George Harry Webster (September 2, 1868 – November 10, 1933) was a politician and transportation expert in

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 the 22nd Mayor of the city of Calgary,

from 1923 to 1926 then 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 sin ...

from 1926 to his death in 1933. Webster was popularly known as the "Cowboy Mayor".

Early life

Webster was born in Leicester, England and immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1873, settling first in Orangeville, Ontario. He received his early education in Orangeville. In 1880, the family moved on to

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, ...

and he was employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway working on a construction gang building the westward moving line. Webster arrived in Calgary with the railway in 1883.

Transportation career

In 1900, after working in

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

for several years, he returned to Calgary to assume the management of P. Burns and Company, a post Webster held through to 1906. He subsequently returned to railway construction and was involved in several large projects, including completion of the Grand Trunk line between Calgary and

Tofield Tofield is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately east of Edmonton at the junction of Highway 14, Highway 834, and Highway 626. Beaverhill Lake is located immediately northeast of the community. History Before 1865, only A ...

. Webster became interested in road transportation, and became involved with the ''Southern Alberta Good Roads' Association'' and the ''Calgary Auto Club''. He studied western Canadian roads, and their impact on tourism, construction and maintenance and the effect on agriculture.

Municipal career

Webster was elected to

Calgary City Council The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The council consists of 15 members: the chief elected official, titled the mayor, and 14 councillors. Jyoti Gondek was elected mayor in October 202 ...

as an Alderman in 1919 and served for three years. He became Mayor in 1923 defeating former mayor

Michael Copps Costello Michael Copps Costello (August 2, 1875 – March 22, 1936) was a Canadian printer, a medical graduate (who never practiced his profession) and the 19th mayor of Calgary, Alberta, holding office from 1915 to 1919. Early life William Costello ...

and Labor candidate J. E. Worsley in the December 13, 1922 municipal election on the first ballot. Webster would be elected for a second term in the December 12, 1924 general election, and was acclaimed for a third term on December 9, 1925. He resigned as city mayor to run in the

1926 Alberta general election The 1926 Alberta general election was held on June 28, 1926, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The United Farmers of Alberta government that had first been elected in 1921 was re-elected, taking a majority of the seats in t ...

: it was approved by city council and came into effect on December 31, 1926.

Provincial career and death

Prince of Wales and George Webster Alberta

Webster was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the Calgary constituency in the 1921 Alberta general election."Results by Polls in Calgary." '' Morning Albertan'' 19 Jul. 1921: 3. He ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature as a

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 Calgary electoral district in the

. He won the second place seat. Webster nominated John McDonald to stand for the leadership of the Alberta Liberal Party at the convention held on March 28, 1930. McDonald won that race over two other candidates. Webster ran for a second term in the

1930 Alberta general election Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

. He held his seat in the Calgary district but McDonald did not. The Liberal caucus chose Webster to serve as Leader of the Liberal caucus in the Assembly in January 1931 while McDonald continued to serve as leader of the party. This arrangement continued for over a year before McDonald who was unable to obtain a seat resigned on March 1, 1932. This resignation made Webster the interim leader, a position which he held until William Howson was acclaimed at a convention on October 21, 1932. Webster died on November 10, 1933, while still holding office.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, George 1869 births 1933 deaths Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Leaders of the Alberta Liberal Party 20th-century Canadian politicians