Louis Melville Roberts (December 15, 1879 – February 11, 1958) was an American-Canadian politician 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 ...

Early life

Louis Melville Roberts was born December 15, 1879, to Scottish parents in

Cedar County, Iowa Cedar County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 18,505. Its county seat is Tipton, Iowa, Tipton. The county is named for the Cedar River (I ...

. He attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

completing a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

. He married Helen Atkinson on July 12, 1906, and had two children together. Roberts constructed "Roberts Block", a three-storey brick warehouse on 11th Avenue in Calgary in 1909, which remains standing to this day.

Political life

Roberts was elected to 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 ...

in the

1909 Alberta general election The 1909 Alberta general election was the second general election held in the province of Alberta, Canada. It took place on March 22, 1909, to elect 41 members to the 2nd Alberta Legislature. The incumbent Alberta Liberal Party, Liberal Party led ...

, for the

Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party () is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election, with the first three provincial ...

. During his campaign, he was accused of winning the High River nomination under suspect circumstances. He would win a hotly contested election knocking off future High River Conservative MLA

George Douglas Stanley George Douglas Stanley (March 19, 1876 – February 22, 1954) was a Canadian politician and physician. Born in Exeter, Ontario, he began as a pioneer medical doctor in Alberta in 1901. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1913 t ...

by 8 votes. Roberts served only one term in the Assembly.

References

External links

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Cheers for Roberts, High River Times March 18, 1909Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
Alberta Liberal Party MLAs People from Cedar County, Iowa American emigrants to Canada University of Iowa College of Law alumni 1879 births 1958 deaths 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta {{Alberta-MLA-stub