Peter Dawson (Alberta politician)
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The Honourable Reverend Peter Dawson |
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|---|---|
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| Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta | |
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In office February 25, 1937 – March 24, 1963 |
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| Preceded by | Nathan Eldon Tanner |
| Succeeded by | Arthur J. Dixon |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta | |
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In office August 22, 1935 – March 24, 1963 |
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| Preceded by | Oran McPherson |
| Succeeded by | Raymond Speaker |
| Constituency | Little Bow |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 11, 1892 Slateford, Ayrshire, Scotland |
| Died | March 24, 1963 (aged 70) Edmonton, Alberta |
| Political party | Social Credit |
| Spouse(s) | Hildegarde "Hilde" Hallonquist (1923–1963; his death) |
| Children | Earland McMaurray David Gilmour |
| Alma mater |
Robertson College St. Stephen's College |
Peter Dawson (April 11, 1892 – March 24, 1963) was a Canadian minister and politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to his death in 1963 as a member of the Social Credit Party. He served twenty-six years as Speaker of the Assembly.
Dawson was born in Slateford, Ayrshire, Scotland, on April 11, 1892 to John and Jane Dawson (née McMurray). He was one of ten children, one of whom was his twin sister who died at the age of five months. John Dawson died in 1900, when Peter was only eight years old; he had worked as a police constable and blacksmith.
Dawson attended public schools and attended the Carrick Academy in Maybole. After finishing school, he worked as a farm labourer and a butcher's apprentice. In 1911, Dawson and his brother James sailed on the SS Ionian from Glasgow and arrived in Halifax nine days later. Dawson settled in Ontario and worked at an automobile manufacturer, Tudhope-Anderson, in Simcoe County. Seven years later, in 1918, he moved to Calgary, Alberta, where he worked as a butcher for several years.
After five years in Calgary, he moved to Edmonton, where he enrolled in Robertson College, a Prebysterian seminary. He then studied arts and theology at United Theological College, which later become St. Stephen's College, on the University of Alberta campus, where he was the first president of the student council and one of its first graduates in 1927. He was ordained a minister later in the year at Knox United Church in Calgary.
Although he had no interest in politics at first, Dawson ran in the 1935 election as a Social Credit candidate in the riding of Little Bow, at the urging of a citizens' group. He defeated United Farmers of Alberta candidate and former speaker Oran McPherson by 66% of the vote. Dawson was re-elected seven consecutive times and held his seat for twenty-eight years.
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