Peter Gunn (9 February 1864 – 22 June 1927) was a 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 ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
Biography
Gunn was born in
Thurso
Thurso (pronounced ; , ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great Britain. From a latitudinal s ...
, Caithness,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
in 1862. He arrived in Canada on February 26, 1883 at the age of 21 under the employment of the Hudson's Bay Company and went first to Fort St. John. The next five years of his life were spent between Fort St. John and Dunvegan. In 1888 he was moved to Grouard, Alberta. From there in 1900 Peter went to Lac Ste. Anne, his last post as a Hudson Bay Factor. He remained there for 9 years. He ran for election as a Liberal 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 ...
. With no other opposition candidates he was acclaimed to his first term in office and attended some of the first sittings of Parliament after the province was formed. He ran for his second term in the
1913 Alberta general election
The 1913 Alberta general election was held in March 1913. The writ was dropped on 25 March 1913 and election day was held 17 April 1913 to elect 56 members to the 3rd Alberta Legislature. Elections in two northern districts took place on 30 July ...
, this time defeating Conservative candidate
George R. Barker in a hotly contested race. Gunn won the election by a 43-vote margin. He did not run again in the next provincial election. He was later appointed fisheries inspector to the Dominion Government. As he had mastered the Cree Language he was frequently called into court as an interpreter. He was appointed Sheriff of Edmonton in 1916. Gunn died in Alberta in 1927.
Legacy
The hamlet of
Gunn, Alberta
Gunn is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Lac Ste. Anne County. It is located west of the junction of Highway 43 and Highway 33 on the northeast shore of Lac Ste. Anne. It is approximately northwest of Edmonton and has an elevation of .
...
on
Lac Ste. Anne is named in his honor.
Peter Gunn's fonds are held by the Provincial Archive of Alberta.
References
Further reading
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External links
*
Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
Alberta Liberal Party MLAs
Scottish emigrants to Canada
People from Thurso
1864 births
1927 deaths
20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
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