Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MAYOR'S CHAIR

Date Range From

1918

Date Range To

1928

Materials

LEATHER, OAK

No. Pieces

6

Height

152.4

Width

79.3

Description

BUTTON & DIAMOND PADDED BACK, PADDED SEAT, LEATHER COVERING. LEATHER COVERED TACKS. CITY CREST: "CITY OF LETHBRIDGE 1890-1906 AD OCCASIONIS JANUAM" CARVED ON WOOD CREST RAIL, BELOW CROWN & SURROUNDED BY CARVED WOOD LEAVES. SCROLL FINISHED ARMREST WITH LEATHER COVERED CUSHION. CHAIR CAN BE DESCRIBED AS A MIXED STYLE BASED ON THE FRENCH ROCOCO OF THE LATE VICTORIAN ERA. LEATHER IN POOR CONDITION, SEE CONSERVATION REPORT.

Subjects

FURNITURE

Historical Association

POLITICS

History

CHAIR PROBABLY CANADIAN MADE, 1 OF A SERIES OF 3 MADE FOR CITY OF LETHBRIDGE. THIS CHAIR, DONOR STATES, WAS PRESENTED TO MAYOR W.D.L. HARDIE UPON HIS RETIREMENT FROM OFFICE IN 1928. 1ST CHAIR PRESENTED TO MAYOR HATCH IN 1912, & LAST TO R. BARROWMAN IN 1935. HATCH CHAIR ALSO IN PERMANENT COLLECTION. LEATHER SEAT DIFFERS FROM LEATHER BACKING INDICATING THAT SEAT PROBABLY RECOVERED. IN MAY 1990 CHAIR COMPLETELY RECOVERED IN LEATHER WITH FINISHED BRASS TACKS. SAMPLES OF REPLACED MATERIALS (5 ENVELOPES) SAVED FOR EVIDENTIAL VALUE. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR ADDITIONAL INFO ON RECOVERING. SEE CONSERVATION REPORT FOR DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT. IN 2006, IN HONOUR OF THE CITY'S CENTENNIAL, CASSIDY'S UPHOLSTERY ARTS & CUSTOM FURNITURE OFFERED TO RE-UPHOSTER THE CHAIR THE SECOND TIME. THE CHAIR HAD BEEN EXHIBITED IN THE 1985-2000 PERMANENT GALLERY AND, SUBSEQUENTLY, SUFFERED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE AND WEAR FROM BEING PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE AND SAT ON. PLEASE REFER TO HARDCOPY FILE FOR INFORMATION ON THE PROJECT. IT CAN NOT BE CONFIRMED WHICH OF THE GALT'S TWO MAYORS' CHAIRS WERE USED, BUT ONE OF THE TWO WAS USED IN A PHOTO AT SOUTHMINISTER CHURCH IN 1968 DURING THE U OF L'S FIRST CONVOCATION CEREMONY. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON DEVELOPED INFORMATION ON THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE CREST, OR COAT OF ARMS. THE COAT-OF-ARMS OF LETHBRIDGE IS AN OFFICIAL SYMBOL OF THE CITY. LETHBRIDGE WAS INCORPORATED AS A CITY ON MAY 6, 1906. ON JULY 2, 1907 A COMMITTEE APPROVED AN OFFER BY ALDERMAN CHARLES BROUGHTON BOWMAN TO DONATE A $25 CASH AWARD FOR THE BEST CITY COAT-OF-ARMS DESIGN. THE WINNER OF THE CONTEST WAS REV. JOHN STANLEY CHIVERS, RECTOR OF ST. AUGUSTINE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH. HIS DESIGN WAS FORMALLY ADOPTED BY MOTION OF COUNCIL ON SEPTEMBER 16, 1907. TODAY, THE 1907 CITY COAT-OF-ARMS IS KNOWN AS THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE CREST. THE CROWN ABOVE THE COAT-OF-ARMS SIGNIFIES CANADA’S ALLEGIANCE TO THE BRITISH CROWN. THE CENTRAL MEDALLION WAS ROUNDED WITH THREE DIVISIONS: BLUE (AZURE), RED (GULES) AND BROWN (OCHRE) WITH SYMBOLS REPRESENTING THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE CITY’S ECONOMY IN 1906-07: COAL MINING (ARM WITH MINER’S PICK), TRANSPORTATION (LOCOMOTIVE), AND AGRICULTURE (WHEAT SHEAF). THE CIRCULAR SCROLL READS “CITY OF LETHBRIDGE 1890-1906”, THE TOWN AND CITY INCORPORATION YEARS, RESPECTIVELY. THE PANORAMIC VIEW BELOW PORTRAYED THE WHEAT FIELDS AND MINE WORKING BUILDINGS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS, RESTING ON THE CITY MOTTO: AD OCCASION JANUAM (LATIN FOR "GATEWAY TO OPPORTUNITY"). ACCORDING TO A LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE ON THE CREST’S ORIGINS FROM THE JULY 2, 1985, CHIVERS’ DESIGN “CAPTURED THE ESSENCE OF WHAT LETHBRIDGE CONSIDERED ITSELF TO BE.” ANOTHER HERALD ARTICLE FROM AUGUST 20, 2005 PRESENTS RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY LOCAL HISTORIAN ALEX JOHNSTON AND THEN-GALT ARCHIVIST GREG ELLIS ON REVEREND CHIVERS HIMSELF: “REV. JOHN STANLEY CHIVERS ARRIVED [IN LETHBRIDGE] IN FEBRUARY 1904 TO MINISTER TO THE FLOCK AT ST. AUGUSTINE’S… NOT MUCH ELSE IS KNOWN ABOUT CHIVERS’ LIFE UNTIL OCTOBER 1909 WHEN HE TENDERED HIS RESIGNATION EFFECTIVE JANUARY 31, 1910. THE WORDS THEMSELVES ARE TAME BUT JOHNSTON’S RESEARCH INDICATES CHIVERS DIVORCED HIS WIFE AND MARRIED A FORMER MEMBER OF THE CHURCH CHOIR, WHO WAS NONE OTHER THAN THE WIDOW OF GEORGE ROGERS, MAYOR WHEN THE CITY INCORPORATED IN 1906. ROGERS HAD DIED IN LATE APRIL 1909. SO, DHIVERS AND THE WIDOW OBVIOUSLY FOUND THEMSELVES IN HARMONY, AND MRS. CHIVERS LIKELY DIDN’T TAKE IT WELL. ‘LETHBRIDGE WAS NOT A LARGE TOWN AT THE TIME AND YOU CAN IMAGINE THE SCANDAL IT CAUSED. THERE WERE PROBABLY QUITE A FEW TONGUES WAGGING AROUND LETHBRIDGE AS THIS AFFAIR DEVELOPED,’ ELLIS SAID… ACCORDING TO JOHNSTON’S RESEARCH, REV. CHIVERS EVENTUALLY WENT TO RENO, GOT A QUICKIE DIVORCE AND MARRIED THE FORMER MRS. ROGERS IN CALIFORNIA. ‘FROM THAT POINT IN WE DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REVEREND,’ ELLIS SAID.” FOR HARD COPIES OF THE CREST DESCRIPTION FROM THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE WEBSITE AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, SEE PERMANENT FILE P19820067000. THE DONOR OF THIS CHAIR, JESSE MAXWELL OVERTON HARDIE, WAS THE SON OF MAYOR W. D. L. HARDIE. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF W. D. L. HARDIE WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM A TRIBUTE ARTICLE FROM THE JUNE 16, 1942 ISSUE OF THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD. WILLIAM DUNCAN LIVINGSTONE HARDIE WAS BORN NEAR EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND IN 1862, AND THE FAMILY IMMIGRATED TO OHIO THE FOLLOWING YEAR. IN 1885 HARDIE MARRIED MARGARET KIRTLEY, AND THEY HAD FIVE CHILDREN: IANTHE, AGNES, E.W., JESSE, AND INZOLA. HARDIE FIRST CAME TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1889, WHEN HE BECAME THE ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF THE GALT NO. 1 MINE. AFTER FOUR YEARS HE RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES, WORKING FOR MINING COMPANIES IN PENNSYLVANIA, TENNESSEE, AND ALABAMA BEFORE RETURNING TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1896 AS SUPERINTENDENT OF NORTHWEST COAL & NAVIGATION COMPANY. IN 1910 HARDIE LEFT THE GALT-OWNED COMPANY AND WORKED AS THE MANAGER OF THE DIAMOND COAL COMPANY UNTIL 1912, WHEN HE RAN FOR AND WON THE OFFICE OF LETHBRIDGE MAYOR. HARDIE SERVED AS MAYOR UNTIL 1928, WHEN HE WAS REPLACED BY ROBERT BARROWMAN. IN 1930 HARDIE HAD AN UNSUCCESSFUL RUN FOR THE LETHBRIDG SEAT IN THE PROVINCIAL GENERAL ELECTION. HARDIE WAS ACTIVE WITH THE LETHBRIDGE MASONS, THE ALBERTA UNION OF MUNICIPALITIES, AND HAD AN AVID INTEREST IN ASTROLOGY. HARDIEVILLE, THE FORMER HAMLET NORTHEAST OF LETHBRIDGE THAT WAS ANNEXED BY THE CITY IN 1978, WAS NAMED AFTER HIM. W. D. L. HARDIE DIED ON JUNE 16, 1942. ACCORDING TO HIS LETHBRIDGE HERALD OBITUARY, THE DONOR OF THIS ARTIFACT, JESSE HARDIE, WAS BORN IN TENNESSEE IN 1891 AND CAME TO LETHBRIDGE WITH HIS PARENTS WHEN W. D. L. HARDIE BECAME THE SUPERINTENDENT OF NORTHWEST COAL & NAVIGATION COMPANY. DURING WWI JESSE HARDIE SERVED WITH THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES, AND LATER WORKED FOR THE VANCOUVER HARBOUR BOARD. HARDIE DIED IN LETHBRIDGE ON OCTOBER 28, 1978. UPDATE: ON 1 SEPTEMBER 2020, A FOURTH EXAMPLE OF A LETHBRIDGE MAYOR’S CHAIR - FEATURING THE 1890-1906 CREST - WAS DISCOVERED AS PART OF AN ACTIVE SALE ON EBAY, LOCATED IN BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON STATE. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF SOURCE MATERIALS.

Catalogue Number

P19694658000

Acquisition Date

1969-10

Collection

Museum

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