Community activist, police officer.
Born at Ottawa, Ontario on 29 June 1872, daughter of Michael Halpin (?-?) and Margaret Mann (1835-?), she married William Henry Dunn (1868-1913) on 14 April 1890, at Ottawa, and they subsequently had twelve children: Mary Kathleen Dunn (1893-1922), Ethel Dunn (1895-?), Beatrice Anna Dunn (1895-?), Louise Dunn (1897-1968), Gerald Michael Dunn (1900-1985), Wilfred James Dunn (1902-1957), Vera Isabel Dunn (1906-1988), William Edmond Dunn (1906-1975), Norman Percival Dunn (1908-1979), Shirley Teresa Dunn (1908-1993), Margarite Helen Dunn (1910-1942), and William Henry Dunn (1911-1977).
She came to Winnipeg with her family in 1905 and was active in charitable and social work as a member of the St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Christian Mothers Confraternity, Foster Home Committee, Providence Shelter for Children’s Aid, Catholic Women's League, and Winnipeg Red Cross. Following the death of her husband, she supported her family as one of the first two female officers with the Winnipeg Police Department, along with Jane Andrews, sworn in on 4 January 1917. She married again, on 19 April 1920, to former policeman Joseph Guertin (?-1921). Within 18 months of their marriage, her second husband was killed in a railway accident.
She died at the Misericordia Hospital on 29 January 1928 and was buried in the St. Mary’s Cemetery. In October 2016, the Winnipeg Police Service marked 100 years of women in policing by creating a challenge coin with Dunn's image.
Ontario marriage registration, Ancestry.
1901 and 1911 Canada censuses, Automated Genealogy.
Birth registration [Shirley Teresa Dunn], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [William Dunn], Winnipeg Tribune, 20 August 1913, page 10.
“Police matrons are appointed,” Manitoba Free Press, 30 December 1916, page 5.
Marriage registration [Mary Ellen Dunn, Joseph Guertin], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1921 Canada census, Ancestry.
“Former police officer killed,” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 November 1921, page 20.
“Mrs. M. Guertin, prominent city Catholic, dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 31 January 1928, page 2.
Death registration [Mary Ellen Guertin], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“100 Years of Women in Policing,” Winnipeg Police Museum, 2016.
We thank Christian Cassidy and Pauline Vincent for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 3 November 2025
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