Charles Alexander Magrath (April 22, 1860 – October 30, 1949) was a Canadian land surveyor and statesman. He conducted foundation surveys of the

North-West Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

(NWT) from 1878 until 1885. He joined Sir

Alexander Tilloch Galt Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, (September 6, 1817 – September 19, 1893) was a politician and a father of the Canadian Confederation. Early life Galt was born in Chelsea, England on September 6, 1817. He was the son of John Galt, a Scottis ...

and Elliott Torrance Galt in their western industrial enterprises as a surveyor, later becoming Elliott's assistant and Land Commissioner of the

North Western Coal and Navigation Company The North Western Coal and Navigation Company, also known as Alberta Railway and Coal Company or Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company, was a coal mining company formed in London, England in 1882 by Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, one of Canada's Fat ...

. He was also the first mayor of Lethbridge, Alberta District, NWT, which has a major street ( Mayor Magrath Drive) named after him. Magrath was a member of the North-West Legislative Assembly from 1891 to 1898. He was appointed as a cabinet minister in the Frederick Haultain administration in 1897. In the 1891 and 1894 general elections and an 1897 by-election, he represented Lethbridge and was acclaimed. Magrath was elected to the House of Commons representing the

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are with ...

constituency (1908–1911). He was fuel controller during the

Great War 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 ...

and chairman of

Ontario Hydro Ontario Hydro, established in 1906 as the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, was a publicly owned electricity utility in the Province of Ontario. It was formed to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity g ...

and the Canadian section of the

International Joint Commission The International Joint Commission (french: Commission mixte internationale) is a bi-national organization established by the governments of the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Its responsibilities were expa ...

. He also served on the

Newfoundland Royal Commission {{Short description, 1933 UK royal commission on Newfoundland finances The Newfoundland Royal Commission or Amulree Commission (as it came to be known) was a royal commission established on February 17, 1933 by the Government of the United Kingdom ...

of 1933. He married Margaret Holmes White Mair in 1887. After giving birth to a son, Charles Bolton, in 1888, she died in June 1892 of complications following the birth of a daughter. In 1899, he married Mabel Lillian Galt, a daughter of Sir Alexander and half-sister of Elliot Galt. Two daughters were born of this union: Amy and Laura. Magrath has been called "The Father of

Irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been dev ...

Southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.Charles Ora Card __NOTOC__ Charles Ora Card (November 5, 1839 – September 9, 1906) was the American founder of Cardston, Alberta, the first Mormon settlement in Canada. He has been referred to as "Canada's Brigham Young".Richard E. Bennett"Canada: From Strugglin ...

, the

LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

, and Elliot Galt to the development of irrigation in the Lethbridge region. The community of Magrath is named in his honour.

External links

*
Charles Alexander Magrath fonds, Library and Archives Canada
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Magrath, Charles Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs 1860 births 1949 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories History of Lethbridge Mayors of Lethbridge Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) 19th-century Canadian politicians 20th-century Canadian politicians

See also

External links