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Andrew Browning Baird
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Cleric.
Born on the family farm at Motherwell, Ontario on 6 October 1855, the son of Charles Baird and Agnes Browning, he studied at Upper Canada College and at the Universities of Toronto (BA 1877), Edinburgh (BD 1881), Leibzig (Germany), and Knox College, Toronto (DD). He became a Presbyterian Minister in 1881 then moved to western Canada, stopping briefly in Winnipeg on his way to Edmonton where he spent six years.
He returned to Winnipeg in 1887 to teach Theology and Classics at Manitoba College. He was the Minister at Augustine Presbyterian Church (1887-1891) and served as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (1916-1917). In 1925, he joined the United Church of Canada on its formation and was elected the first President of its Manitoba Conference.
In 1887, he married Penelope Campbell Cook (1852-1936) of Galt, Ontario. They had four children: Helen Campbell Baird (1888-1961), Agnes Browning Baird (1889-1969), Andrew Stuart Baird, and Marjorie Darling Baird (1894-1981), none of whom married. The family lived at 247 Colony Street (c1890-1936) and had a summer cottage on Lake of the Woods. He served as President of the Manitoba Historical Society (1894-1895) and Manitoba Horticultural Society (1896-1899), and was a member of the Royal Numismatic Society of England. An active Mason, he served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba (1922). He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Manitoba (1922).
He died at the Winnipeg General Hospital on 22 September 1940 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery. His extensive papers are held at the University of Winnipeg Archives, with additional papers at the Archives of Manitoba.
His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:
Memories of Fort Ellice
Manitoba History, Number 54, February 2007.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Augustine United Church (444 River Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fort Ellice (RM of Ellice-Archie)
Andrew Baird of Manitoba College by Reverend John A. M. Edwards, University of Winnipeg Press, 1972.
Pioneers of Manitoba by Robert Harvey (1970).
Birth registrations [Helen Campbell Baird, Agnes Browning Baird, Andrew Stuart Baird, Marjorie Darling Baird], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.
Death registration [Penelope Campbell Baird], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Long career closes for Dr. A. B. Baird,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 September 1940, page 1.
“Dr. A. B. Baird, 84, church pioneer, Augustine's first Minister, dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 September 1940, page 13.
“Death climaxes careers of many notable people in course of 1940,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 January 1941, page 1.
Death registrations [Helen Campbell Baird, Marjorie Darling Baird], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Helen Campbell Baird], Winnipeg Tribune, 28 December 1961, page 20.
“Free Press Necrology Files,” Winnipeg Elite Study, G. Friesen Fonds, Mss 154, Box 15, File 16, University of Manitoba Archives]
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Garry Bolton for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 July 2025
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