William Humberstone
William Humberstone was a Canadian prospector and politician. He was a municipal councillor in Edmonton, Alberta.Biography
Humberstone was born in Niagara Region, Ontario in 1836. He moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in the 1870s, and in July 1880 left for Edmonton on foot with an ox and a Red River cart. He arrived three months later.
Soon after his arrival, he began to extract coal from the banks of the North Saskatchewan River and founded the Humberstone Brick & Coal Company. He was elected to the Edmonton Town Council as an alderman in the 1897 municipal election, finishing sixth of nine candidates, but did not seek re-election at the conclusion of his term.
In 1899, he married Beata, a German immigrant. Not long after the wedding, flooding in the river washed away his mining infrastructure. He rebuilt it the following year, and continued to run the mine, in conjunction with Beata, until his death.
William Humberstone died in Edmonton on April 2, 1922.
