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Thomas Hughes Cuddy
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Inventor, physician.
Born at Sanford on 14 July 1883, he was son of John Alexander Cuddy (1843-1906) and Elizabeth Arabella Hughes (1852-1942), brother of James Anthony Cuddy and William Alexander Cuddy, great-uncle of Norman A. Cuddy, uncle of Thomas Edward “Ted” Cuddy and John Leslie Bodie, brother-in-law of James Humphrey Plewes, and nephew of Lewis Arnett and Joseph Henry Hughes. He worked for Western Steel and Iron as well as Western Harvester. In 1911, he invented and patented a steering mechanism which later became the design adapted for the Mark I tank, which was first used during the 1916 Battle of the Somme.
He matriculated at Wesley College in 1913 and, in 1915, after completing his first year at the Manitoba Medical College, enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was placed in charge of X-ray installations at a Canadian military hospital in France and, in 1917, was promoted to Lieutenant and seconded to the British Government’s Ministry of Munitions until his discharge in 1918.
In 1922, he graduated from medical school with specialities in gastroenterology and radiology. He practiced at Zealandia, Saskatchewan before returning to Winnipeg where he worked as a radiologist at the Deer Lodge Hospital (1930-1940) before opening his own clinic in the Power Building. In 1950, he was awarded the National Gastroenterology Association Certificate for accomplishment in gastric medicine.
He was married twice, first on 20 April 1909 to Annie Harrison Foster (1884-1924) at Winnipeg and they had four children: Thomas Foster Cuddy (1910-1991, husband of Jean M. Mathews), Tannis Marian Cuddy (1912-1995, wife of Alexander Upton Lester), Laura Gertrude Cuddy (1914-1986, wife of Alexander M. Reid), and James Alfred Cuddy (1915-2001, husband of Catherine K. Roberts). They lived at 444 College Avenue before moving to Zealandia, Saskatchewan in the 1920s. After his return to Winnipeg, he lived at 769 McMillan Avenue until his death. On 3 September 1938, he married Marjorie Lavina “Marge” Wright (1901-1987) at St. James. They had no children.
He died at Rochester, Minnesota on 29 May 1952 and was interred in the Sanford Cemetery.
See also:
“T. H. Cuddy M.D.: Canadian Pioneer,” Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University Library.
Marriage registration [Thomas Hughes Cuddy, Annie Harrison Foster], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Birth registrations [Thomas Foster Cuddy, Marian Cuddy, Laura Cuddy, James Alfred Cuddy], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
“Inventor of ‘tanks’ is Winnipeg soldier says cable dispatch,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 27 October 1916.
Thomas Hughes Cuddy, Brown & Gold, University of Manitoba 1922.
Obituary [Annie Foster Cuddy], Winnipeg Tribune, 26 April 1924, page 6.
Marriage registration [Thomas Hughes Cuddy, Marjorie Lavina Wright], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“City physician dies at 69 in Minnesota,” Winnipeg Free Press, 30 May 1952.
Obituary [Marjorie Cuddy], Winnipeg Free Press, 29 July 1987, page 47.
Obituary [Tannis M. Lester], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 February 1995, page 13.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Barbora Boronell (McGill University Archives) for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Ian Stewart and Sharon Parker.
Page revised: 2 February 2025
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