Richard Charles Hardisty (3 March 1831 – 15 October 1889) was a

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

official at

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

and a politician in the

North-West Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated pop ...

, Canada. Richard Hardisty’s father was a Hudson’s Bay Company chief trader, born in London, England. His mother, Margaret Sutherland, was of First Nations and Scottish heritage. He married Eliza McDougall, daughter of

George Millward McDougall George Millward McDougall (September 9, 1821 – January 25, 1876) was a Methodist missionary in Canada who assisted in negotiations leading to Treaty 6 and Treaty 7 between the Canadian government and Indigenous nations of the prairies and what i ...

, on 21 September 1866 while he was a Hudson's Bay Company employee. They had three children. in the

1887 Canadian federal election Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

he ran as an Independent Conservative in

Alberta (Provisional District) The Alberta riding was a federal electoral district in the North-West Territories, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1887 to 1908. The Alberta Provisional District, created in 1882, was first used as a federal ...

. He finished a close second to

Donald Watson Davis Donald Watson Davis (November 23, 1849 – June 4, 1906) was a politician from Northwest Territories, Canada. Early life He was born in Londonderry, Vermont. He served in the Union army during the U.S. Civil War. Career He moved to southe ...

. He was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

on the advice of Prime Minister

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11January 18156June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political ...

on 23 February 1888, the first

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

senator. He died on 15 October 1889, two weeks after being thrown from a horse-drawn buggy. (His replacement in the Senate was Sir

James Lougheed Sir James Alexander Lougheed, ( or ; 1September 18542November 1925) was a businessman, lawyer and politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a senator for 35 years, and held a number of Cabinet positions. Early life Lougheed was born in th ...

, who was married to Richard Hardisty's niece Isabella (Belle) Hardisty. James Lougheed was the grandfather of

Peter Lougheed Edgar Peter Lougheed ( ; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding over a period of reform and economic growth. ...

, premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985.) The village of

Hardisty, Alberta Hardisty is a town in Flagstaff County in east-central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately from the Saskatchewan border, near the crossroads of Highway 13 and Highway 881, in the Battle River Valley. Hardisty is mainly known as a pivota ...

, is named in his honour, as is

Mount Hardisty Mount Hardisty is a mountain summit located in the Athabasca River valley of Jasper National Park, in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Kerkeslin, to the south. Both mountains are part of the Maligne Ran ...

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park, in Alberta, Canada, is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains, spanning . It was established as Jasper Forest Park in 1907, renamed as a national park in 1930, and declared a UNESCO world heritage site ...

References

External links

*
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1831 births 1889 deaths Independent candidates in the 1887 Canadian federal election Canadian senators from the Northwest Territories Hudson's Bay Company people Indigenous Canadian senators Canadian Métis people 19th-century members of the Senate of Canada {{Alberta-politician-stub

References

Further reading

External links