Edward Carey (businessman)

Edward Francis Carey Sr. (c. 1832 – September 10, 1908) was a Canadian gold prospector, fur trader, and merchant. He was also a politician in Alberta, Canada, serving briefly as a municipal councillor in Edmonton.

Carey was born in Upper Canada in 1832. Intrigued by the opportunity to acquire a fortune in gold, he was quickly drawn to the California Gold Rush, and later to British Columbia, where he prospected for gold along with his partner, Bill Cust. In the 1860s, the duo made major gold discoveries in the Parsnip River and in Peace River, leading to gold rushes when news spread of the discoveries. Carey later went into the fur trade, establishing himself at Peace River, and later, Lac la Biche. After spending a couple years in the fur trade, he went into the general merchant business, establishing stores in Manitoba, and later in Edmonton, North West Territories, where he would move to in 1882. Carey operated the first store in the town, as well as a cattle business along with fellow merchant, John Norris, until his retirement in the late 1890s. After his retirement, he lived quietly in Edmonton in declining health, until his death in 1908. Regarded as one of the pioneer citizens of Edmonton and earliest settlers of Western Canada, Carey would later be interred at the Edmonton Cemetery.