Merchant, municipal politician, Mayor of Brandon (1915-1918, 1922-1931, 1934-1937).
Born at Whittingdon, Norfolk, England on 4 December 1869, he came to Brandon in 1889 and established a business selling pumps. He served for four years as a Brandon city alderman (1909-1911), then was elected Mayor for the first time in 1915. He was an active delegate to many conventions of the Union of Manitoba Municipalities, serving as its Vice-President in 1925 and 1926. He was a Progressive candidate for Brandon in the 1927 and 1932 provincial general elections. He was President of the Union of Canadian Municipalities for several terms starting in 1930.
He was active in the business and community life of Brandon and in welfare projects and veterans' organizations. On 27 August 1907, he married Eliza Jane Heal (1882-1967) at Brandon. They had five children: Ruth Elizabeth Cater (1908-1988, wife of Albert Tester), Ellen Florence “Nellie” Cater (1910-?, wife of Irwin George Moore), Frances Fowler Cater (1911-?), Harry Cecil Cater (1913-?), and Herbert William Cater (1920-1987).
He died at Brandon on 3 April 1945 and was buried in the Brandon Cemetery. He is commemorated by Cater Drive in Brandon.
See also:
Harry Cater: The Personification of the Successful Municipal Politician? by Dr. W. Leland Clark
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 35, 1978-1979 Season
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
1916 Canada census, Ancestry.
Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary, Biographical Scrapbook B9, page 170, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Obituary, Western Municipal News, May 1945, page 122.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Pat Allan, Norine Reiser, and Sandy Jasper for additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 June 2023
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