George Lewis Stringam (May 21, 1876 – July 4, 1959) was a provincial politician and

cattle rancher Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

from

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. 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. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

from 1921 to 1935 sitting with the United Farmers caucus in government.

Early life

George Lewis Stringam was born on May 21, 1876, in

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States. He married Mary Anne Snow on October 17, 1897, and fathered two children. Both children, twins, died at birth on July 21, 1898, and his wife died a few days later due to complications. Stringam married Sarah Lovina Williams on June 7, 1905. He fathered eleven children with her, two of which died at an early age.

Political career

Stringam ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature as a United Farmers 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. The Liberal government is replaced by the United Farmers of Alberta. It was one of only five times that Alberta has changed gov ...

in the electoral district of Cardston. He defeated incumbent MLA Martin Woolf with a large majority to pick up the seat for his party. Stringam faced a three way battle running for a second term 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 ...

. Despite losing some of his vote share he easily held his seat. Stringam ran for a third term in the

1930 Alberta general election The 1930 Alberta general election was held on June 19, 1930, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The United Farmers of Alberta won election to a third term in government, and John E. Brownlee continued as premier. This pro ...

. He was returned easily in the two way battle defeating Liberal candidate R. Christie. The

1935 Alberta general election The 1935 Alberta general election was held on August 22, 1935, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The newly founded Social Credit Party of Alberta won a sweeping victory, unseating the 14-year government of the United Farme ...

would see Stringam run for his fourth term in office. He would be defeated finishing a distant second in the three way race by

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...

candidate Nathan Tanner.

Later life

After losing half his cattle herd in a winter storm in 1936, Stringam retired from cattle ranching and moved to

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

with his wife and the two remaining children the following year in 1937. He became ill and died on July 4, 1959. His son Bryce Stringam served as a member of the Alberta Legislature from 1955 to 1959.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stringam, George United Farmers of Alberta MLAs Canadian Latter Day Saints 1876 births 1959 deaths People from Cardston People from Millard County, Utah American emigrants to Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta