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In 1884 a group of farmers around Portage la Prairie met to discuss the difficulty in obtaining insurance on farm property. They decided to form a company and, in October 1884, obtained a charter from the Manitoba Legislature for the Portage la Prairie Mutual Fire Insurance Company. This was the first cooperative insurance company in western Canada.
The founding members were as follows:
James Armson
Selkirk Bannerman
Thomas T. Bell
James Brydon
John Brydon
James Bowman
A. B. Currie (Killarney)
James Cuthbert
Thomas Dalzell
John Dilworth
A. J. Fisher
William Gair
Angus Grant
Hugh Grant - Director
A. J. Green
Charles J. Green (?-1897) - Director
James McBain
Rod McCaig
James McKenzie
Kenneth McKenzie (1822-1911) - Director
L. D. McLean - Director
Lachlan W. McLean (1846-1913)
J. J. Mellen
R. Munro
Thomas Munro
William Munro
Thomas Oliver
John Smith (1817-1889)
George Tidsbury - Director
T. E. Wallace - Director
R. Watson
Maxwell Wilton (1837-1925) - Director
Period
President
1884-1887
Kenneth McKenzie (1822-1911)
1888-1891
Elias Brown
1891-1896
Charles J. Green (?-1897)
1897-1910
Thomas Sissons
1911-1920
William Fulton (1846-1920)
1921-1935
Edwin Herbert Muir (1868-?)
1935-1950
Mathew G. Tidsbury
1950-1973
Joseph Charles Miller (1891-1987)
1973-1984?
Earl Brown
Period
Manager
?-1925
Reginald Henry Murray Pratt (1854-1925)
Tread of the Pioneers, written and edited by Joseph H. Metcalfe and published by the Portage la Prairie and District Old Timers’ Association, 1932.
A Century of Service, 1884-1984: The Portage Mutual Insurance Company (1984).
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 8 September 2023
