Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MAYOR'S CHAIR

Date

1912

Materials

OAK, VINYL (SIMULATED LEATHER), STEEL

No. Pieces

1

Height

148.6

Width

79.4

Description

BUTTON & DIAMOND PADDED UPHOLSTERY BACK. PADDED SEAT. CITY OF LETHBRIDGE CREST ON RAIL, CARVED IN OAK. SCROLL CARVED ARMS. HAS BEEN RE-UPHOLSTERED. CITY CREST DEPICTS A TRAIN, BALE OF WHEAT, AND AN ARM WITH A PICK. "CITY OF LETHBRIDGE" 1890-1906" ON BORDER OF CREST. "AD OCCASIONIS JANUAM" ON BANNER BELOW CREST. CARVED CROWN AT TOP. SEE CONSERVATION REPORT.

Subjects

FURNITURE

Historical Association

POLITICS

History

PRESENTED TO MAYOR GEORGE HATCH, CITY MAYOR IN 1912 ON HIS RETIREMENT FROM OFFICE. 1 OF A SERIES OF 3 PRODUCED, THE LAST PROBABLY PRESENTED TO R. BARROWMAN IN 1935. ANOTHER PRESENTED TO MAYOR HARDIE IN 1928. UNDER THE DIRECTION OF T.L. FERGUSON, CITY MANAGER, CHAIR REUPHOLSTERED IN 1967-8 BY AUSTIN GRAHAM. 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.” 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. FOR HARD COPIES OF THE CREST DESCRIPTION FROM THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE WEBSITE AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, SEE PERMANENT FILE P19820067000.

Catalogue Number

P19738620000

Acquisition Date

1973-06

Collection

Museum

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