William Harold Clark (July 1, 1869 – December 24, 1913) was an English-born

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 ...

businessman and politician. He was a municipal councillor in

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 ...

, Alberta.

Biography

William Clark was born in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

on July 1, 1869. After being educated in London's public schools, he went to work for his father at age sixteen in the

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...

and contracting business. He moved to

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, Ontario, Canada in 1889 and on to Edmonton in 1895. In Edmonton, he founded W. H. Clark & Company, which produced sash, doors, and interior furnishings. In this capacity, he did the

millwork Millwork is historically any Sawmill, wood mill produced decorative materials used in Construction#Building construction, building construction. Stock profiled and patterned millwork building components fabricated by Milling (machining), millin ...

for many significant buildings, including the Civic Block, the medical building at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

, and several hospital units. In 1898, he married Agnes Jane Robson, with whom he had three sons and a daughter. In the 1904 municipal election, Clark ran for

Edmonton City 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 ...

as an alderman. He finished fifth of seventeen, and was one of four candidates elected to one year terms (the top four candidates were elected to two year terms, the next four to one year terms). He sought re-election in the 1905 election, but finished fifth of ten candidates; only four were elected. Clark established the Edmonton Lumber Company in 1905, which logged on the

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows eventual ...

. He was also President of the Edmonton Brick Company. In the 1908 municipal election he ran for the public school board, and was one of three candidates elected (he placed third of seven candidates). He was re-elected in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

to what was nominally a two-year term, but all municipal officials had their terms truncated by the merger of Edmonton with Strathcona. Accordingly, Clark sought re-election in the February 1912 election, and was elected to a one-year term. He did not seek re-election at its conclusion. Clark was a director of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

, and a member of the

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political and non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd ...

, the Sons of England, the Edmonton Club, and the

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

. He died December 24, 1913, from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

References

Edmonton Public Library biography of William ClarkCity of Edmonton biography of William Clark
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, William 1869 births 1913 deaths Businesspeople from London English emigrants to Canada Edmonton city councillors 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Alberta 19th-century English businesspeople