George Harry Webster

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George Harry Webster (2 September 1868, Leicester, England – 1933) was a politician and transportation expert in Alberta, Canada.

[edit] Early life

George Webster emigrated 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. Mr. Webster arrived in Calgary with the railway in 1883.

[edit] Transportation career

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 Mr. 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.

George 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. ^[1]

[edit] Municipal career

Mr. 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 tendered his resignation 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.

Mr. Webster was popularly known as the "Cowboy Mayor".

[edit] Provincial career and death

In July of 1926, he was elected as a Alberta Liberal Party member for Calgary in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta^[2] He was chosen to lead the party into the 1930 provincial election but the party only gained four seats and its popular vote declined slightly in the face of the United Farmers of Alberta government. He resigned as party leader in 1932 making way for William R. Howson but retained his seat in the legislature until his death in 1933.

[edit] References