Memorable Manitobans: William Cross (1844-1922)

Railway engineer.

Born at Birkenhead, England on 6 July 1844, he apprenticed in railroading with the Birkenhead railway shops then worked for the Staley Bridge and Iron Works at Sheffield. Emigrating to Canada in 1863 he entered the service of the Grand Trunk Railway and was for 19 years foreman of its erecting shops at Port St. Charles, Montreal. From 1882 to 1887 he was a master mechanic on the eastern division of the Canadian Pacific Railway then, for the next three years, performed the same duties in the western division. He was promoted to consulting mechanical engineer (1900 to 1901) then testing engineer (1901 to 1904), finally serving as assistant to the second vice-president at Winnipeg, where he was in charge of all mechanical matters west of Fort William, Ontario. He retired in 1908. He and wife Mary Cross (?-?) had three daughters: Annie M. Cross (1869-?), Eleanor Cross (1876-?), Celia M. Cross (1877-?), and Lillian Cross (1882-?). He died at his Winnipeg residence on 16 August 1922 and was buried in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery.

Sources:

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

“Veteran railway man Is dead In Winnipeg,” newspaper clipping dated 17 August 1922. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B7]

Death registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 1 March 2020

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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