Identity area
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Authorized form of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
Henry Elvins Spencer, 1882-1972, was born in England. In 1908 he and his brother came to Canada and homesteaded near Edgerton, Alberta. In 1913 he married Harriet Zella Crowe, 1885-1977, and they had three children, Elvins Y., Edith E. and Mary Hope, 1919-2011. He farmed for 19 years, during which he became involved in various farm organizations. He served as a provincial director of the United Farmers of Alberta, 1917-1921.
In 1921, he was elected to Parliament as the UFA Member of Parliament (MP) for Battle River. He was re-elected in 1925, 1926 and 1930, but was defeated in 1935. As part of the Ginger Group in Parliament, he pressed for monetary reforms, unemployment benefits and a national health program. After his defeat, he entered school and municipal work. He was president of the Alberta School Trustees' Association, 1944-1948, and secretary of the Canadian School Trustees' Association, 1948-1956. He retired to Comox, British Columbia in 1948.