Robert Taylor Telford (July 19, 1860 – November 26, 1933) was a Canadian pioneer, businessman, and politician who served in 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 ...

from 1905 until 1913. Born in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, he moved to western Canada for adventure, and served with the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

during the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (), was an armed rebellion of Métis under Louis Riel and an associated uprising of Cree and Assiniboine mostly in the District of Saskatchewan, against the Government of Canada, Canadian government. Important events i ...

of 1885. He settled near Leduc, in Alberta, where he built the largest house in the region. After marrying and starting a family, he became a prominent local businessman, operating a hotel, general store and lumberyard before being elected as a Liberal in the 1905 election. He served two terms before retiring, and later was elected and served one year as mayor of Leduc. He and his wife had adopted two sons: the eldest, Raymond Telford was killed in action in 1916 during World War I.

Early life

Telford was born June 19, 1860, in Shawville, Canada East, to Irish parents, Robert and Anne (Pratt) Telford. He was educated at public schools in Quebec.Blue 237 In 1880 he went to the United States, but returned to Canada in 1885 in search of adventure after reading an article about the

of 1885. (broken link) He went to

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

and worked as a carpenter until July 1885, when he joined the

. In 1889 he homesteaded near what is now Leduc, on the shores of what was then called Leduc Lake. That July he built a house, then the largest building between Calgary and

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 ...

; he operated it as a " stopping house", or hotel, with rooms and board available for travelers, in addition to those for his future family. In the spring of 1890 Telford married

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

native Sarah Isabelle "Belle" Howard. They married in Wisconsin, but she accompanied him to Leduc shortly afterward. Robert and Belle Telford adopted two sons, Raymond and Lorne. Raymond was killed in June 1916, while serving with the 51st Battalion in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. People in small frontier towns often had several businesses. Besides his stopping house, which he moved closer to the railway station when the railway reached Leduc, the senior Telford operated a general store and later a lumberyard. He ran the latter for twenty-five years before selling it in 1919. He served as a postmaster from 1894 until 1905, and was appointed as Leduc's justice of the peace in January 1897. He was also active with the Masons.

Political career

Telford ran as the Liberal candidate in Leduc in the 1905 provincial election, the first in Alberta's history. He handily defeated his

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

opponent. He was returned to office without opposition in the 1909 election, and was defeated during the nomination process by Stanley Tobin in his bid for re-election in

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

. In the legislature, he supported the government of

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Alexander Cameron Rutherford against a group of dissident Liberals in the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal. The ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'' alleged that he had accepted a

bribe Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

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500 to do so, prompting Telford to sue for

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

. When Rutherford's government fell and was replaced by that of Arthur Sifton which, though Liberal, followed the opposite course to Rutherford's on the railway issues that had brought down Rutherford's government, Telford supported the new government, notwithstanding its policy differences with the old. Telford was also involved in local politics: he served on the Leduc town council for several years and as mayor from 1915 to 1916. As at 1924, he also served on the school board.

Later life and legacy

After selling his lumberyard in 1919, Telford entered a state of near-retirement, though he continued to derive significant income from real estate holdings in the Leduc area. He died in 1933 at the age of 73. Leduc Lake was renamed Telford Lake in his honour, and the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Telfordville also bears his name.Hulgaard; White 169

Electoral record

1905 general election

1909 general election

References

* * *

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Telford, Robert 1860 births 1933 deaths Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian police officers 20th-century mayors of places in Alberta People from Leduc, Alberta People from Outaouais 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta