Kenneth Alexander Blatchford (March 5, 1882 – April 20, 1933) 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 ...

politician who served as both

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

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 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 ...

and a member of the House of Commons of Canada.

Early life

Kenny Blatchford was born in Minnedosa,

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

. He was educated at a commercial college, and was an excellent

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and all-around athlete as a youth. He moved to Edmonton with his parents by ox-cart during the 1890s, and began selling newspapers. During the Klondike Gold Rush, he took over operation of the grist mill operated by Daniel Fraser, and later worked in the Edmonton Power Plant. He married Grace Lauder Walker on 19 December 1904, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. Kenny Blatchford was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

Municipal politics

Blatchford first sought public office in the 1921 municipal election, when he was elected to Edmonton City Council for a one-year term as an alderman, finishing fifth out of seventeen candidates. While the top five candidates were to have been elected to two year terms, with the sixth and seventh-place finishers winning one year terms, Bickerton Pratt, who finished seventh, won a two-year term by virtue of being from the south side of 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 event ...

, due to the guaranteed southside representation; resultingly, Blatchford won only a one-year term. He was re-elected, this time to a two-year term, in the 1922 election, in which he finished third of sixteen candidates. He resigned midway through his term to run for mayor in the 1923 election, in which he handily defeated James Ramsey. He was re-elected with relative ease in the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

and

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

elections, and did not seek re-election thereafter. As mayor, Blatchford convinced the city to purchase a farm to establish an "air harbour", which later became the

Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), also called Blatchford Field as well as Edmonton Municipal Airport, was an airport within the city of Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada. It was bordered by Yellowhead Trail to the north, Kingsway to the south, ...

. After his federal political career faltered, Blatchford attempted a return to municipal office by running for mayor in the 1932 election. However, he finished a distant third of three candidates, behind incumbent Daniel Kennedy Knott and perennial candidate (and former and future mayor) Joseph Clarke.

Federal politics

While still mayor, Blatchford ran for the House of Commons of Canada in the 1926 election 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 ...

Edmonton East 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 anchor ...

. He defeated incumbent

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Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Ambrose Bury by fewer than two hundred votes. He served until 1930, when he was defeated by Bury (who had gone on to succeed Blatchford as mayor of Edmonton) in that year's election.

Death and legacy

Five months after his defeat in the 1932 mayoral election, Blatchford suffered a nervous breakdown and disappeared. His body was found in the

on April 22, 1933 after he had been missing for two days. His death was ruled a suicide. His son, Howard Peter "Cowboy" Blatchford went on to become a

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

. Blatchford Field, location of the former Edmonton City Centre Airport, was named after Kenny Blatchford. The carbon neutral community of Blatchford, which is being developed on the grounds of the former airport, is named in his honour.

References

Edmonton Public Library Biography of Kenny Blatchford

City of Edmonton biography of Kenny Blatchford
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External links