William Sommerville Edmiston (November 10, 1857 – July 24, 1903) was a politician in present day Alberta

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...

, and 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...

.

Biography

Edmiston was born on November 10, 1857 in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 to William Thomson Edmiston and Jessie Mitchell. He came to Canada from Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 in 1882, and settled in Clover Bar, Alberta. He moved to Edmonton in 1895, and became the city's first architect. He designed the city's first fire hall and its first brick school.

In 1895

Edmonton municipal election, 1895

The 1895 municipal election was held January 14, 1895 to elect the town council and four trustees for each of the public and separate school divisions...

, Edmiston was elected to Edmonton Town Council, finishing first in the aldermanic race. He was re-elected in 1896

Edmonton municipal election, January 1896

The first of two 1896 municipal elections was held January 13, 1896 to elect the town council , five trustees for the public school division and four trustees for the separate school division....

, finishing second of eight candidates. He did not seek re-election in the next election

Edmonton municipal election, December 1896

The second of two 1896 municipal elections was held December 14, 1896. This was the first election to take place on the second Monday of December instead of the second Monday in January...

, but was acclaimed as mayor in 1897

Edmonton municipal election, 1897

The 1897 municipal election was held December 13, 1897. This was the last election to elect a full town council for a one year term, as the 1898 election was conducted under a staggered system...

. He was re-elected in 1898

Edmonton municipal election, 1898

The 1898 municipal election was held December 12, 1898. In previous elections, an entire town council had been elected at once for a one year term; 1898 marked the beginning of staggered aldermanic terms, such that half of the six aldermen would be elected each year to two year terms...

, defeating former mayor 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:...

. He did not seek re-election in 1899

Edmonton municipal election, 1899

The 1899 municipal election was held December 11, 1899. It was the first municipal election in which only a portion of the aldermen were to be elected; in 1898, three of the six aldermen elected were elected to two year terms in preparation for a system in which only half of the aldermen would be...

. During his time as mayor, he was involved in petitioning the dominion government

Government of Canada

The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...

 for the bridge that became the Low Level Bridge, still existent today.

William Edmiston was a mason

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

 and a member of the Old Timers' Association, the Sons of Scotland, and the Knights of Pythias

Knights of Pythias

The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded at Washington, DC, on 19 February 1864.The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been...

. He died of heart failure July 24, 1903.

Edmiston Industrial, an Edmonton neighbourhood, is named in his honour.