Realtor.
Born at Fifeshire, Scotland in 1857, he emigrated to Canada in 1897, settling first at Montreal before moving to Winnipeg in 1903 where he established the real estate firm of H. J. Cairns and Son. He was also the principal Canadian owner of the Anglo Continental Fertilizer Company that owned the Dickson centrifuge process of sewage treatment.
He was married twice, first in 1882 to Catherine D. Garroway (?-?) with whom he had two sons: John “Jack” Cairns (1883-1954, editor of the Calgary Herald newspaper) and William Garroway Cairns (1884-1970, in business partnership with his father, son-in-law of John Fayden Campbell). He later married Mary Minnie Adams (?-1916) of Scotland.
He died at his Winnipeg home, 76 Smith Street, on 18 September 1924 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
The Story of Manitoba by F. H. Schofield, Winnipeg: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913.
Obituary [Mary Minnie Adams Cairns], Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 3 January 1916, page 5.
“Cairns - Campbell,” Winnipeg Tribune, 8 April 1918, page 6.
Death registration [Henry John Cairns], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Capt. H. J. Cairns, pioneer citizen, passes, aged 69,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 19 September 1924, page 2.
“Jack Cairns, newsman, dies,” The Albertan, 13 February 1954, page 12.
Obituary [William Garroway Cairns], Victoria Daily Times, 23 May 1970, page 28.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Darryl Toews.
Page revised: 27 February 2024
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