Herbert Greenfield

Herbert W. Greenfield was the fourth Premier of Alberta from 1921 until 1925. He was unable to control his caucus, which did not generally believe in party discipline. Despite this, his time as Premier saw the elimination of the provincial deficit and the creation of the Alberta Wheat Pool.

About Herbert Greenfield in brief

Summary Herbert GreenfieldHerbert W. Greenfield was the fourth Premier of Alberta from 1921 until 1925. Born in Winchester, Hampshire, in England, he immigrated to Canada in his late twenties, settling first in Ontario and then in Alberta, where he farmed. He became involved with the United Farmers of Alberta, a farmers’ lobby organization that was in the process of becoming a political party. He was unable to control his caucus, which did not generally believe in party discipline, and his government almost lost several votes in the Legislature despite its majority. Despite this, his time as Premier saw the elimination of the provincial deficit, substantial progress in negotiating the transfer of natural resource rights from the federal government, and the creation of the Alberta Wheat Pool. After his retirement from politics, Greenfield represented Alberta in London, England, for several years before returning to Canada to work in the oil and gas industry. He died in 1949 at the age of 79, and was buried in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife, Elizabeth Harris, and their two sons, Franklin Harris Greenfield and Arnold Leake Greenfield. He had two daughters, Marjorie Greenwood Cormack, who brought two children of her own into the marriage in 1926, and a son, Arnold Greenfield, who was born in 1929, and who died in 2002, aged 89. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth Harris and his two sons Arnold, Franklin, Arnold and Franklin Greenfield Jr., all of whom are still alive today. He also has a daughter, Mary Leake, who is also a former politician and served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

He has a son and a daughter-in-law, both of whom were also politicians and served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1967 to 1971. He lived in Calgary until his death in 1949, when he moved to Calgary to be closer to his son Franklin, who had moved to Edmonton to work on his farm. He later died in Calgary in 1991, and is buried in the Calgary National Memorial Park, near where he once lived in Westlock, Alberta. His son Franklin died in 2008, aged 94. He and his wife had two children, Franklin and Arnold, who are still living in the same house where he used to live. His wife died in 2011, and he died in 2012, aged 90, at his home in Calgary. He leaves behind a wife and two children. He never had any children of his own, but had several step-daughters and two step-grandchildren. He served on the local school board for 12 years, including stints as chair, secretary, and treasurer. In 1919, he was elected to the Alberta Educational Association, as President of the Westlock Agricultural Society, and as co-founder and President ofthe Alberta Association of Municipal Districts. In 1920, he became involved in the Association of Local Improvement Districts, which advocated for reforms such as a change to an eight-hour work day, on the grounds that many Local Improvement districts were having trouble competing with railways.