Kenneth Alexander Blatchford (March 5, 1882 – April 20, 1933) was a Canadian politician who served as both mayor of Edmonton, Alberta and a member of the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

Early life

Kenny Blatchford was born in Minnedosa, Manitoba. He was educated at a commercial college, and was an excellent wrestler 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 The Presbyterian Church in Canada (french: Église presbytérienne du Canada) is a Presbyterian denomination, serving in Canada under this name since 1875. The United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. According to ...

Municipal politics

Blatchford first sought public office in the 1921 municipal election, when he was elected to

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 ...

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 Bickerton may refer to: Places *Bickerton, Cheshire, village and civil parish in England, United Kingdom **Bickerton Hill, Cheshire * Bickerton, Devon, England, United Kingdom *Bickerton, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom *Bickerton Island, ...

, who finished seventh, won a two-year term by virtue of being from the south side of the North Saskatchewan River, 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 hol ...

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 Italia ...

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. 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 Daniel Kennedy Knott (July 1, 1879 – November 26, 1959) was a labour activist and politician in Alberta, Canada and a mayor of Edmonton. He had associations with the Canadian branch of the Ku Klux Klan. Early life Dan Knott was born in ...

and perennial candidate (and former and future mayor) Joseph Clarke.

Federal politics

While still mayor, Blatchford ran for the

in the 1926 election as a Liberal in Edmonton East. He defeated incumbent Conservative Member of Parliament

Ambrose Bury Ambrose Upton Gledstanes Bury, KC (August 1, 1869 – March 29, 1951) was a politician in Alberta, Canada, a mayor of Edmonton, and a member of the House of Commons of Canada. Early life Ambrose Bury was born in Downings House, County Kild ...

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 North Saskatchewan River on April 22, 1933 after he had been missing for two days. His death was ruled a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. His son, Howard Peter "Cowboy" Blatchford went on to become a flying ace in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Blatchford Field, location of the former

Edmonton City Centre 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, ...

, 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