Alexander Rutherford KC
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Alexander Cameron Rutherford KC (1857 - 1941)

Alexander Cameron Rutherford KC
Born in Osgoode, Carleton, Canada Westmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 19 Dec 1888 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canadamap
Died at age 84 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canadamap
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Profile last modified | Created 14 Apr 2014
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Preceded by
Title Created
1st Premier of Alberta
September 2, 1905 – May 26, 1910
Succeeded by
Arthur Sifton

Biography

Notables Project
Alexander Rutherford KC is Notable.
This profile is part of the Rutherford Name Study.
This profile is part of the Bonnie Doon, Edmonton, Alberta One Place Study.

Alexander Cameron Rutherford was a lawyer, politician and the first premier of the newly created province of Alberta.

Born in 1857 near Osgoode, Carleton County, Canada West (Ontario), he was the fourth son of James Rutherford, a dairy farmer, and Elizabeth Cameron.[1][2] After graduating from a Baptist college in Woodstock, Ontario, he taught for a year before attending McGill University (BA, BCL 1881). He articled in Ottawa and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1885. He practiced in Kemptville, Ontario, for ten years.

He married Mattie Birkett in Ottawa on December 19, 1888.[3] The couple had three children, Cecil, Hazel and Marjorie.

The Rutherfords moves to South Edmonton, District of Alberta, in 1895. Rutherford held several positions in the community before it was incorporated as the town of Strathcona in 1899. In the 1902 election, he ran as the candidate for the newly created riding of Srathcona in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories and won. In 1905 he became the first premier, treasurer and minister of education of the newly created province of Alberta. Five years later, he was forced to resign over a scandal involving the government's dealings with the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway. He was defeated in the 1913 provincial election and returned to his law practice. From 1927 to 1941 he served as chancellor of the University of Alberta.[4]

In 1910, he put the name "Bonnie Doon", from a Robert Burns poem, on land he owned east of Mill Creek in south Edmonton. Later the name spread to what is now the entire neighbourhood of Bonnie Doon.[5]

He died in Edmonton on June 11, 1941, and was buried at Mount Pleasant Municipal Cemetery, Edmonton.[6]

Sources

  1. Census of Canada West,1861 Canada West (Ontario), Carleton, Osgoode, Page Number: 3, Line Number: 30, Microfilm: C-1013, Item Number: 1015651.
  2. Census of Canada, 1871 Alexander Rutherford in household of James Rutherford, Osgoode, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; citing 1871; citing National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
  3. Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927, database with images, FamilySearch (10 April 2015), Alexander Cameron Rutherford and Mattie Birkett, 19 Dec 1888; citing registration , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,870,220.
  4. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Alexander Cameron Rutherford
  5. Wikipedia:Alexander Cameron Rutherford
  6. Find A Grave: Memorial #18738, Mount Pleasant Municipal Cemetery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

See also:

  • Census of Canada, 1911 Alexander C Rutherford, 1911; citing Census, Strathcona Sub-Districts 33-52, Alberta, Canada, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 2,417,657.




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