Spencer Bedford

Spencer Argyle Bedford (February 1, 1851 – December 15, 1933) was an English-born Canadian politician. He served on the 1st Council of the Northwest Territories for Moosomin from 1885 to 1888.[1]

Spencer Bedford
Member of the Council of the Northwest Territories for Moosomin
In office
September 15, 1885 – June 30, 1888
Succeeded byJohn Ryerson Neff
Personal details
Born(1851-02-01)February 1, 1851
Busted, Sussex, England
DiedDecember 15, 1933(1933-12-15) (aged 82)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Political partyIndependent
Occupationfarmer

Bedford was born at Busted, Sussex, England in 1851, the son of J. Bedford, and was raised in the vicinity of the English Channel.[2] He came to Canada in 1877 and settled in Manitoba, purchasing land there. He worked for land offices as well as a booster for the North West Territories, to encourage immigration there, drawing settlers to the Pembina Mountains and Rock Lake areas. Bedford was also a land inspector, for Scottish Ontario, the British Canadian Loan Company, and the Canadian Northwest Land Company. He resided in Moosomin where he farmed. He married to Minnie Bolton in 1880. His wife would die in the 1918 flu pandemic.[3][4]

He was acclaimed in 1885 to the Council of the North West Territories, and retired at the next election, in 1888. Upon his retirement he was named the first superintendent of the Brandon Experimental Farm in Brandon, Manitoba, a position which he would serve for 20 years.[4]

Bedford later was Professor of Field Husbandry at the Manitoba Agricultural College in Winnipeg, Chairman of the Manitoba Weed Commission, and was appointed the position of Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the Manitoba government. He is a member of the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manitoba in 1921.[5] He died at his Winnipeg home in 1933.[4]

Electoral results

1885 election
1885 Northwest Territories election
[1] Name Vote %
     Spencer Bedford Acclaimed

References
  1. "North-West Territories: Council and Legislative Assembly, 1876-1905" (PDF). Saskatchewan Archives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2007.
  2. Gemmill, John Alexander; Mackintosh, Charles Herbert (1887). The Canadian Parliamentary Companion. p. 379. Retrieved February 19, 2014. MArshallsay charles 1843.
  3. Robertson, John Palmerston (1887), A political manual of the province of Manitoba and the North-West Territories, Winnipeg, Manitoba: The Call Printing Company, retrieved 19 February 2014
  4. "Dr. S. A. Bedford, Well Known in Agriculture, Dies", Winnipeg Free Press, Friday, December 15, 1933, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, pg. 1
  5. http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/bedford_sa.shtml
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