Robert Telford
| Robert Taylor Telford | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta | |
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In office November 9, 1905 – April 17, 1913 |
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| Preceded by | New district |
| Succeeded by | Stanley Tobin |
| Constituency | Leduc |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 19, 1860 Shawville, Quebec |
| Died | November 26, 1933 (aged 73) Leduc, Alberta |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Belle Howard |
| Children | Two sons, Raymond and Lome |
| Residence | Leduc, Alberta |
| Occupation | Police officer, lumberman, businessman, justice of the peace |
Robert Taylor Telford (July 19, 1860 – November 26, 1933) was a Canadian pioneer and politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 until 1913. Born in Quebec, he came to western Canada to serve with the North-West Mounted Police during the North-West Rebellion. He then settled near Leduc and became a prominent local businessman, before being elected as a Liberal in the 1905 election. He served two terms before retiring, and later served one year as mayor of Leduc.
Telford was born June 19, 1860, in Shawville, Quebec, to Irish parents, Robert and Anne (Pratt) Telford. He was educated at public schools in Quebec. In 1880 he went to the United States, before returning to Canada in 1885 in search of adventure after reading an article about the North-West Rebellion. He arrived in Calgary and worked as a carpenter until July 1886, when he joined the North-West Mounted Police. 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, which was then the largest building between Calgary and Edmonton; he operated it as a "stopping house", or hotel.
In the spring of 1890 he married Wisconsin native Belle Howard. They married in Wisconsin, but returned to Leduc shortly afterwards. Robert and Belle Telford adopted to sons, Raymond and Lome; Raymond was killed in June 1916, while serving with the 51st Battalion in World War I. Besides his stopping house, which he moved closer to the railway station when the railway arrived in Leduc, Robert 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 postmaster from 1894 until 1905, and became Leduc's first justice of the peace around 1911. He was also active with the Masons.
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