George Harry Webster | |
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22nd Mayor of Calgary | |
In office 1922 – December 31, 1926 |
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Preceded by | Samuel Adams |
Succeeded by | Frederick Osborne |
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta | |
In office June 28, 1926 – November 10, 1933 |
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Preceded by |
Alex Ross Robert Marshall Robert Pearson William Davidson |
Succeeded by | William Ross |
Constituency | Calgary |
Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party caucus | |
In office January 1931 – March 1, 1932 Serving with John McDonald |
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Interim Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party | |
In office March 1, 1932 – October 21, 1932 |
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Preceded by | John McDonald |
Succeeded by | William Howson |
Personal details | |
Born | September 2, 1868 Leicester, England |
Died | November 10, 1933 | (aged 65)
George Harry Webster (September 2, 1868 – November 10, 1933) was a politician and transportation expert in Alberta, Canada. He served as the 22nd Mayor of the city of Calgary, Alberta from 1922 to 1926 then served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1926 to his death in 1933. Webster was popularly known as the "Cowboy Mayor".
Webster was born in Leicester, England and immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1873, settling first in Orangeville, Ontario. He received his early education in Orangeville. In 1880, the family moved on to Winnipeg and he was employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway working on a construction gang building the westward moving line. Webster arrived in Calgary with the railway in 1883.
In 1900, after working in Washington State for several years, he returned to Calgary to assume the management of P. Burns and Company, a post Webster held through to 1906. He subsequently returned to railway construction and was involved in several large projects, including completion of the Grand Trunk line between Calgary and Tofield.
Webster became interested in road transportation, and became involved with the Southern Alberta Good Roads' Association and the Calgary Auto Club. He studied western Canadian roads, and their impact on tourism, construction and maintaince and the effect on agriculture.
Webster was elected to Calgary City Council in 1919 and served for three years. He became Mayor in 1922 and held that office for four consecutive one year terms. He resigned as city mayor to run in the 1926 Alberta general election: it was approved by city council and came into effect on December 31, 1926.