Henry William McKenney (February 24, 1848 – March 11, 1921) was a politician from Alberta, Canada. McKenney was born in Ontario, the son of a merchant and sailor. After attending schooling, he moved to Manitoba, where soon after he took part in the fur trade. He would briefly move back to Ontario, briefly working in the naval industry before working in the fur trade once again, until he ended up in the Northwest Territories while on a prospecting expedition. There he settled and established a mercantile business in St. Albert, where he settled and became one of its pioneer citizens, serving as the town's postmaster. After selling his business in 1903 and embarking on a trip for the benefit of his health, McKenney settled in Edmonton, where he would own several properties, including the McKenney Building. When Alberta became a province In 1905, he successfully ran for the newly formed Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He would win election twice more to the assembly, in 1909 and 1913, all times as a Liberal. He died in Edmonton in 1921. Early life He was born in Amherstburg, Essex County, Ontario, in 1848, a son of Augustus and Matilda (née Grandin) McKenney. His mother was of French ancestry from Normandy, France, and his father, of Irish ancestry, was a mariner and merchant. Augustus McKenney came to Canada as a United Empire Loyalist, originally from Detroit, Michigan. McKenney attended primary Catholic and public schooling in his birthplace, until moving to the Red River Colony around 1862. Initially taking up the study of medicine, he soon found himself restless and entered the fur trade. After working in the industry for a couple years, including two years in his family's business, the McKenney family would return home to Amherstburg. There McKenney would go into the marine business, gaining employment with a Detroit company, working as a navigator and eventually receiving his mariner certification in 1869. Around this time, he would also embark his first trip to present-day Western Canada. Career Faced with ill health, McKenney then moved to Minnesota, where he was a sutler during the 1869 Red River Rebellion. He would soon move back to Canada, in 1870 moving to Fort Garry and Portage la Prairie before settling at Westbourne, Manitoba, where he once again engaged in the fur trade, in his uncle's business, Henry McKenney & Company, and later in his father Augustus' business.