Cornelius Gallagher (Canadian politician)

Cornelius Gallagher
Cornelius Gallagher circa 1905 as a member of the Edmonton Old Timers' Association
3rd Mayor of Edmonton
In office October 27, 1896 – December 14, 1896
Preceded by	Herbert Charles Wilson
Succeeded by	John Alexander McDougall
Alderman on the Edmonton Town Council
In office January 13, 1893 – January 14, 1895
In office December 14, 1896 – December 13, 1897
In office December 9, 1901 – December 14, 1903
Personal details
Born	December 31, 1854 Saint John, New Brunswick
Died	October 27, 1932(1932-10-27) (aged 77) Edmonton, Alberta
Spouse(s)	Exilda Bourre
Children	2 adopted children
Profession	Butcher
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature

Cornelius Gallagher (December 31, 1854 – October 27, 1932) was a meat merchant and politician in Alberta, Canada. He served as a municipal councillor and briefly as the third mayor of Edmonton.

Gallagher was born in New Brunswick in 1854, the son of an Irish immigrant father. After attending the schools of his birthplace, he moved west to Winnipeg with his family, and became involved in the family meat packing business, established by his father. He would soon move west again to what would later become the province of Saskatchewan, where he would continue his business, providing his product to the local police establishments and soldiers during the North-West Rebellion. After his contracts expired there, Gallagher would move again further west, to Edmonton, where he would permanently settle.

In Edmonton he established the developing town's largest meat packing business, upon land atop the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, overlooking the river valley. He would also get involved with the city's local politics, sitting on the Edmonton Town Council in the 1890s and early 1900s. In 1896, after the incumbent mayor had resigned, the town council selected Gallagher to briefly be the interim mayor until an election was held later that year. He served one more aldermanic term, but retired after defeat in the 1903 and 1907 elections. In 1911, he would also retire from his meat business. In retirement, Gallagher lived on a lavish estate on land he owned atop the Edmonton River Valley until his death in 1932.

Gallagher was born on December 31, 1854 in Saint John, New Brunswick to Patrick and Katherine (née Maher) Gallagher. His father, Patrick came to Canada from Ireland at the age of 14, and worked in the meat industry, being a wholesale meat merchant and meat packer. His mother was a native of Saint John. Cornelius Gallagher would attend schooling during the 1870s in his hometown; later joining his father in his meat business. When his father relocated to Winnipeg in 1877, he established a wholesale and retail meat distribution business, P. Gallagher and Son, which Cornelius and his brother, Edward would work in. Cornelius Gallagher in 1888 moved to Battleford, North-West Territory (today in Saskatchewan) in 1888, where he bought out his father's firm's interests. There, he was on a contract to supply troops stationed in the aftermath of the suppression of the North-West Rebellion. In 1889, he moved south to Regina, where his business, Childs & Gallagher, supplied meat to the North-West Mounted Police. He remained there for two years, until 1891, when his contract with the Mounties expired.