Alexander Welch

Who was Alexander Welch?

Alexander Robert Welch was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1929 to 1945, and was a cabinet minister in the governments of John Bracken and Stuart Garson.

Welch was born in Brechin, Scotland, the son of James Welch and Mary Ingram, and came to Canada with his parents in 1874. He was educated in Stratford, Ontario. He trained as a shoemaker with his father and followed that trade until 1893 when he moved to Manitoba and entered business as a merchant. In 1896, he married Hester Graham. Welch served as mayor of Boissevain, Manitoba from 1905 to 1906 and was chair of the Boissevain School Board from 1916 to 1929, also serving as president of the Conservative Association in the Turtle Mountain constituency during the same period.

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in a by-election held on June 22, 1929, following the death of former Conservative leader Richard Gardiner Willis. Welch defeated W.E. Campbell of the Progressive Party by 332 votes. The Conservatives were the main opposition party in Manitoba during this period, and Welch sat with his party on the opposition benches.