by

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 ...

Charles Cross, and continued his service on city council. Griesbach resigned as alderman one year into his term in order to run for mayor in the 1906 election. He was victorious, collecting more than sixty percent of the vote in a three-person race and becoming, at twenty-eight years old, the youngest mayor in the city's history, before or since. He served a one-year term, but did not seek re-election and stayed out of municipal politics thereafter. He ran as a

in the 1911 federal election, finishing second of three candidates in the riding of

(the victorious candidate was

Frank Oliver Frank Oliver may refer to: *Frank Oliver (American football) (born 1952), American football player *Frank Oliver (footballer) (1882–?), English footballer *Frank Oliver (politician) (1853–1933), Canadian politician *Frank Oliver (rugby union) ( ...

). Griesbach's final involvement in provincial politics came during the 1913 election, when he ran as a Conservative in Edmonton. He finished fourth of five candidates, missing out on either of the city's two seats.

World War I

In 1906, Griesbach was commissioned as a lieutenant in the

19th Alberta Dragoons The 19th Alberta Dragoons was a cavalry regiment and later an armoured regiment of the Canadian Militia and later the Canadian Army. It was placed on the Supplementary Order of Battle in 1965. In 2006, it was taken off the Supplementary Order of ...

. He was promoted to captain in 1907 When

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out, the Dragoons volunteered as a unit. In December of that year, Griesbach was promoted to major assigned to command the 49th Battalion. He was able to recruit 1000 men in eight days in January 1915. The unit served in various engagements, including the

Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions o ...

, the Battle of Arras, the

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

, and the liberation of

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

. In 1917, Griesbach was promoted to Brigadier-General and assigned command of the

1st Canadian Infantry Brigade The 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade was a Canadian Army formation that served with the 1st Canadian Division in World Wars I and II. In 1953 it was reformed in Germany, to become the 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in 1992. William Antrobus ...

of the

1st Canadian Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...

. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

twice and the Victorian Decoration for long service. He was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

and

Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honou ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was made

Inspector General An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory off ...

of the Canadian Army for Western Canada and was promoted to the rank of major-general. He retired from that position in 1943. Major-General William Antrobus Griesbach

Major-General William Antrobus Griesbach

Federal Parliament

William Griesbach was elected to the

as a

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

member for the riding of

Edmonton West Edmonton West (french: Edmonton-Ouest) is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1988, from 1997 to 2004 and again since 2015. Demographics History and geography T ...

in the 1917 election, defeating incumbent

Laurier Liberal Prior to the 1917 federal election in Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada split into two factions. To differentiate the groups, historians tend to use two retrospective names: * The Laurier Liberals, who opposed conscription of soldiers to supp ...

Frank Oliver. He served until September 15, 1921 (less than three months before the 1921 election), when he was appointed to the

, in which he served until his death.

Personal life, death, and legacy

Griesbach was an accomplished

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

and played

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

for Edmonton teams. He was a member of the

Masonic Order Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, the Oddfellows, the Edmonton Veteran Association, the Canadian Club, and the Northern Alberta Pioneer and Old Timers' Association. In 1906, he married Janet Scott McDonald Lauder. William Antrobus Griesbach died in Edmonton on January 21, 1945, of a sudden heart attack.

CFB Griesbach CFB Griesbach (Griesbach Barracks) was an army base that was located in the north end of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The site was named after Major-General William Antrobus Griesbach (1878–1945), a veteran of the Second Boer War, the First World ...

, the Griesbach Garrison (part of

CFB Edmonton CFB Edmonton (also called 3rd Canadian Division Support Base Edmonton) is a Canadian Forces base located in Sturgeon County adjacent to the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. It is also known as Edmonton Garrison or "Steele Barracks". His ...

), Griesbach Masonic Lodge, and Edmonton's Griesbach neighbourhood are named in his honour. Mount Griesbach in the

Victoria Cross Ranges The Victoria Cross Ranges ( to ) are a set of mountain ranges in the Canadian Rockies, located to the northwest of Jasper. Of the 19 peaks contained within this range, five are named after Canadian recipients of the Victoria Cross. The area of th ...

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...

is also named in his honour.

References

External links

*
Edmonton Public Library biography of William GriesbachCity of Edmonton biography of William GriesbachReal Estate Weekly biography of William GriesbachWilliam Antrobus Griesbach fonds at Library and Archives CanadaReport to the Edmonton City Council Executive Committee including a list of aldermen who have been honoured in the names of Edmonton's features
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griesbach, William 1878 births 1945 deaths Canadian military personnel of the Second Boer War Canadian generals of World War I Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of German descent Canadian senators from Alberta Canadian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Canadian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Canadian Companions of the Order of the Bath Edmonton city councillors Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) senators Lawyers in Alberta Mayors of Edmonton Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta People from Fort Qu'Appelle Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta candidates in Alberta provincial elections Canadian King's Counsel Canadian Army generals of World War II Canadian Militia officers 20th-century Canadian politicians 19th Alberta Dragoons