Engineer, municipal official.
Born at Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland on 26 June 1894, he was educated at the Woodside Academy (Girvan), the James Watts Engineering Labs, and the Royal Technical College (Glasgow) prior to immigrating to Canada in 1912. He took employment with the Star Electric Company at Winnipeg then the Watrous Electric Ligh Company at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. During the final part of the First World War, he served briefly with the Royal Flying Corps. Returning to Canada, he worked for the Electrical Department of the Canadian National Railways before taking a position with the Winnipeg Electric Company in June 1919.
In 1922, he moved to Pinawa and worked there until the Great Falls Generating Station was complete then he moved to Great Falls as Superintendent of Water Power, a position he retained until retirement in October 1960. In 1925, he was made Superintendent of all Winnipeg Electric Company generating stations along the Winnipeg River. An unorthodox and accomplished engineer, his ingenuity and resourcefulness kept the four plants operating and profitable. He was also responsible for the three company towns in the region. In September of 1952, he brought a proposal to the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board, suggesting the expansion of operations at Great Falls rather than development at McArthur Falls, but the proposal was rejected by the Water Power Engineering Board.
On 28 May 1930, he married Alma Maude McCulloch (1892-1982) at Lac du Bonnet and they had three children: Kenneth Campbell McCulloch Fergusson, Campbell Fergusson, and Helen Mary Fergusson (?-1969, wife of Dennis Eric Rushton). In November 1928, he was elected as Mayor of Great Falls and he retained the office until December 1971. He was Honourary Vice-President of the Great Falls Community Club (1924), President of the Great Falls Recreation Club, and President of the Great Falls War Auxiliary. He was a member of the Selkirk Health Unit and the Manitoba Eastern Development Board.
In 1970, in recognition of his long period of service to the Winnipeg Electric Company and the Village of Great Falls, he received a Centennial Medal from the Manitoba Historical Society.
He died at Selkirk on 2 October 1973.
See also:
Old Pinawa by Helen Pollitt Smith
Manitoba Pageant, Spring 1976, Volume 21, Number 3
Marriage Registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Worthy of study,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 August 1952, page 13.
“Province awaits cue from board,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 September 1952, page 7.
“Fergusson plan thrown out,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 September 1952, page 1.
“Engagements,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 May 1960, page 14.
“Marriages, Rushton-Fergusson,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 June 1961, page 47.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 4 October 1973, page 37.
Logs & Lines From the Winnipeg River: A History of Lac du Bonnet Area by Lac du Bonnet History Book Committee, 1980.
Obituary [Alma Maude McCulloch], Winnipeg Free Press, 30 March 1982, page 33.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 7 June 2019
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