Frederick John Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Frederick John Mitchell was a politician in Alberta
, Canada
, a mayor of Edmonton
, and a candidate for election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
.
, but had his early education in Elmira
. He attended the Berlin Collegiate and Technical Institute
, and took up employment with the Elmira Furniture Co. Ltd. upon graduation. He later joined the Metropolitan Bank in Elmira as a stenographer before becoming a registered industrial accountant
.
In this capacity, he moved to Leross, Saskatchewan
in 1913 to work for the Dominion Bank
. He remained there until going overseas to serve in World War I
. Upon his return, he moved to Edmonton and joined the staff of the G T P Railway. He subsequently joined Oliphant-Munson Collieries (later renamed Sterling Collieries Co. Ltd.) in Edmonton, where he was in charge of copper and gold prospecting for thirty years. He married Adele Louise Philip on August 1, 1922; the couple would have a son and a daughter.
Mitchell was an exceptional tennis
player, and was a provincial singles champion in 1920.
, when he ran for alderman on Edmonton City Council
. He finished sixth of eighteen candidates, and was elected to a two year term. He would be re-elected eleven times: in 1942
(when he placed fifth of twelve candidates), 1944
(fifth of twelve), 1946
(sixth of thirteen), 1948
(second of twelve), 1950
(fourth of twelve), 1952
(third of eight), 1954
(third of eighteen), 1956
(first of nine), 1960
(first of eighteen), and 1962
(first of thirteen). He retired from politics in 1964 without ever having lost a municipal election; in fact, the only break in his twenty-four years as alderman took place from September to October 1959 when he was appointed mayor by city council to replace William Hawrelak
, who had resigned. In October, Elmer Ernest Roper
was elected mayor, and Mitchell (who had not run) resumed the interrupted aldermanic term to which he had been elected in 1958. This incident makes Mitchell both the shortest-serving mayor in Edmonton's history and the only one never to have run for the position (while neither Cornelius Gallagher
nor Terry Cavanagh
were ever elected mayor, both ran unsuccessfully at some point in their respective careers). At the time of his retirement, he was the longest serving alderman in Edmonton's history, although both Ed Leger and Ron Hayter
have since surpassed him.
Mitchell was less successful in his forays into provincial politics. He belonged to the Conservative Party of Alberta
, which was a marginal force during Mitchell's involvement in the early 1950s. He ran for the party in the riding of Edmonton
during the 1952 provincial election
, but finished twenty-fourth out of twenty-nine candidates on the first ballot (the riding used a single transferable vote
electoral system at the time) and was not elected. He fared only slightly better in his second and final attempt in the 1955 provincial election
, when he finished twenty-third out of thirty candidates in the same riding.
. At the age of 84, he quit playing badminton in order to concentrate on tennis.
Frederick John Mitchell died on Christmas Day, 1979. Mitchell Industrial, an Edmonton neighbourhood, is named in his honour.
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, a mayor of Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, and a candidate for election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...
.
Early life
Fred Mitchell was born December 4, 1893 in Stratford, OntarioStratford, Ontario
Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 32,000.When the area was first settled by Europeans in 1832, the townsite and the river were named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is the seat of Perth County. Stratford was...
, but had his early education in Elmira
Elmira, Ontario
The town of Elmira in Ontario, Canada is the largest community within the Township of Woolwich in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is located 15 km to the north of the city of Waterloo.-History:...
. He attended the Berlin Collegiate and Technical Institute
Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School
Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School, sometimes shortened to Kitchener Collegiate Institute and often abbreviated as KCI, is a public secondary school in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. It is a member of the Waterloo Region District School Board. The school dates from 1855, making it...
, and took up employment with the Elmira Furniture Co. Ltd. upon graduation. He later joined the Metropolitan Bank in Elmira as a stenographer before becoming a registered industrial accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
.
In this capacity, he moved to Leross, Saskatchewan
Leross, Saskatchewan
-External links:*******...
in 1913 to work for the Dominion Bank
Toronto-Dominion Bank
The Toronto-Dominion Bank , is the second-largest bank in Canada by market capitalization and based on assets. It is also the sixth largest bank in North America. Commonly known as TD and operating as TD Bank Group, the bank was created in 1955 through the merger of the Bank of Toronto and the...
. He remained there until going overseas to serve in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Upon his return, he moved to Edmonton and joined the staff of the G T P Railway. He subsequently joined Oliphant-Munson Collieries (later renamed Sterling Collieries Co. Ltd.) in Edmonton, where he was in charge of copper and gold prospecting for thirty years. He married Adele Louise Philip on August 1, 1922; the couple would have a son and a daughter.
Mitchell was an exceptional tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player, and was a provincial singles champion in 1920.
Political career
Mitchell first sought political office in Edmonton's 1940 municipal electionEdmonton municipal election, 1940
The 1940 municipal election was held November 13, 1940 to elect a mayor and seven aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council. Elections for school trustees were not held, as candidates for both the public and separate boards were acclaimed....
, when he ran for alderman on Edmonton City Council
Edmonton City Council
The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors. Until 2010, Edmonton was divided in six wards with two councillors representing citizens in each ward...
. He finished sixth of eighteen candidates, and was elected to a two year term. He would be re-elected eleven times: in 1942
Edmonton municipal election, 1942
The 1942 municipal election was held November 12, 1942 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council, three trustees to sit on the public school board, and five trustees to sit on the separate school board. Voters also approved an eight hour day for firefighters...
(when he placed fifth of twelve candidates), 1944
Edmonton municipal election, 1944
The 1944 municipal election was held November 1, 1944 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on the public school board...
(fifth of twelve), 1946
Edmonton municipal election, 1946
The 1946 municipal election was held November 6, 1946 to elect a mayor and six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council, four trustees to sit on the public school board, and three trustees to sit on the separate school board....
(sixth of thirteen), 1948
Edmonton municipal election, 1948
The 1948 municipal election was held November 3, 1948 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council. There was no mayoral election, as Harry Ainlay was in the second year of a two year term...
(second of twelve), 1950
Edmonton municipal election, 1950
The 1950 municipal election was held November 1, 1950 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council. The electorate also decided eleven plebiscite questions. There was no mayoral election, as Sidney Parsons was on the second year of a two year term...
(fourth of twelve), 1952
Edmonton municipal election, 1952
The 1952 municipal election was held October 15, 1952 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on the separate school board . There was no election for mayor, as William Hawrelak was halfway through his two year term...
(third of eight), 1954
Edmonton municipal election, 1954
The 1954 municipal election was held October 13, 1954 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided seven plebiscite questions...
(third of eighteen), 1956
Edmonton municipal election, 1956
The 1956 municipal election was held October 17, 1956 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided nine plebiscite questions...
(first of nine), 1960
Edmonton municipal election, 1960
The 1960 Edmonton, Alberta municipal election was held October 19, 1960 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards...
(first of eighteen), and 1962
Edmonton municipal election, 1962
The 1962 municipal election was held October 17, 1962 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided two plebiscite questions...
(first of thirteen). He retired from politics in 1964 without ever having lost a municipal election; in fact, the only break in his twenty-four years as alderman took place from September to October 1959 when he was appointed mayor by city council to replace William Hawrelak
William Hawrelak
William Hawrelak was a politician in Alberta, Canada, the longest-serving mayor in Edmonton's history, and a candidate for election to the Canadian House of Commons.-Early life:...
, who had resigned. In October, Elmer Ernest Roper
Elmer Ernest Roper
Elmer Ernest Roper was a politician in Alberta, Canada. He served as leader of the Alberta Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the mayor of Edmonton, and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He was also a candidate for the Canadian House of Commons.-Early life:Roper was born in...
was elected mayor, and Mitchell (who had not run) resumed the interrupted aldermanic term to which he had been elected in 1958. This incident makes Mitchell both the shortest-serving mayor in Edmonton's history and the only one never to have run for the position (while neither Cornelius Gallagher
Cornelius Gallagher (Canadian politician)
Cornelius Gallagher was a politician in Alberta, Canada and a municipal councillor and the third mayor of Edmonton.-Biography:...
nor Terry Cavanagh
Terry Cavanagh
Terence James Cavanagh is a Canadian politician, municipal councillor in Edmonton, Alberta, who served as mayor. He was Edmonton's first native-born mayor.-Early life:...
were ever elected mayor, both ran unsuccessfully at some point in their respective careers). At the time of his retirement, he was the longest serving alderman in Edmonton's history, although both Ed Leger and Ron Hayter
Ron Hayter
Ronald John Hayter is the longest-serving city councillor of Edmonton, Alberta, having served since 1971 until 1995, when he stepped down to join the National Parole Board...
have since surpassed him.
Mitchell was less successful in his forays into provincial politics. He belonged to the Conservative Party of Alberta
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...
, which was a marginal force during Mitchell's involvement in the early 1950s. He ran for the party in the riding of Edmonton
Edmonton (provincial electoral district)
Edmonton provincial electoral district existed in two incarnations from 1905 - 1909 and again from 1921 - 1955. The district was created when Alberta first became a province....
during the 1952 provincial election
Alberta general election, 1952
The Alberta general election of 1952 was the twelfth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 5, 1952 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.Ernest C...
, but finished twenty-fourth out of twenty-nine candidates on the first ballot (the riding used a single transferable vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
electoral system at the time) and was not elected. He fared only slightly better in his second and final attempt in the 1955 provincial election
Alberta general election, 1955
The Alberta general election of 1955 was the thirteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 29, 1955 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, when he finished twenty-third out of thirty candidates in the same riding.
Personal life, death, and legacy
After his retirement, Mitchell continued to live in the Edmonton home he had purchased in 1936 for $650. He served on the city's development appeal board, and was a lifetime member of the Canadian Institute of Mining and MetallurgyCanadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum
The Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum is a technical society of professionals in the Canadian minerals, metals, materials and energy industries. It was founded in 1898. In 2006, the organization had 12,000 national members...
. At the age of 84, he quit playing badminton in order to concentrate on tennis.
Frederick John Mitchell died on Christmas Day, 1979. Mitchell Industrial, an Edmonton neighbourhood, is named in his honour.