John Edward Brownlee, was the fifth premier of Alberta, serving from 1925 until 1934. Born in Port Ryerse, Ontario, he studied history and political science at the University of Toronto's Victoria College before moving west to Calgary to become a lawyer. His clients included the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA); through his connection with that lobby group, he was involved in founding the United Grain Growers (UGG).
John Edward Brownlee
Victoria College as it appeared in the 1930s
Florence Edy in 1909
As an articling clerk, Brownlee became close to future Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett.
Herbert W. Greenfield was a Canadian politician and farmer who served as 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 soon became involved in the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA), a farmers' lobby organization that was in the process of becoming a political party, and was elected as the organization's vice president. Greenfield did not run in the 1921 provincial election, the first provincial general election in which the UFA fielded candidates, but when the UFA won a majority in the Legislature in that election he was chosen by the UFA caucus to serve as Premier. Like most of the UFA caucus, Greenfield had no experience in government and he struggled in the position.
c. 1920's
The United Farmers of Alberta Board of Directors in 1919, Greenfield is second from the right in the middle row
The caucus meeting that selected Greenfield as Premier, summer 1921
Portrait of Herbert Greenfield, c. 1918